World War 2 Introduction World War 2 was one of the many wars that occurred during the 20th century. During this brutal war many countries, people, and history were changed. The factors that encourged the Germans and Japanese forces allowed them to take over other countries and kill many of people. Now, years later, from a different point of view, the Germans and Japanese accomplished nothing but just killing innocent people. The greediness behind the Germans and Japanese in the 20th century would change everybodys lives forever. How Did This War Start The Germans had a powerful army in the 1930's. They had a very powerful leader named Adolf Hitler. He was a greedy man who wanted everyone blonde hair, and blue eyes. He wanted everyone the same and to be the only leader in the world. Hitler started his conquest for land in 1938 when he annexed Austria. He followed this by threatening Czechoslovakia. When Hitler increased his demands on the Czechs, war seemed almost certain. The British and French had meetings with Hitler and Mussoluni but they could not stop them from putting demands on other country's. Soon after the meetings Hitler captured Czechoslovakia and seized a former German port. He moved on by putting demands on Poland and the Polish Corridor. In September 1939 France and Britain agreed to support Poland and they soon declared war with Germany. How Did The US Get IntoThe War First of all Japan has no natural resources in their country. So being that they replied on their oil products from the US. In July 27 1941, President Roosevelt stopped all trading with the Japanese. That meaning now that Japan has no fuel to run their military forces. Japan forces then went and attacked the East Indies and took over all of their fuel. Shell was the company that owned most of the fuel products in the East Indies. Shell's head office was in England which led European forces to be in the war against Japan and Germany. When the US stopped trading with Japan they took this as a hostile act but, Japan still tried to make peace with them. A Japan ambassador even asked for a peace discussion with the secretary of state. The meeting did not go threw with the 2 nations. Japan then attacked Atu (an island off of Alaska) in hopes to draw the American forces up North. Japan was wrong , but soon after this they planned out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbour (a military base for the Americans in Hawaii). The Americans had a small idea that the Japanese might attack them. On the Morning of December 7, 1941 a flight of planes were detected, but the people in Pearl Harbour were told that they were US fighter planes coming in
World War II, along with its numerous battles, brought great tension between two of the strongest countries during the 1940s: the United States and Japan. Conflict between these two countries started with Japan’s push past Chinese borders into Manchuria in search of the natural resources Japan lacks. At first, the United States avoided military action with Japan by waging economic warfare on them. This economic pressure included the passing of the Neutrality Act, which prohibited the sale of weapons to nations at war (Nash 513). Additionally, the United States placed oil embargoes on Japan hoping it would force Japan to shut down military operations in China. Japan, at a critical decision point, decided to bomb the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941 at 6 a.m., Japan pilots bombed the naval base at Pearl Harbor, taking out the United States’ strongest battleships, killing thousands of people, and destroying hundreds of planes (Sherman). The day after Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. Over the next few years, the United States and Japan fought fierce battles for dominance in the Pacific Ocean. One of the most important battles during the United States and Japanese war was the Battle of Midway. Japan was destroying the United States at sea, until the Battle of Midway gave the United States Pacific Fleet an edge on Japanese forces. The Battle of Midway was the most important naval engagement of World War II: it was a decisive battle that allowed the United States to be the dominant naval power in the Pacific and it marked a turning point in World War II for the United States.
Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the US. Although Japan began the War in the Pacific on the offensive, winning many battles and gaining significant territories, the tide quickly turned in favor of the US because of the their dominating industrial capacity. Thus, the Japanese began to resort to ghastly measures to prevent a humiliating defeat.
Japan was a small nation that was in dire need of resources so it could flourish. They need iron for weapons, rubber for tires, and coal and oil for fuel. In July 1937, to capture its coal and iron reserves, Japan launched a successful and brutal attack against China. This would be the start of an assault on the Pacific region by Japan. This assault would last for three years without anyone getting involved because tensions were growing futile in the European theatre.
In the early 1940s, an event that was so premeditated and yet so very atrocious hit our nation’s pacific ocean. The state of Hawaii and its famous harbor was left victimized and bleeding as the skies rained down with munitions and kamikaze fighter planes. Many of the members of the armed services found themselves asking one question. What was to come next? As the United States of America and the empire of Japan at the time demonstrated that both sides had its differences no one could have ever expect anything of this magnitude to take place.
In an effort to attain control of the Pacific Ocean, Japan launched an unprecedented attack against the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Despite the isolationist attitude of America prior to joining World War II, an embargo against Japan in part prompted the terrible offence. Hideki Tōjō, a radical conservative, had recently been elected Prime Minister of Japan, under his leadership; a plan to expand the Empire of Japan was developed. The attack planned by the Japanese Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto who had been educated in America, and had served two tours of duty in the United States was strategically quite brilliant (Japan). Many factors afforded the opportunity for Japan’s success in the assault. The ignorant arrogance of the United States government in balancing its military distribution created a serious vulnerability. Additionally, the U.S. radar technology was still very new and delivery of intercepted Japanese intelligence was poorly handled. Although significant damage was incurred, the greatest assets of the U.S. Navy, its aircraft carriers, were not docked at Pearl Harbor. Not only did over 2,000 Americans perish (both military and civilian), 55 Japanese aviators died as well. Despite previous rallies to remain uninvolved with World War II, Americans were so angry at the unprovoked attack, lines formed around the block at military recruitment offices; in effect, attacking Pearl Harbor woke a sleeping giant.
During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge, making the war inevitable. Japan wanted to bring the United States into the war, so they began to plan their infamous attack. Japan’s military envisioned a grand empire that would cover most of Southeast Asia and the islands of the South Pacific. The Philippine Islands are in the middle of that domain, which was at the time American territory. Military bases with thousands of U.S. troops were stationed on these islands. The Japanese predicted it was only a matter of time before America would enter the war. Therefore, decided that a surprise was their best weapon against the United States. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was a huge tragedy to the U.S., and caused the U.S. to enter into WWII, but brought more consequences to Japan than could ever be
It was a Sunday morning, on December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor, US naval base located on Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese. They caught unguarded the whole nation, and for that, this attack is considered one of the top ten failures of the US intelligence. The Japanese were able to attack Pearl Harbor by surprise because of the mindset of US officials, whom they saw Japanese as a weak enemy, who wouldn’t risk attacking US territory, caused by a supremacy factor; As well as the not good enough US intelligence efficiency to encrypt Japanese codes, and the handling of such information. After the negotiations between the Japanese and the United States ended, there was no doubt that they would make an attack, but they didn’t know the target of it.
Having been spread out over more land and involved more people than any other war in history, many believe World War II is also the most historic war in as well. There has never been a war of such immense importance and such a gigantic magnitude. The United States served an absolutely vital role in the outcome of this war. The U.S. was faced with the duty of taking on two different wars at the same time in two different places in the world. Something that many countries would have backed away from. The European front was without hesitation the more evident of the two considering the unquestionable mayhem and evils that were being committed by Adolf Hitler. United States involvement on the European front was unavoidable and, generally much easier for U.S. forces to get to. Having fought in Europe less than thirty years prior, the U.S. was familiar with the territory and proper strategy. The Pacific Campaign of World War II offered an incomparable test for the United States Armed Forces. U.S. Armed Forces had never fought in the South Pacific or even on terrain that resembled the conditions in which they would be faced with in the Pacific Islands. With the Army deeply involved in Europe, in December of 1941 the United States found it self stuck in a war that it was not ready for and had no idea how to fight. However, the United States Marine Corps were the ideal company for the kind of combat they would be faced with in the Pacific. Marines had adequate training for land to sea combat. The Marine Corps fighting in the Pacific gave the U.S. its only chance of being successful against the Japanese military.
Two oceans to the East, Japan was deep into a war of its own. Japanese forces were concentrated on the Chinese front to conquer and obtain. As a result of its unpopular declaration of war...
Often times the Second World War over shadows the First World War when it comes to discussing a total war because the First World War may be considered a limited war. A limited war has specific goals while a total war involves the entire nation and its destruction. An examination of pre-1914 events and events that occurred from 1914 to1918 reveal the ways in which the First World War was a total war.
In the morning hours of December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian islands at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had been feeling the pressures of World War II (WWII) as did many others. With the resources of the Japanese dwindling, the Japanese decided to attack the U.S. while simultaneously planning the attack during the negotiations of continued peace between our two countries. The Japanese were able to cover up there planning for nearly a year. Planning for the attack and ultimately war in the pacific, started in January of 1941, and was finalized during the war games in November of 1941. The U.S. on the other hand would become a reactive force after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The inability to crack the Japanese code lead, to a lack of intelligence during this time making the plan of attack for the Japanese a successful one. It would seem that the year of planning and the strategies laid out in the “Combined Fleet Operations Top Secret Order 1” of the Japanese navy would become a reality in the pacific, allowing for an easy sweep of the military targets for the Japanese fleet.
...ther atomic bomb, leaving Japan helpless. Japan surrendered in several places from September 7th to September 16th.
Introduction – Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack because of the obstruction of defense and warning.
With the amount of oil that the americans had this led to the second reason why Japan attacked the Americans. In 1937, the Japanese
Japan had always been an ally of the United States. Japan tried to collect their share of treasure from Versailles. Japan ran into some troubles, Woodrow Wilson. Wilson rejected Japan’s claim to German concessions in Shantung. Duan Qirui, a Chinese warlord and politician had borrowed money from Japan to make China’s army stronger. Japan used that loan and wanted it to be repaid by getting the concessions in Shantung. In 1921, at the Naval Conference the US pressured the Britain’s to end their 20 year alliance with the Japanese. Japan was now isolated, Stalin’s unhappy empire to the north, t...