Pearl Harbor

The military leaders of Japan decided that they should strike immediately against the United States and seize the key areas of the region which produced raw materials, for example, British-owned Burma for its oil and Malaya for its rubber. The plan was to deliver such a crippling blow to the US Pacific fleet that the Americans would be forced to accept Japan's control of South-East Asia. It was decided that the Japanese fleet's aircraft carriers would launch their bombers against the US Pacific fleet's base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

A complete victory – almost

At 0750 hours, early on Sunday morning 7 December 1941, the first wave of 214 Japanese aircraft struck at Pearl Harbor. No declaration of war had been made and the Americans were taken totally by surprise. An hour later, another wave of 170 bombers flew over to hit those few targets missed in the first attack.

The Japanese were pleased with their attack. They had sunk five US battleships, put another three out of action and destroyed over 200 aircraft. Some 2400 Americans had been killed. The Japanese lost just 29 of their 384 aircraft. Japan now had ten battleships in the Pacific to America's one. But when the planes returned, it soon became clear that none of the three US aircraft carriers had been at Pearl Harbor that morning. These had been the major target of the attack. Nor were the ship repair yards or the huge oil tanks damaged. The Japanese had severely damaged the US fleet, but not as badly as they had hoped.

Pearl Harbor: the turning point

The American people had been determined to stay out of Europe's war. They did not see it as any of their business, though their sympathies certainly were with Britain against Germany and Italy. Pearl Harbor meant that Japan was now at war with the USA and Britain since on the same day the Japanese attacked British bases as well. But the Americans were not at war with Germany or Italy and it is possible that Roosevelt would not have declared war on them. Roosevelt had proved himself a friend of Britain from the moment war began. The United States had lent and sold huge amounts of military equipment to Britain and he was anxious to prevent the destruction of democracy in Europe. Nonetheless, there was probably little enthusiasm in America for a war against Germany and Japan.

On 11 December, 1941, Hitler and Mussolini settled the matter by declaring war on the United States. The world's greatest industrial power was now fully involved in the struggle against the Axis dictatorships. Roosevelt quickly agreed with Churchill that the Allies should first concentrate on defeating Germany, even though Japan was clearly a much greater threat to the Americans.

Neil Demarco: The era of the Second World War; Oxford University Press, 1993/2000, page 49 f.