Mengting Zhang 2/15/12 ENGL 1102 Ms.

Caruso

On December 7, 1941, one of the largest American military defeats in history occurred. Most of the United States Naval Pacific Fleet was destroyed and thousands of soldiers were killed or wounded, all before 9:00 A.M. that Sunday morning. The forces stationed there did not have any knowledge of the coming attack, mostly because of their superiors ignorance, but partially because of the military strategies of their Japanese opponents. Although a string of events earlier that morning all pointed to an attack, the United States forces were not ready because they did not believe the Japanese would ever directly attack American soil. To understand why Japan lashed out, we must go back to World War I.(Buchanan 1) Two oceans to the east, Japan was deeply seeded in a war of its own. Japanese forces were concentrated on the Chinese front in an attempt to expand their boundaries and gain access to new supplies of natural resources, something scarce in the Japanese homeland. Wilson rejected Japan's claim to German concessions in Shantung, home of Confucius, which Japan had captured at a price in blood. Tokyo threatened a walkout if denied what she had been promised by the British. "They are not bluffing," warned Wilson, as he capitulated. "We gave them what they should not have." (Buchanan 1) As a result of Japans unpopular declaration of war on China, the United States implemented an embargo on fuel supplies. Consequently, the Japanese turned to Indonesia to continue the supply of fuel for its war efforts. Fuel talks broke down,

however, as the Dutch, who were in control of the Indonesian fuel supply and under heavy influence from the United States, would not supply Japan with fuel. Pearl Harbor made American people get together to fight with Japan. As a result, it was a big disaster for Japan. It also directly causes America joined to World War II.