Notes
PEARL HARBOR
- Dec.7, 1941 – Attack on US Naval Base in Hawaii
- Not intended to put USA into war
- They thought U.S would be too “soft” to reclaim that territory
- Objective: sink and immobilize U.S. battleships and carriers
- Eight battleships were damaged, two were lost and three were absent during the raid.
- It almost succeeded
- Japanese failures:
- Oil depots weren’t destroyed
- Aircraft carriers are absent
- Submarine pens were not destroyed
- USA declares war on Japan
- Hitler declares war on USA on Dec. 10
Summary
Pearl harbor was bombed by the Japanese by a surprise attack. They did not think the Americans would respond, but the Americans killed 4x the amount of boats as the U-boats did; consequently, the Americans joined the war. As a result, Hitler declared war on the US.
Quote
"We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war." - FDR
subjunctive question
Could have the Japanese avoided the war if it wasn't for Pearl Harbor?