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Pearl Harbor Dbq Essay

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Introduction: The Second World War, WWII, was a global war as it involved most of the world’s countries, lasting from 1939 to 1945. There are many points of view as to why WWII was fought, but it ultimately goes back to the end of World War I, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Adolf Hitler slowly rebuilt German forces and, driven by his expansionist policy, first invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and then Poland on 1 September 1939 prompting the declaration of War from Britain and France. America managed to stay out of the war, citing neutrality, until 1941. The Japanese, who were part of the Axis allegiance, attacked Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. This was the catalyst for America to become involved in WWII and it ultimately …show more content…

The planning for the Pearl Harbour attack by the Japanese had been in the making for almost as long as a year if Source B is to be relied on. It states that Ambassador Grew informed the US that Japan was planning an attack in January 1941. Source B also states that military personnel again issued warnings in February and July of the same year that an attack was imminent. Japan had spent months, by this time, systematically planning an attack that would enable them to travel over 4,000 miles and attack the US by surprise without detection. Most of the planning went into successfully co-ordinating the carriers and aircraft to within distance to strike. The Japanese carriers had to travel a great distance without being detected. Source L states that the Japanese carriers left port on 26 November in a devious route to Pearl Harbour, and final orders were received on the 1 December. “Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Nagumo, received his final orders on December 1 and on the morning of December 7 the battle group was in position 275 miles north of Hawaii.” As can be seen from this source, Japan still waited 6 days after their final orders were received before launching their surprise attack. That enabled them 6 more days to finalise their plans and make sure that everyone knew what was expected of them. The …show more content…

(Source L) It was 8:00am and the US had no answer to the Japanese attack and had not yet sent up their squadron of aircraft. This gave the Japanese chance to attack ground targets using their fighter planes. They then turned their attention to the battleships moored in the harbour. The US were able to respond with anti-aircraft fire coming from ships and land, but this did not hinder the attack. At 8:10am, the USS Arizona was the first of the battleships to be struck and exploded, taking more than a 1000 men down with her. (Source F) Torpedoes were also doing damage at the same time and the USS Oklahoma went down with 400 men aboard. (Source F) According to Source F, nine battleships were

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Rahul Bagga Mr.Campbell US History, Period 0 16 December 2015 Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? One day that will always be remembered by America is the date of December 7, 1941, which changed American history forever. December 7, 1941 was the day the Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor (Hawaii) which stationed many of American ships and airfields. Immediately after the bombings, United States President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan, leading to a direct involvement into World War ll. Japan had many reason to do so but Japan attacked Pearl harbor for three reasons which were that they had a plan for a new world order, United States were expanding their number of naval ships rapidly, and an oil embargo was placed upon Japan

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The Pearl Harbor attack had merely provoked it. It was an unannounced, brutal attack upon the United States naval base in Oahu, Hawaii that occurred on December 7,1941, lasted for over an hour. A day that will forever live in the hearts and minds of many Americans. Brother, Sisters, moms, dads, aunts uncles, grandparents were all lost on this horrifying day. 2,400 lives and 1,178 naval personnel were wounded, many of these were aboard the USS Arizona.

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In May 1940 President Roosevelt moved the US Pacific Fleet from California to Pearl Harbor. In July of the same year the US Congress passes the Naval Expansion Act which promised to triple the fleet size by 1944(Doc C). This gives evidence that the US did not stop at a simple embargo on aircraft. It demonstrates that the US was keeping a close watch on Japanese affairs so that they could be ready to attack if they needed to. The Japanese were aware of the actions being taken by the US.

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As a result of the attack, Japan destroyed American naval battleships. One of the battleships was the USS Arizona. While the USS Enterprise was out on sea for 6 months, one of the very important aircraft battles they fought was on the Solomon

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There are many arguments made by intelligent historians that accuse president Franklin Roosevelt of deliberately provoking an attack from Japan in order to get involved in World War II. These claims come from a wide berth of evidence. For instance, one of the most common arguments that revisionists make is Roosevelt had a weak force at Pearl Harbor on purpose.(Theobald 262). They believe that he wanted to entice an attack from Japan by giving them the opportunity to make their move, knowing that it would not be hard to take down the ships/aircraft at Pearl Harbor. FDR was clearly leaning towards war based on these actions and his conversations with Admiral Richardson in 1940, saying that there had to be a drastic incident in the US to make

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• Leaving the harbor pretty much clear due to all of the diversions placed before the United States set in place for the Japanese to attack while also minimalizing their losses. • By the time the Americans had picked up the Japanese bombers on their radar, it was too late. • The first wave was led by torpedo bombers which exposed the American’s defense and left them vulnerable • The first strike by the Japanese accounts for approximately ninety percent of the total devastation on Peal

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Pearl Harbor was only about 5,000 miles from Japan, to close for comfort for Japan's military. Not only was the naval base close; additionally, it was growing. “ July 1940, US Congress passes Naval Expansion Act that Promises to triple fleet size by 1944” (Doc C) Japan was worried that the reason the United States navy was growing, doubled with other things were undertaking, was to attack Japan and its military. Attacking Pearl Harbor, before America could attack them, lowered the number of Japanese casualties and lowered America’s ships that were able to fight in the war against Japan and its allies.

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However, on their way to reinforce the Philippines, 12 unarmed B-17’s, commanded by Lt. Barthelmess, Major Landon, and Capt. Carmichael, found themselves in the middle of the assault. Harbored ships, as well as the U.S. Military Aircraft were open targets for the Japanese, allowing them to bomb most of their ships for the first half hour. Among the battleships that were destroyed were the Arizona, Oklahoma, California, Nevada, and West Virginia, along with three cruisers, three destroyers, and other vessels. Also, the planes destroyed over 180 aircraft.

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In July 1941 Japan became more aggressive and the U.S. takes action by freezing all Japanese cash and goods in the U.S. and cuts off all oil supplies to Japan. On December 7, 1941 Japan launched an attack on against the United States Naval base in Pearl Harbor (Pearl Harbor 9). Japanese planes were flying everywhere, guns blasting and bombs were dropping. It only took minutes for the skilled pilots to turn the harbor into a disaster. The Japanese flew so low that they could see the pilots from the ground(Pearl Harbor).

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Any attack on Pearl Harbor was expected to be low key, like sabotage or a submarine attack. On the morning of the attack, around one-third of the ship’s officers were on shore leave, no anti aircraft batteries were manned, and ammunition for these vital air defense weapons was locked up in stores away from the guns. As one can see, no one at Pearl Harbor was prepared whatsoever. In fact, approaching Japanese planes that were detected by radar at approximately 7:02 A.M. were thought to be an incoming flight of U.S. bombers (Dowswell 30-31). By the end of the attack, America

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Providentially the United States Navy did not have the two aircraft carriers, Lexington and Enterprise, in the port at the time of the attack (“Pearl Harbor” International). The largest effect from the attack was from the U.S.S. Arizona; the ship had been hit by an armor piercing explosive (“Military.com”). The explosion and fire from the explosive ended lives of approximately half of the Americans killed that day. Out of about 2,400 about 1,200 crewmen were killed on the Arizona, this was one of the greatest loss of life on any ship on December 7th (“Pearl Harbor” International; Tierney “The Impact”). Fortunately, around 335 men aboard the U.S.S. Arizona escaped and survived the disaster the Japanese had planned (“Remembering”).

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Pearl Harbor ignited the fury of the United State’s entrance into WW2. Pearl Harbor was just as ordinary as any other harbor. You can see right through the beautiful blue water. At the beginning of the battle, Japanese signed a neutrality treaty. Japanese military was asked to devise a war plan.

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“If properly appreciated, this intelligence should have suggested a dispatch to all pacific out post commanders suppling this information” states the Joint Congressional Committee. They issued a report that puts blame on the secretary of was at the time Henry Stimson commander on scene. They also believe Washington officials failed to give notice to interacted massages from Tokyo they intercepted that could have prevented the attack, the message was sent On November 19, 1941, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo sent out a 'Purple ' message to their consulates all around the world. It stated that they should listen to Japanese news bulletins. If they ended with a weather report saying 'east wind rain ' the attack would be on the US.

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