Pearl Harbor Inf. Essay

Pearl Harbor is a United States Naval Base that was attacked by Japan on December 7th, 1941. The Japanese attempted to take out the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor so they could have a stronger position in the war. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was the one who carried out the orders to attack Pearl Harbor. The attack took the U.S. by surprise making them enter directly into World War II and domestic isolation disappeared from the U.S.
In the 1930’s the path to war between Japan and the United States began because of differences over China. In 1931 Japan took over Manchuria and in 1937 tried unsuccessfully to take over the rest of China. In 1941 Japan joined Germany in the Axis Alliance and occupied French Indochina, isolating China. The U.S. helped out China by increasing military and financial aid towards China. In 1941 the U.S. cut off oil shipments to Japan and Japan was in a position to where their oil supply would run out in two years unless they made peace with the U.S. or went to war. “The chief of the Navy told the Emperor that if Japan resorted to war, it would be very doubtful that it could win.” (Attack on Pearl Harbor, p. 1) “The decision was war, by going south to seize the resource-rich territories of South East Asia.” (Attack on Pearl Harbor, p. 1) To seize the territories of South East Asia, Japan had to take out the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, was one to plan out the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto thought that the surprise attack would secure the Pacific for the Japanese and start the war. “The First Air Fleet had held maneuvers for over a year, and the results were promising. “The First Air Fleet had held maneuvers for over a year, and the results were promising.” (The Attack on Pearl Harbor, p.1) Commander Mitsuo Fuchida had made the impossible task of aerial torpedo attack possible. “Conventional aerial torpedoes plunged to more than one-hundred feet in depth...