History Of World War II - The Pearl Harbor Bombing

History Of World War II - The Pearl Harbor Bombing

Japan's desire to become masters of the planet was recognized quite early when the island nation attacked China and annexed Manchuria. Japan now wished to add the resource-rich South Asian countries like the Philippines, Burma and India to its empire, and perused this dream with characteristic zest.

One major obstacle in Japan's path to global conquest was the United States, which already had a sizeable presence in the Pacific region. The Japanese knew it was inevitable that the U.S. would enter the war. President Roosevelt had made America's intentions of keeping the Pacific sector free from occupation quite clear.

Japan decided to do what they knew best - attack! The Japanese believed that attacking first and without warning would give them an unassailable advantage over the Americans. They also knew that an attack on the strategically placed Pearl Harbor which housed a large portion of American Navy in the Pacific, would cripple the fleet and discourage the United States from getting more involved in the war.

What followed was one of the deadliest air attacks in history, which at least for a short while served its purpose - to stun and disable the American Navy and Air Force.