America's Greatest 20th Century Presidents by Charles River Charles River Editors Page B
Authors: Charles River Charles River Editors
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anticipated the potential for war in 1941. However, so did the Japanese, and both the Japanese and Americans thus made a series of decisions that eventually led to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
When Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, the Soviet Union was facing a mortal threat, and the Japanese, who had fought a war against the Russians less than 50 years earlier, no longer had to worry about the Russian threat on its border. This allowed them to focus their expansion efforts across the Far East and into the South Pacific. At the same time, even while the Japanese expanded across the Pacific during 1941, they were running low on several crucial resources, particularly metal and oil. In response to Japanese aggression in China and other places, the United States had imposed a crippling embargo on Japan, making their shortages even more severe.
With a watchful idea on the expansion of the Japanese Empire across the Pacific, the Roosevelt Administration sought to bolster the Americans’ grip on the Phillipines. As the closest American target to the mainland of Japan, the Phillipines seemed the most obvious target held by American forces for Japanese expansion. With that in mind, President Roosevelt decided to station a majority of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Having already devastated China, Japan was looking to Southeast Asia, which was full of Allied targets like the Dutch East Indies, a British possession. Well aware of America’s barely neutral stance and their assistance to the British, the Japanese figured any attack on British targets would bring the U.S. into the war. Thus, the Japanese decided to strike a blow at the United States itself, hoping to buy itself enough time to grab an iron grip in the Pacific while the U.S. rebuilt its crippled fleet.
Japan plotted and trained for an attack on Pearl Harbor for several months leading up to December 7. Believing that a successful attack would buy it the time needed to win the war, the Japanese opted not to attempt to actually invade Hawaii, and their attack ignored the infrastructure on the islands. The Japanese also knew American aircraft carriers would not be at Pearl Harbor but were content to attack the battleships that were stationed there.
Although the United States and its armed forces had prepared for the possibility of an attack, they had not anticipated that it would be at Pearl Harbor, so far away from Japan in the middle of the Pacific. The attacks on December 7, 1941 took American forces completely by surprise, inflicting massive damage to the Pacific fleet and nearly 3,000 American casualties. Several battleships were sunk in the attack. Hours later, the Japanese invaded the Phillipines, where American military leaders had anticipated a surprise attack before Pearl Harbor. Even still, the Japanese quickly overran the Phillipines, forcing General MacArthur to flee to Australia while the unlucky soldiers still stuck on the islands had to endure the Bataan Death March.
At the end of 1941, the Japanese did in fact reign supreme across the Pacific, and it was far from clear that the United States would be able to change the balance of power in the Pacific. Though it was not apparent at the time, Japan’s failure to sink any aircraft carriers proved fatal, as demonstrated at the Battle of Midway the following year. However, the attacks on Pearl Harbor led to a rapid and full scale mobilization of the United States’ economy and war effort overnight. Within months of Pearl Harbor, the United States’ armed forces were helping turn the tide in three different theaters, and Eisenhower would take command in one of them.
Becoming a Commanding General
1942 would be the most momentous year of Eisenhower’s life to date, but it started much like the previous 25 years, with Eisenhower consigned to a staff job conducting military planning far away from the battlefield. Eisenhower shuffled through a handful of administrative jobs in the
When Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, the Soviet Union was facing a mortal threat, and the Japanese, who had fought a war against the Russians less than 50 years earlier, no longer had to worry about the Russian threat on its border. This allowed them to focus their expansion efforts across the Far East and into the South Pacific. At the same time, even while the Japanese expanded across the Pacific during 1941, they were running low on several crucial resources, particularly metal and oil. In response to Japanese aggression in China and other places, the United States had imposed a crippling embargo on Japan, making their shortages even more severe.
With a watchful idea on the expansion of the Japanese Empire across the Pacific, the Roosevelt Administration sought to bolster the Americans’ grip on the Phillipines. As the closest American target to the mainland of Japan, the Phillipines seemed the most obvious target held by American forces for Japanese expansion. With that in mind, President Roosevelt decided to station a majority of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Having already devastated China, Japan was looking to Southeast Asia, which was full of Allied targets like the Dutch East Indies, a British possession. Well aware of America’s barely neutral stance and their assistance to the British, the Japanese figured any attack on British targets would bring the U.S. into the war. Thus, the Japanese decided to strike a blow at the United States itself, hoping to buy itself enough time to grab an iron grip in the Pacific while the U.S. rebuilt its crippled fleet.
Japan plotted and trained for an attack on Pearl Harbor for several months leading up to December 7. Believing that a successful attack would buy it the time needed to win the war, the Japanese opted not to attempt to actually invade Hawaii, and their attack ignored the infrastructure on the islands. The Japanese also knew American aircraft carriers would not be at Pearl Harbor but were content to attack the battleships that were stationed there.
Although the United States and its armed forces had prepared for the possibility of an attack, they had not anticipated that it would be at Pearl Harbor, so far away from Japan in the middle of the Pacific. The attacks on December 7, 1941 took American forces completely by surprise, inflicting massive damage to the Pacific fleet and nearly 3,000 American casualties. Several battleships were sunk in the attack. Hours later, the Japanese invaded the Phillipines, where American military leaders had anticipated a surprise attack before Pearl Harbor. Even still, the Japanese quickly overran the Phillipines, forcing General MacArthur to flee to Australia while the unlucky soldiers still stuck on the islands had to endure the Bataan Death March.
At the end of 1941, the Japanese did in fact reign supreme across the Pacific, and it was far from clear that the United States would be able to change the balance of power in the Pacific. Though it was not apparent at the time, Japan’s failure to sink any aircraft carriers proved fatal, as demonstrated at the Battle of Midway the following year. However, the attacks on Pearl Harbor led to a rapid and full scale mobilization of the United States’ economy and war effort overnight. Within months of Pearl Harbor, the United States’ armed forces were helping turn the tide in three different theaters, and Eisenhower would take command in one of them.
Becoming a Commanding General
1942 would be the most momentous year of Eisenhower’s life to date, but it started much like the previous 25 years, with Eisenhower consigned to a staff job conducting military planning far away from the battlefield. Eisenhower shuffled through a handful of administrative jobs in the
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