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Pearl Harbor2

Pearl Harbor2 From the 1600’s to the mid 1800’s, Japan had been successful in keeping their nation closed off from the rest of world. To ward off “outside influences”, Japanese people not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. Japanese ports would not allow any foreign ships to enter. Japan’s culture was that of simplicity and independence (Schirokauer 180-183). At this time, an emperor ruled Japan. The Japanese held their emperor in high regard as they had for many years. They thought of their ruler as a descendant from the gods. As far as their particular government at the time, their weak military and political issues were ruled by the shogun, who acted in the name of the emperor. By the late 1800’s, Japan’s long isolation began to crumble. Commodore Matthew Perry, who led a small group of American warships, entered Japanese ports. The Japanese referred to this small fleet as the “black ships”. Perry had come in hopes of negotiating trade with Japan. While some Japanese people were intrigued by western culture, the majority did not want to adopt their ideas or language. The main focus of Japan was to stay isolated. The Japanese were trying to avoid any sort of merger with foreign nations (internet). Perry proceeded to use whatever methods necessary to force Japan to agree with his terms. Eventually, Japan signed trade treaties with France, Great Britain, Holland and Russia. This was a turning point in Japan. Japan’s nation had once been a closed window, and now was open to the rest of the world (Schirokauer 180-183). By the end of the 1800’s, Japan had come “full circle”. They had adopted a constitution and formed a more modern government and military force. These changes brought on a new understanding by the Japanese people. To retain their independence, Japan would have to emerge a stronger nation (Schirokauer 201-201). By becoming the “new” Japan, other issues had to be dealt with. A resource such as oil was very hard to come by in their land. So action would now have to made to seek out this raw material so desperately needed for their military. Japan with its modern changes was becoming more dependent on outside sources to meet their needs. Japan’s military became more involved in the government and this led to trouble for their society. In Japan’s efforts to become a stronger nation, they had many isolated battles with China. Japan’s goal at this point was to take control over Manchuria to become part of their political society (Encyclopedia). Throughout history, Japan had adopted some of their cultures and beliefs from China. It seemed ironic that Japan was now trying to conquer the land they had once looked up to. Meanwhile, World War II had begun with Germany’s successful defeat over France and Poland. These European nations that Germany took over had control over various countries that could benefit Japan. Southeast Asia was one of these countries and was rich in the raw materials needed so desperately by Japan (internet) Japan’s goal was to seize Southeast Asia, but they were worried about how the United States might react. Japan knew at this point that they were in position to defeat the Western armies. Japan already controlled northern Indochina and was beginning their seizure over southern Indochina, when the United States intervened. The United State’s reaction to Japan’s Indochina situation was an embargo on a shipment of oil to Japan. To keep their military force from dying, Japan needed this oil. The Japanese saw this move as an act of war (Goldstein 49). After World War II started, the tension between Japan and the U.S. was mounting. The U.S. was helping China by sending them war supplies. Japan did not like this because China was the main target of Japanese attacks. As a result of this, Japan decided to take a "peace" trip to the U.S.A. They made the trip in November of 1941. During these "peace" talks, Japan made three proposals to the government. They were adamant in their demands for the U.S. to stop aiding China, to stay out of Asian affairs, and to begin shipping oil to Japan right away or Japan would attack the U.S.A. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the government of the United States did not carry out these proposals (internet). The United States tried effortlessly to work out their problems with Japan but no agreements were made, and the war seemed inevitable between the U.S. and Japan. The U.S. reacted by adding to their military force in the Pacific. The U.S. Pacific Fleet once stationed on the West Coast of the United States was moved to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. President Roosevelt was confident that this move would refrain the Japanese from any strike attempt, but he was wrong. The Pearl Harbor attack was only known by a few of the Japanese naval staff. The Pearl Harbor plan was limited to five or six officers of the Combined Fleet. Japan attacked on the morning of December 7, 1941 at 7:55 a.m. The reason for such an early attack was because Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the person in control of the Japanese warships in that area knew most of the troops at Pearl Harbor would be asleep. The main planes Japan used for the attack were bombers. The number of bombers used was 350. Six aircraft carriers are what these planes were carried on. They chose to use bombers because their primary objective was to destroy as many ships as possible. The reason they did this was because Yamamoto predicted that the troops at Pearl Harbor would be able to a launch a few planes. During this attack exactly ten major command ships were destroyed. Some of the ships that were destroyed were the U.S.S. Arizona, the Pennsylvania, the Maryland, and the West Virginia (Goldstein 194). President Roosevelt made a speech after the bombing: "Yesterday December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy. The United States of America was deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan..." Bibliography: Encyclopedia of World War II. Vol. 22. 1972 Schirokauer, Conrad. A Brief History of Japanese Civilization. Harcourt Brace. 1993 Goldstein, Donald, Katherine Dillon. The Pearl Harbor Papers. New York: Macmillan. 1993 The Attack on Pearl Harbor. 10, April, 1997. http://web.tampabay.rr.com/mspusf/PearlHarbor Timeline. Pearl Harbor. 1996.

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