Mass war had broken out all across Europe and Asia. World War II was ongoing, however, the countries in the Western hemisphere remained neutral; except they were fighting the war with supplies. The United States of America, a world power, which was led by President Franklin Delanore Roosevelt, decided to withhold from declaring war against Nazi Germany and its allies. This remained until Sunday, December 8th, 1941 when FDR officially declared war on Japan for its attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor ultimately led the United States of America to join World War II. This paper will analyze the events of the attack itself, what led to the attack, and the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At around eight o'clock on a …show more content…
The first action that came from Pearl Harbor was the United States declaring war on Japan. Japan at the time was allied with the known Axis Powers. On December 11, 1941, Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, declared war on the United States for them declaring war on their ally Japan (History.com Editors 2020). All of this ultimately led the United States into joining World War II. With the loss of many U.S. personnel, civilians showed great amounts of patriotism and were all in on war efforts. Thousands of people enlisted in the army following Pearl Harbor. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor the United States of America was worried about another attack coming from the Japanese. They were worried that Japan had sent people into the country to spy on them. For this reason, they sent people of Japanese descent to internment camps. This was one form of retaliation from President FDR for Pearl Harbor. President FDR established Executive Order 9066 to allow for this to happen (History.com Editors 2021). This is looked upon as a dark time in U.S. history as it was a clear violation of civil American liberties. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed the United States military in multiple ways. The U.S. started to focus more on its naval and air power after seeing the destruction a powerful one can cause. Additionally, the attack led to a massive military build-up as America got ready for war. Millions of young men …show more content…
The attack came as a surprise to many especially being on a Sunday morning. Japan executed their attack exactly how they meant to by destroying multiple naval aircraft and ships after negotiation talks between them and the United States failed. Pearl Harbor can be viewed in many ways. For some it was good, many people believed that the country they were living in needed a surge of patriotism, and with the attack this came from that. For the Allies fighting in World War II, Pearl Harbor was huge since it brought in a very strong country to fight along their side. On the other hand, Pearl Harbor was a dark day for the United States as they lost over 2400 U.S. lives. Due to the fear of spies they placed Japanese Americans into internment camps, which is viewed as a very dark time in American history because it was an infringement of their rights as citizens. This attack was also the reason that led the United States into joining World War II. A war where many Americans would lose their lives. This was very unfortunate for the Axis Powers. When America joined the war it was an automatic shift in power from the Axis Powers to the Allies. Eventually, America joining the war led to the end of the war when the United States sent two nuclear bombs to Japan. People can learn from Pearl Harbor that everything comes with consequences. As many United States civilians believed that the nuclear