On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on US military installations in Hawaii, killing and injuring thousands. The attack was a response to the US embargo on Japan’s expansion in Asia. Japan believed that destroying the US Pacific Fleet would give them a decisive victory and demoralize the American people. However, the attack ultimately led to Japan’s defeat in World War II.
On December 7, 1941, a Japanese naval strike force launched a surprise air attack on US military installations on the island of Oahu in the US territory of Hawaii. Two waves of aircraft, totaling 253 aircraft in all, attacked Pearl Harbor Naval Base, home of the US Pacific Fleet, Hickam, Wheeler and Bellows Army Airfields, Schofield Barracks, Kaneohe Naval Air Station and Ewa Marine Corps Air Station. The attack was the largest military defeat in U.S. history, and by the time it was over, 2,388 U.S. sailors, soldiers, and civilians were killed, while another 1,178 were injured. The Japanese had sunk or damaged 21 ships of the US Pacific Fleet, including eight battleships. The attack propelled the United States into World War II against Japan and its Axis allies, Germany and Italy.
While the Japanese won a temporary victory against the United States, the attack set in motion the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the defeat of Japan and the Axis nations in 1945. The seeds of the attack were planted in 1931, when Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria. The invasion of Manchuria was the first step in Japanese imperial expansion, and in 1937 Japan launched a full-scale war against China.
In response to the Japanese invasion of China, the United States increased military and financial aid to the Chinese and cut off oil and other commodity exports to Japan. This embargo was seen by the Japanese as a direct threat to their national security and they decided to seize and conquer other territories in the Asian and Pacific area which were rich in oil and natural resources that Japan did not possess.
Japan knew that the United States would not condone its war with China and would not agree to its seizure of further territory in Asia. Both the American and Japanese governments had taken strong diplomatic positions towards each other that would not allow them to “back down” without some sort of national humiliation and embarrassment. As the two governments continued negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the diplomatic impasse, the Japanese government believed that war with the United States was inevitable and began preparing accordingly.
Japan decided that the only way to defeat the United States was to preemptively destroy the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor with one strong and decisive blow. They believed American industrial might would tip the balance against Japan in a protracted war, and felt its military success hinged on the destruction of the United States Pacific Fleet early in the war. While the United States was recovering from such an onslaught, the Japanese felt they would be able to carry out their military campaign throughout Asia and the Pacific, unhindered by the United States.
The Japanese also believed that a decisive victory would demoralize and eliminate the American people’s willingness to engage in war with Japan. While history has shown us that the Japanese were dead wrong about this, it should be remembered that the American people in 1941 were deeply divided on the issue of war, with a large portion of the population holding isolationist views. While many Americans tended to sympathize with allied nations, the memory of World War I still lingered in the national psyche, and the American people as a whole had no desire to fight another war.
It can be argued that the Japanese attack was, in one sense, a desperate act by a desperate nation. Japan’s pursuit of imperial expansion set it on a collision course with the United States. With both sides reluctant to withdraw from its positions, the Japanese believed there was no other course of action than war with the U.S. Once this was decided, Japan concluded that the only path to victory was to destroy the fleet of the United States Pacific in a swift and decisive attack. Through a long, winding and difficult road, Japan finally made the fateful decision that would forever link Japan to Pearl Harbor and December 7, 1941.
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