Pearl Harbor Attack and its Significance in the Second World War

This article discusses the Pearl Harbor attack, its significance in the Second World War, and the events that led to it. It also explores the consequences of the attack and its impact on history.

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Pearl Harbor was the Naval Fleet of the United States and during the initial stages of the
Second World War, on 7th of December there was a surprise military strike from the Japanese
Airforce. There were series of events that actually led to this attack. First, feud between the
countries of Japan and United States escalated in the year of 1931 after the Japan invasion of
Manchuria affected the trade of America (Crowhurst). Within the next few years, when Japan
started to expand towards China and French Indochina, the war supplies that were purchased
from the U.S. were to embargo all imports, this included oil exports as well. Japan also targeted
Philippines, which was an American territory at that time. The Japanese military invaded
Philippines, this made the American army to attack back at the Japanese (Wheeler). The military
leaders of Japan made the decision of re-conquesting the islands of Pearl Harbor.
The attack began at 7:48 am when more than 350 Japanese aircrafts came in two waves
and starting bombing from six different carriers. The attack sudden ended within span of few
hours. From the surprise strike, a total of 8 Navy ships were damaged badly and 4 of them sunk.
Many aircraft training ships were destroyed as well (Dockrill). More than 2000 U.S. soldiers lost
their lives and more than a thousand soldiers wounded. However, the Japanese did not attack the
power station, the shipyard or even the dry docks. The causality of the Japanese soldiers were
much less if compared to the American. After the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
declared war on Japan on the very same day. This led Germany and Italy to declare war on
United States as well as they were part of the same alliance. As a reply, United States declared
war on the allies as well.
It was because of the effect of Pearl Harbor, United States entered the Second World
War. There were many precedents towards unannounced military actions as the attack was
unannounced and occured without any declaration of war, the Tokyo Trials labeled it as a war

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crime. The United States government gave Medal of Honors, Navy Crosses, Silver Stars and
other recognition to those who distinguished themselves in the Pearl Harbor attack. Roosevelt
mentioned that that it was a day of infamy (Prange). Japan also attacked Philippines the same
day. Japan even launched a direct attack on the battleships of United Kingdom that made them to
be allies with eh United States. When the United States fully indulged into the war, Pearl Harbor
was mentioned in their propaganda. Internationally there were many consequences as well, in
Canada and United States there were many Japanese immigrants who were relocated to interior
camps for their safety. There are many debates regarding how United States were unaware and
how much the officials actually knew about the whole incident. However, with all the evidence
gathered, it can be said that the event of Pearl Harbor has been embedded in history along with
all the men who were involved at that incident.

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REFERENCES
Crowhurst, J. A. "The historical significance of anaesthesia events at Pearl Harbor." Anaesthesia
& Intensive Care 42 (2014).
Dockrill, Saki, ed. From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima: The Second World War in Asia and the
Pacific, 1941–45. Springer, 2016.
Prange, Gordon W., Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon. December 7, 1941: The Day
the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor. Open Road Media, 2014.
Wheeler, Gerald E. Prelude to Pearl Harbor: The United States Navy and the Far East, 1921-
1931. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2017.