On the morning of December 7th, 1941, at 7.48
AM, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service shocked the United States and the world by
attacking the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The next day, the US entered into the Second
World War, declaring war with Japan, and on December 11th, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared
war with Germany and Italy. Was this attack by the Japanese one of the
worst military decisions in history? Or was it a strategic mission to gain critical
advantage? Today, we take a look at the events leading
up to and surrounding this tragic event, in this episode of The Infographics Show, The
Attack on Pearl Harbor – Surprise Military Strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Service. Diplomatic tensions between Japan and United
States had been escalating since Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931. Japan expanded their operations into China,
leading to the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937. The Japanese attack on the USS Panay, the
Allison Incident, and the Rape of Nanking all swung Western public opinion against the
Japanese. Come 1940, Japan moved into French Indochina,
attempting to cut supply lines assisting the Chinese. The US, along with France and the UK, were
supporting the Chinese against the Japanese invaders. The USA stopped shipments of airplanes, machine
tools, and aviation fuel to Japan, and ordered for more military presence in the Philippines
in the hopes of discouraging the Japanese from continuing their activities in the Far
East. Japanese high command was convinced that their
attack on UK territories in South East Asia such as Singapore would lead to the US’s
involvement in the war, and they felt a preventive strike against the Americans would be the
best military strategy. In 1941, the US and Japan entered negotiations
in an attempt to improve diplomatic relations. On November 20th, Japan proposed to withdraw
from Indochina and China, provided the US ceased their aid to China and lifted all economic
sanctions against Japan. Six days later, the US counter-offered with
the Hull Note that required Japan evacuate China without any conditions. Before Japan had received the Hull Note, their
task force had already left Japanese seas heading for Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attack is thought to have been
a preventive action to stop the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with their planned
military operations in Southeast Asia. Japanese attacks were also focused on the
US-held Philippines, Guam, and Wake Islands, and the British territories of Malaya, Singapore,
and Hong Kong. Pearl Harbor was attacked by somewhere between
350 to 450 Japanese aircraft in two waves from six aircraft carriers. All of the American battleships were damaged,
along with 3 cruisers, 3 destroyers, and an anti-aircraft training ship. 188 aircraft were destroyed, 2,403 Americans
were killed in the attack, and 1,178 were injured. The Japanese lost 29 aircraft, 5 midget submarines,
and 64 servicemen. A third wave was planned but not executed. The Japanese objectives were four-fold. Firstly, they intended to destroy the American
fleet units, thus preventing the Pacific Fleet from interfering with their activities in
South East Asia. Secondly, they hoped to buy time to increase
their naval strength and strengthen their military position. Thirdly, they hoped to deliver a blow to the
US’s capability to mobilize in the Pacific. Finally, the Japanese believed the attack
would weaken morale in America to an extent the government would drop its demands and
seek a peaceful compromise with Japan. Shortly after the attack (and probably before
it), Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto regretted the offensive strike. The 1970 Hollywood film, Tora! Tora! Tora!, has Yamamoto saying “I fear all we
have done is awoken a sleeping giant and filled it with terrible resolve.” Although Yamamoto never uttered these words,
his diary is littered with pages of pre and post–op anxiety. Yamamoto went to Harvard University from 1919-1921
and knew quite well the threat the US posed. Pearl Harbor led to US involvement in the
Second World War and ultimately to the first and only use of atomic weapons in current
history. On August 6th 1945, the US dropped Little
Boy on Hiroshima and 3 days later dropped Fat Boy on Nagasaki. So why did Japan pick a fight with an enemy
boasting greater economic, industrial, and potentially military power? The plan, had they had pulled it off, would
only have bought time. The US’s budget for the year 1940 alone
was greater than Japan’s ten-year military shipbuilding plans. The repercussions of the attack on Pearl Harbor
could not have been totally unexpected. Admiral Yamamoto compared fighting the United
States to “fighting the whole world.” He told his political principles, “If you
insist that we really do it, you may trust us for the perfect execution of a breath-taking
show of naval victories for the first half-year or full-year. But if the war should be prolonged into a
second or third year, I am not confident at all.” Yamamoto was right. Japan had to win quickly or not win at all. By 1943, the US had a bright new shiny high-tech
fleet authorized by the Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940. This fleet was steaming into the combat zone
with a thirst for revenge and a reason to do so. Zenji Abe, 89, was a former dive-bomber pilot
in the attack on Pearl Harbor. “During the war, we Japanese did not know
much about Americans, and they also did not know about us. We conducted our mission as soldiers and there
was no hatred there, though the government tried to teach us to have such feelings. It’s just that our paths happened to cross
in Pearl Harbor on that day,” Abe said in a 2006 interview with the Japan Times. Suggesting that the attack was a futile diplomatic
failure, Abe calls into account the responsibility of wartime Prime Minister General Hideki Tojo. “The wartime leaders at that time told people
to commit suicide if we were captured. They should have committed seppuku when the
war ended, as they had responsibility for causing the suffering of so many people. Their attitudes were immoral.” He concluded, “I believe Japan and the world
would have changed for the better if the Pearl Harbor attack did not happen, and the relationship
between Japan and its neighboring countries would have been different if the wartime leaders
had acted morally.” Events of the magnitude of Pearl Harbor often
come with conspiracy theories attached. The Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy
theory is the argument that the US Government knew that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor
was imminent, but promptly did nothing about it. The debate questions how and why the US was
caught off guard and to what extent they knew about Japan’s military ambitions. In September 1945, John T. Flynn published
a 46 paged document entitled The Truth about Pearl Harbor. A number of writers, including journalist
Robert Stinnett, argued several parties in the US and British governments had advance
knowledge of the attack, and either let it happen or even encouraged the event. The rationale behind this theory is that the
attack would result in America entering the European theatre of World War Two via a Japanese
back door. This theory is, however, considered a fringe
theory, and is rejected by the majority of historians specializing in the period. So, what do you think about the Pearl Harbor
attack? Was it military suicide, an ill-thought-out
strategic plan, a brilliant tactical move, or part of a larger plan that became derailed? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to watch our other video – Weakest
Armies in Asia. Thanks for watching, and as always, don't
forget to like, share and subscribe. See you next time!
