tions. They include the Chief US Pacific Naval Base, Hickam Airforce Base, Pearl Harbor Naval Air Station and Camp H. M. Smith, which is headquarters of the United States Pacific Command. The United States gained territorial rights in Hawaii in 1887 when the Hawaiian monarchy permitted a coaling and repair station for United States ships. The United States annexed Hawaii as a territory in 1900, which is when Pearl Harbor was made a United States naval base. Harbor improvements and fortifications were later added after the Berlin Pact was signed in 1940 by the Axis nations (Pearl Harbor, 2001).Relations between Japan and America had been difficult since the United States acquired Hawaii in 1900, and some authors believe that the Pearl Harbor attack was the result of a rivalry between the United States and Japan which had lasted almost half a century (Gailey 1). Japan was pursuing imperialistic plans in Asia and the Pacific, and had invaded China and Korea during the 1930s. In 1937, Japan intentionally sunk a United States ship on the Yangtze River in China, killing three and wounding eleven Americans. President Roosevelt wanted to stop Japan’s aggression and quickly moved to end trading key supplies with Japan. President Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in the United States and placed an oil embargo on Japan (Renzi 5-13). The embargo greatly angered the Japanese Government, which felt that war with the United States was now inevitable (Bahrenburg 2). The Japanese followed two strategies in response to the actions of the United States. One was to negotiate to get the oil embargo lifted and the other was to prepare for war. The Japanese were expecting the United States to ultimately declare war on Japan as Japan invaded countries throughout the Pacific, but not be willing to fight long and hard enough to win the war (World War II, 2001). In 1939, World War II began with Germany attacking France, Poland and other Europea...
