Posted on 12/07/2019 12:18:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind
When Japanese bombers appeared in the skies over Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, the U.S. military was completely unprepared for the devastating surprise attack, which dramatically altered the course of World War II, especially in the Pacific theater. But there were several key reasons for the bombing that, in hindsight, make it seem almost inevitable.
Tensions Began During the Great Depression
Before the Pearl Harbor attack, tensions between Japan and the United States had been mounting for the better part of a decade.
The island nation of Japan, isolated from the rest of the world for much of its history, embarked on a period of aggressive expansion near the turn of the 20th century. Two successful wars, against China in 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05, fueled these ambitions, as did Japan’s successful participation in World War I (1914-18) alongside the Allies.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Japan sought to solve its economic and demographic woes by forcing its way into China, starting in 1931 with an invasion of Manchuria. When a commission appointed by the League of Nations condemned the invasion, Japan withdrew from the international organization; it would occupy Manchuria until 1945.
In July 1937, a clash at Beijing’s Marco Polo Bridge began another Sino-Japanese war. That December, after Japanese forces captured Nanjing (Nanking), the capital of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Guomindang (Kuomintang), they proceeded to carry out six weeks of mass killings and rapes now infamous as the Nanjing Massacre.
The U.S. Was Trying to Stop Japan’s Global Expansion
In light of such atrocities, the United States began passing economic sanctions against Japan, including trade embargoes on aircraft exports, oil and scrap metal, among other key goods, and gave economic support to Guomindang forces. In September 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, the two fascist regimes then at war with the Allies.
Tokyo and Washington negotiated for months leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, without success. While the United States hoped embargoes on oil and other key goods would lead Japan would halt its expansionism, the sanctions and other penalties actually convinced Japan to stand its ground, and stirred up the anger of its people against continued Western interference in Asian affairs.
To Japan, war with the United States had become to seem inevitable, in order to defend its status as a major world power. Because the odds were stacked against them, their only chance was the element of surprise.
Destroying the Base at Pearl Harbor Would Mean Japan Controlled the Pacific
In May 1940, the United States had made Pearl Harbor the main base for its Pacific Fleet. As Americans didn’t expect the Japanese to attack first in Hawaii, some 4,000 miles away from the Japanese mainland, the base at Pearl Harbor was left relatively undefended, making it an easy target.
Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku spent months planning an attack that aimed to destroy the Pacific Fleet and destroy morale in the U.S. Navy, so that it would not be able to fight back as Japanese forces began to advance on targets across the South Pacific.
Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor would drive the United States out of isolation and into World War II, a conflict that would end with Japan’s surrender after the devastating nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.
At first, however, the Pearl Harbor attack looked like a success for Japan. Its bombers hit all eight U.S. battleships, sinking four and damaging four others, destroyed or damaged more than 300 aircraft and killed some 2,400 Americans at Pearl Harbor.
Japanese forces went on to capture a string of current and former Western colonial possessions by early 1942—including Burma (now Myanmar), British Malaya (Malaysia and Singapore), the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and the Philippines—giving them access to these islands’ plentiful natural resources, including oil and rubber.
But the Pearl Harbor attack had failed in its objective to completely destroy the Pacific Fleet. The Japanese bombers missed oil tanks, ammunition sites and repair facilities, and not a single U.S. aircraft carrier was present during the attack. In June 1942, this failure came to haunt the Japanese, as U.S. forces scored a major victory in the Battle of Midway, decisively turning the tide of war in the Pacific.
Very good essay. Thanks for sharing. True. The Japanese used the tactic of surprise, because they were defeated when they started. Why the atom bomb? Because the Japanese leaders rejected the conclusion that they were defeated. Strange how a person would rather die than admit defeat.
To a large degree the Japanese had no choice. The Japanese were already allied with the Nazi’s, a war with the US was coming, it was a matter of when. Since war was inevitable, the question then becomes, war on whose terms?
The Japanese leadership decided that it was better to strike decisively early, before the US entered the war in Europe and the US war machine had kicked into high gear.
I think Japan had already decided to attack us before they signed the Tripartite Pact.
I went to see Midway the day it opened. I thought it was well done and historically accurate. I recommend that movie as well.
I think I’ve read this same article about 100 times before. Why does this author think this is something we don’t already know?
In the Japanese movie The Admiral there is more background. Nagumo was under strict orders to return all of the carriers safely to Japan. Since the American carriers were not at Pearl Harbor he worried that they were in the area and could attack at any moment. He was following orders.
John Rabe the living buddha of Nanking. Amazing story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rabe
Thanks.
Actually until Admiral Yamamoto was promoted to head of the Japanese Naval forces, the Japanese hadn’t planned attacking at Pearl Harbor because up until 1940 most of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was at San Diego. The Japanese did figure that when they invaded the Philippines, the U.S. fleet would sail with relief forces and along the way Japanese submarines, light forces and planes would attrition this force until a Jutland style battle would decided it. The battleships of the Yamato class were built as Japan figured the U.S. wouldn’t build any battleship larger than could fit through the Panama Canal. Admiral Yamamoto changed this strategy as he had a pretty good idea that a long war would end in defeat for Japan and he wanted to strike first (the Essex class carriers were already being laid down). The new movie Midway states it was our greatest Intelligence Failure, that statement was wrong, it was our greatest Command and Control failure, including the command of U.S. forces in Hawaii (between the Army and Navy, there was some 300 U.S. planes based there, but only 3 PBY planes were out doing general recon’s and no Combat Air Patrol above the base). FDR was pushing Japan to attack because he knew that the U.S. needed to get into the war, but due to complacency and arrogance on our part, very few thought that Hawaii would be subject to a major attack. As for our carriers, one was supposed to be in harbor that day (the U.S.S. Enterprise), but a storm delayed its return to Pearl Harbor (talk about a lucky break!). During the Japanese attack, Dauntless dive bombers from the Enterprise flew in and six were shot down from our own Anti-aircraft no less.
Nope, but despite repeated war warnings being issued by Washington to Pacific commanders, war sure came as a surprise to Adm Kimmel.
The Japanese attack at Pearl was intended to prevent a significant American response for about a year while their thousands of Emperor-worshiping citizens already in the U.S. went to work at sabotage and spying...
However, FDR totally cut their strategic balls off when he interned most of the Emperor worshipers and eliminated virtually all of the planned spying and acts of sabotage...
The nips not only counted on the American Pacific Fleet carriers being in port, but they counted on their sleeper spies and saboteurs being in place and ready to do Tojo's & the Emperor's bidding...
The sad part is that here we are 75-years later and the Nation's two (2) major enemies (ChiComs & moslems) with a desire to destroy America each have hundreds of thousands of their citizens/sleepers firmly implanted within American society, industry, academia, and the state & federal governments...
Nothing has been learned, from history, by any of those who rule us...
It has been said time and time again on these Pearl Harbor posts over the years, the US was cracking the Jap diplomatic Purple code, not their naval codes.
We knew they were ready for war and that was imminent. We didn't know where but the presumption was the Philippines or the Dutch East Indies.
When the fleet sailed in November, they actually were prepared for any of four options using the following coded message from their government:
1) Attack the British- West Wind Clear.
2) Attack the Russians- North Wind Cloudy.
3) Attack the Dutch East Indies -South Wind Stormy or
4) Attack the Americans- East Wind Rain.
Their battle fleet didn't get the code for attack until 5 Dec
Yes, as a matter of fact the Japanese used their own time and in this case, dates much like we used GMT instead of local time. They document the attack as Dec 8 Tokyo time.
Then the commies demanded we intervene.
Love it! And the Nazis were earth worshippers and the Soviets were state worshippers.
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Unfortunately for Japan and fortunately for the U.S., Admiral Nagumo was the wrong person for the job, he was promoted to command of the Carrier Strike Force due to his seniority. He was competent but no experience with carriers (few at that time did have it). He did have enough leeway is his orders to take advantage of the situation, but was opposed to the attack in the first place. If the third strike had been launched, the U.S.S. Enterprise would have most likely been found and sunk.
He had reports that our submarines were in the area. This was his biggest concern.
Not the case. The tripartite pact was signed in Sept. 1940. Planning for the strike South and at Pearl Harbor did not start until early Spring 1941.
You got it.
A third strike would have been against the fuel farm and the PHNSY. Enterprise still would have been out to sea and Fuchida’s aircraft would have concentrated on those targets.
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