Pearl Harbor Dbq Essay

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

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

(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