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Pearl Harbor

In 1941, one of the largest American military defeats occurred. An entire naval fleet was destroyed; hundreds were killed, all before 9:00 on a Sunday. The United States did not have any knowledge of this attack, partially because of ignorance, and partially because of the military strategies of their Japanese opponents. The Japanese attack on the United States naval base of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was a classic case of "It will not happen to me!" (Stevens) Although the United States suspected Japanese actions, they did not take a defensive stance, as they believed an attack would never touch their soil. Through an examination of military history, tactics and eyewitness descriptions, it will be proven that the United States had no knowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. In the years before 1941, the war in Europe saw little American military action. After the collapse of France, American President Roosevelt promised his county that no American troops would be sent to Europe to aid in the battle against Hitler and his powerful army. These promises caused Roosevelt to be criticized by his closest advisors for his indecisiveness about declaring war. The President's defense to these accusations was he did not want to out step public opinion. As well, he believed American intervention would cause a 'mortal blow' to the Allies cause. In reality, the advisors, as well as Roosevelt, knew that Britain could not win the war without American armed intervention. Two oceans to the East, Japan was deep into a war of her own. Japanese forces were concentrated on the Chinese front to conquer and obtain. As a result of her unpopular declaration of war on China, Japan's fuel supply from the United States was eliminated. Consequently, the Japanese turned to Indonesia to continue the supply of fuel for her war efforts. Fuel talks broke down, as the Dutch, who were in control of the Indonesian fuel supply and, under heavy influence from the United States would not...