Tell about Pearl Harbor Attack ?

on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes.

More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded

The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China

The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market.

To this end, Japan declared war on China in 1937, resulting in the Nanking Massacre and other atrocities.

American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes.

They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism.

Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground.

During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was all but inevitable.

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is located near the center of the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles from the U.S.

mainland and about 4,000 miles from Japan.Therefore, no one believed that the Japanese would start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawaii

Additionally, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, Singapore or Indochina.

American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions and trade embargoes.

They reasoned that without access to money and goods, and especially essential supplies like oil, Japan would have to rein in its expansionism.

Instead, the sanctions made the Japanese more determined to stand their ground.

During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was all but inevitable.

Because American military leaders were not expecting an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended

Almost the entire Pacific Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfields.

To the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was an irresistibly easy target.

During months of negotiations between Tokyo and Washington, D.C., neither side would budge. It seemed that war was all but inevitable.

The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific.

Therefore, no one believed that the Japanese would start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawaii.

On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack.

Additionally, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the (relatively) nearby European colonies in the South Pacific: the Dutch East Indies, Singapore or Indochina.