WW2 (9.1.1939~ 9.2.

1945)
The Axis and Allies were involved, as well as other countries and leaders
were involved such as: Australia, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Italy, Poland,
Romania, Turkey, and the Unite States of America

Causes of World War 2

The Treaty of Versailles
In 1919, Lloyd George of England, Orlando of Italy, Clemenceau (kle-men-so)
of France and Woodrow Wilson from the US got together in order to
discuss Germanys situation. At first, Wilson proposed a 14-point plan
designed to bring peace to Europe. However, Clemenceau wanted revenge and
to keep Germany from starting any more wars. The severity of the final
treaty made Germany weak by damaging both her pride and economy.
The Failure of the League of Nations
On January 10, 1920, the League of Nations was set up, based on the idea of
countries uniting to keep world peace. Unfortunately, this system failed, as
the League turned out to have no real power. Their member countries were
reluctant to provide soldiers, and their method of meeting and discussing
took forever. After Mussolini successfully attacked Abyssinia in 1935, the
League was not taken seriously anymore.
The Global Depression
Then the Wall Street Crash of 1929 brought on the Global Depression,
which allowed dictators to rise to power, and the other countries could not
stop them as they were too weak. Dissatisfied with their own government,
the poor and bitter people of Germany wanted someone who could get
revenge for what had been done to Germany. That man was Hitler.
Hitler becoming Chancellor
Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. He used his

position of power to begin building Germanys army back up again secretly.

Britain and France knew what Hitler was doing, but they thought that if
Germany grew stronger, then Communism, a growing concern then, might not
spread to the West. What they didnt know was that Hitlers actions would
eventually lead to another World War.
The Rhineland Being Reoccupied
In 1936 Hitler marched his troops into the Rhineland, a German land
bordering France. Even though the German army had broken the treaty by
placing troops there and still couldve been easily defeated, France and
Britain still refused to start another war.
Anschluss
Austria and Germany had been banned from joining together, but Hitler had
disregarded this and instead ordered German troops to march into Austria
on March 1938, forcing the Austrian leader to hold a vote for union with
Germany. 99% of Austrian people wanted union with Germany, or Anschluss
The Munich Agreement
Only six months had passed before he then demanded for the Sudetenland
(su-dee-ten-luhnd) region of Czechoslovakia (check-uh-sluh-vakia) to be
given to Germany. Fearing that war might begin, talks were held to achieve
The Munich (M-yu-nik) Agreement, where Hitler was given the Sudetenland
region as long as this would be his last territorial demand.
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
On August 23, 1939, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed,
guaranteeing that the two countries would not attack each other. But in
truth, it was a tactic used in order to allow an invasion of Poland without
having to worry about a war on two fronts. The invasion was the final trigger
that brought on WW2.

THE HOLOCAUST
ANTISEMITISM

In everyday life
(article by Ellie Shim)
World War II is considered today to be one of the most brutal and cruel war in
history. Six million Jews have died through the holocaust, wiping two-thirds of
the Jewish population. Even before the massacre, they were prohibited from
their many rights, and considered a freak, or monsters.
In everyday life, many Non-jewish people discriminated and excluded the Jews.
The Nazis created laws, snatching away rights that every single person should
have. There were laws, such as Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil
Service, which forced Jews to retire from every civil services they worked in.
They were not allowed to become teachers, professors, judges and government
positions. Later on, new decrees were set, Semitic people were not able to be
musicians, lawyers, and doctors etc.
There were other small rules which didnt seem to affect the Jews life,
however, there were many rules that forbid them from having a normal
lifestyle. The Nazis banned Jews from sitting on park benches, sport clubs, and
schools. They also lost the right to vote. When Semitic people went out, their
clothing needed the Star of David marked in yellow colour. If there was a Jew
walking down a pavement, and German Soldiers on the same pavement, they were
forced to move down to the road, no matter how dangerous. There lives changed
drastically as their rights were slowly eaten away by the Nazis.

In school
(notes by Gabby Green)
Jews were forced to stand in front of the class as the teacher told the

class how they were different and wrong

In school, there was a race education class. In this class teachers would
tell students about how Jews were a different race
Non-Jewish children were taught and encouraged to bully Jewish children
Anti Jewish schoolbooks were made by the Nazis to be read at schools
Teachers would wear swastikas on their uniform. Once entering the
classroom they would shout chants such as Heil Hitler!
There were biology lessons on racial purity. Teachers would tell Jewish
students in this lesson that they were non-aryan. Teachers would
measure Jewish childrens nose length to point out that they were
inferior to fellow German students.
In history, Jewish children would be called out as traitors.
Jewish children would get time outs just for being Jewish.
Towards the end of 1935-8ish (RESEARCH THIS DUNNO WHAT DATE)
Jewish children were banned from attending public schools. Jewish
schools were set up.
Jewish children were forced by older children to clean the streets
Jewish boys would get beat up by German boys. Jewish boys and girls
were also subject to verbal abuse.
97% of teachers supported the Nazis.
An after-school activity was created. It was called the Hitler-Youth
Federation.
Hitler himself had decreed that "no boy or girl should leave school
without complete knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood
purity." - from historylearningsite
Exam questions would talk about killing Jewish people in the form of math
equations.
In 1936, Nazi Youth groups were made compulsory to join for children
aged 10-18.

 All textbooks had to be approved by the Nazis

Nazis controlled the education system
Individuality was discouraged.

In propaganda
(excerpt from article by Megan Yu)
The Nazi regime took advantage of the pre-existing stereotypes of Jews
to portray them through state-sponsored propaganda. Some of the images that
were often used to represent them include bacteria, parasites, devils, vermin,
and endless other inhuman descriptions. In stark contrast, Germany was shown
as a hero, protecting Western culture from the Judeo-Bolshevik threat by
invading the Soviet Union. There had already been an initial feeling of antisemitism throughout Europe, so propaganda easily convinced the public that the
Nazi ideology was the truth. The propaganda were also extremely effective in
creating an atmosphere that allowed for violent action against Jews. When new
laws were passed that would in fact steal the rights of Jews, propaganda was
always there to present the Nazis as helping to restore order, promoting the
passivity and acceptance of these actions.
Additionally, propaganda was utilized to help cover up the nightmarish
events that took place in ca
mps. Camp prisoners were forced to send postcards home explaining that
they were being treated well and living in nice conditions, just before being sent
off to die in gas chambers. Theresienstadt, a camp-ghetto established in 1941
for propaganda purposes, was used to produce a film that demonstrated the
kind treatment that the Jewish residents at the camp supposedly enjoyed.
Unfortunately, upon the completion of the film, most of the cast that had been
used was deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center.

Why didnt more didnt more Jews try to leave Germany earlier?
The decision to immigrate was not an easy one. Many Jewish families had
lived in Germany for generations. The German language, culture and way of life
was important to them; for many being German was more important than being
Jewish. Germany was their home and 30,000 German Jews had fought and died
for their country in the Great War.
To a new country would be a major upheaval. They would be arriving as
refugees, as strangers in a strange land and would perhaps be viewed with
distrust and suspicion. They would have to start their lives again, searching for
a new job, a place to live and learning a new language. Those who did emigrate
left not only their home but also their friends and sometimes their loved ones
behind. Jews that left Germany also lost most of their belongings and property
as the Nazis used a flight tax to confiscate much of their wealth.
There was also the problem of finding a country that would take them.
Permission was needed to live in another country and all countries would only
accept a fixed number of refugees each year. Until 1938, most Jews who
decided to leave Germany were able to find a country that would give them
shelter. Tens of thousands went to countries such as France, Holland, the
United States, the United Kingdom and Palestine. However, when the Nazis took
over Austria in 1938, the number of Jews seeking refuge outnumbered the
number that the countries of the world were prepared to help. In 1936 the
British government limited the number of Jews allowed into Palestine to 12,000
a year. The United States, historically a country of refuge, severely limited the
number of refugees it was prepared to admit. In 1938 thirty-two countries met
at the Evian Conference to find a solution to the crisis. Country after country

refused to increase the number of refugees it was prepared to help. Thousands

of Jews found themselves trapped inside Germany just as Nazi persecution
became even more severe.
FINAL SOLUTION
Operation Barbarossa started off successfully, and Nazi Leaders felt
they would soon conquer western Russia - 4 million more Jews would fall
under Nazi control
Nazi leaders begin preparations for total solution of the Jewish
question.
Heinrich Himmler: chief of German police, head of SS (self-described
political soldiers of Nazi party)
Oversaw running of concentration camps & extermination camps in
Europe
Coordinated the killing of approx. 6 million Jews during WWII
Named the Greatest Mass Murderer of All Times by German news
magazine
Wished to carry out Hitlers orders as efficiently as possible, and
avoided mass shootings b/c bullets were costly
WANNSEE CONFERENCE: Jan 1942 - To decide upon best way to
murder Jews
Reinhard Heydrich (chief of Gestapo): chaired the conference - a

conference that determined the fate of Jews, and lasted only 90

minutes!
Adolf Eichmann (head of Gestapo dealing w/ Jews) - drew up list
of Europes 11 million Jews living locations as well as 330,000 in
Britain
Final Outcomes:

 Fitter Jews would be spared for a few months to work for

Germany
Otherwise (mothers, others w/ no use), sent to terrible treatment
Gas Vans: A different way of killing all considered sub-human by the
Nazis
Nazis experimented w/ gas vans - killed nearly 100,000 Jews in the
sealed vans by 1942
The Problems:
The vans only took 30 victims at a time
Had to drive van around for about 30 minutes to make sure
everyone was dead
Began exploring more efficient methods
MOVING FROM GHETTOS TO CAMPS (Operation Reinhard)
July 1942 onwards: marks beginning of extermination camps (most
deadly phase of Holocaust)
German army marched further East more Jews taken prisoner
Judenrats (council of Jewish elders responsible for deportation to
death camps, for detailing the number and occupations of the Jews
in the ghettos, for distributing food and medical supplies, and for
communicating the orders of the ghetto Nazi masters) in ghettos
were told to provide 10,000 names/day to be resettled in work
camps
Jews convinced that they were being sent to work, but were
actually being sent to the new death camps
1941 - more than 1000 Jews/week dying in ghettos from disease &
hunger, so many were happy to leave that and willingly went along
with what they were told
As many as 2,000,000 people, almost all Jews, were murdered in

Belzec, Sobibor, Majdanek, and Treblinka, in the camps

Battle of Dunkirk
The Battle of Dunkirk was an important battle that took place in Dunkirk,
France, during the Second World War between the Allies and Germany. As
part of the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk
was he defense and evacuation of British and allied forces in Europe from
26th may- June 1940.
Dunkirk, and the evacuation associated with the troops trapped on Dunkirk,
was called a "miracle" by Winston Churchill. As the Wehrmacht swept
through western Europe in the spring of 1940, using Blitzkrieg, both the
French and British armies could not stop the onslaught. For the people in
western Europe, World War Two was about to start for real. The "Phoney
War" was now over.
The advancing German Army trapped the British and French armies on the
beaches around Dunkirk. 330,000 men were trapped here and they were a
sitting target for the Germans. Admiral Ramsey, based in Dover, formulated
Operation Dynamo to get off of the beaches as many men as was possible.
The British troops, led by Lord John Gort, were professional soldiers from
the British Expeditionary Force; trained men that we could not afford to
lose. From May 26th 1940, small ships transferred soldiers to larger ones
which then brought them back to a port in southern Britain.
The beach at Dunkirk was on a shallow slope so no large boat could get near
to the actual beaches where the men were. Therefore, smaller boats were
needed to take on board men who would then be transferred to a larger boat
based further off shore. 800 of these legendary "little ships" were used. It
is thought that the smallest boat to make the journey across the Channel
was the Tamzine - an 18 feet open topped fishing boat now on display at the
Imperial War Museum, London.
Despite attacks from German fighter and bomber planes, the Wehrmacht
never launched a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk. Panzer tank
crews awaited the order from Hitler but it never came. In his memoirs, Field
Marshall Rundstadt, the German commander-in-chief in France during the
1940 campaign, called Hitler's failure to order a full-scale attack on the

troops on Dunkirk his first fatal mistake of the war. That 338,000 soldiers
were evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk would seem to uphold this view.
One of the reasons put forward for Hitler not ordering an attack was that
he believed that Britain had suffered from the might of the Wehrmacht
once and that this experience would be sufficient for Britain to come to
peace terms with Hitler. The total destruction of the British Expeditionary
Force might have created such a climate of revenge in Britain that our
involvement would be prolonged. That is one idea put forward for why Hitler
did not order a full-scale attack on the beaches of Dunkirk - however, we will
never know the true reason.

The Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain took place between August and September 1940. After
the success of Blitzkrieg, the evacuation of Dunkirk and the surrender of
France, Britain was by herself. The Battle of Britain remains one of the
most famous battles of World War Two.

The Germans needed to control the English Channel to launch her invasion of
Britain (which the Germans code-named Operation Sealion).
They needed this control of the Channel so that the British Navy would not
be able to attack her invasion barges, which were scheduled to land on the
Kent and Sussex beaches.
To control the Channel the Germans needed control of the air. This meant
that they had to take on Fighter Command, led by Sir Hugh, of the Royal Air
Force.
The main fighter planes of the RAF were the Spitfire and the Hurricane.
The Germans relied primarily on their Messerschmitt fighters and their
Junkers dive bombers - the famed Stukas.
At the start of the war, Germany had 4,000 aircraft compared to Britain's
front-line strength of 1,660. By the time of the fall of France, the
Luftwaffe (the German air force) had 3,000 planes based in north-west
Europe alone including 1,400 bombers, 300 dive bombers, 800 single engine
fighter planes and 240 twin engine fighter bombers. At the start of the
battle, the Luftwaffe had 2,500 planes that were serviceable and in any
normal day, the Luftwaffe could put up over 1,600 planes. The RAF had
1,200 planes on the eve of the battle, which included 800 Spitfires and
Hurricanes - but only 660 of these were serviceable. The rate of British
plane production was good - the only weakness of the RAF was the fact that
they lacked sufficient trained and experienced pilots. Trained pilots had
been killed in the war in France and they had not been replaced.
Britain had a number of advantages over the Luftwaffe. Britain had RADAR
which gave us early warning of the approach of the German planes. By the

Spring of 1940, fifty-one radar bases had been built around the coast of
southern Britain. We also had the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) which used
such basics as binoculars to do the same job. By 1940, over 1000 ROC posts
had been established. British fighter planes could spend more time in the air
over Kent and Sussex as we could easily land for fuel whereas the German
fighters could not. German bombers could fly for longer distances than their
fighter planes could cover and therefore, the bombers could not always
count on fighter cover for protection. The German fighters were also limited
in that they could not reload their guns if they ran out of ammunition while
over Kent etc. Our fighters could. Without sufficient fighter cover, the
German bombers were very open to attack from British fighter planes.
The battle started on July 10th 1940 when the Luftwaffe attempted to gain
control of the Straits of Dover. The aim of the Luftwaffe was to tempt the
RAF out for a full-scale battle. By the end of July, the RAF had lost 150
aircraft while the Luftwaffe had lost 268. In August, the Luftwaffe started
to attack Fighter Command's airfields, operation rooms and radar stations the idea being that the RAF could be destroyed on the ground so that the
Luftwaffe need not fight them in the air. Without radar the RAF would be
seriously hampered in terms of early warning and the destruction of
operation rooms would cut off communications between fighter bases and
those at the heart of the battle controlling the movement of fighter planes.
Destroyed runways would hamper the chances of a fighter plane taking off.
Bad weather stopped the Luftwaffe from daily raids in August but August
15th is seen as a key date as nearly all the Stuka dive-bombers were
destroyed by this date as they fell easy prey to the British fighter planes.
Therefore, pin-point bombing of radar stations was all but impossible.
From August 23rd to September 6th, the Luftwaffe started night time
bombing raids on cities. The RAF was also badly hit with 6 out of 7 main
fighter bases in south-eastern England being put out of action. Biggen Hill
was wrecked. However, for all this apparent success, the Luftwaffe was
losing more planes than the RAF was - 1000 German losses to 550 RAF.
One event did greatly aid the British. The head of the Luftwaffe - Herman
Goering - ordered an end to the raids on radar bases as he believed that
they were too unimportant to matter. Albert Speer - a leading Nazi
throughout the war - claimed in his book "Inside the Third Reich" that a

number of important decisions were made based on Goering's ignorance. As

Goering did not understand the importance of something, it was dismissed as
unnecessary for success. As a result of this, the radar station at Ventnor on
the Isle of Wight functioned throughout the battle and gave Fighter
Command vital information regarding German targets.
The change to bombing the cities also gave Fighter Command time to recover
from its losses and for pilots to recover from the many hours a day they
operated which took many to the brink of exhaustion.
On September 15th came the last major engagement of the battle. On that
day, the Luftwaffe lost 60 planes while the RAF lost 28. On September
17th, Hitler postponed indefinitely the invasion of Britain though the night
time raids the Blitz - continued. London, Plymouth and Coventry were all
badly hit by these raids.
Recent research indicates that Hitlers heart was not in an attack on Britain
but that he wanted to concentrate his countrys strength on an attack on
communist Russia, However, no-one in Britain in the autumn of 1940 would
have known about this and all indications from April 1940 onwards, were that
Hitler did intend to invade Britain, especially after his boast to the German
people - "he's coming, he's coming!"
In a continuation of the propaganda war, the British government claimed
that the RAF had shot down 2,698 German planes. The actual figure was1,
100. The RAF lost 650 planes - not the 3,058 planes that the Luftwaffe
claimed to have shot down - more than the entire RAF!
Why were the Germans defeated?

1. The Germans fought too far away from their bases so that refueling and rearming were impossible. The
German fighters had a very limited time which they could spend over Britain before their fuel got too low.
2. British fighters could land, refuel and rearm and be in the air again very quickly.
3. The change of targets was crucial. It is now believed that Fighter Command was perhaps only 24 hours
away from defeat when the attack on the cities occurred. The breathing space this gave Fighter Command was
crucial.
4. The Hurricane and Spitfire (above) were exceptional planes - capable of taking on the might of the
Luftwaffe.

The Blitz
The huge fear generated by the Guernica bombing during the Spanish
Civil War, convinced many people that a civilian population could be
bombed into submission. The theory was that the population, in
constant fear of a sudden and violent death, would put pressure on
their government to surrender. If that government did not surrender,
then the population would take to the streets, riot and overthrow the
government. The whole point of a sustained bombing campaign was to
destroy a nations morale.
By mid-September 1940, the Battle of Britain had been lost by the
Germans. This was the first setback Hitler had received during World
War Two. The Blitz on British cities night-time raids as opposed to
daytime to enhance the fear factor was Hitlers attempt to destroy
Britains morale. The attacks started on September 7th 1940 and
continued to May 1941.
London was especially badly hit. At the start of the campaign, the
government did not allow the use of underground rail stations as they
considered them a potential safety hazard. However, the population of
London took the matter into their own hands and opened up the
chained entrances to the tube stations. In the Underground they were

safe from the high explosive and incendiary bombs that rained down on
London night after night. With one or two exceptions, their confidence
was rewarded. The City tube station was hit when a bomb went
through the road and fell into it. Over 200 were killed.
To start with the government underestimated the potential use of
the underground stations. The government estimated that 87% or
more of people would use the issued shelters (usually Anderson
shelters) or spaces under stairs etc. and that only 4% of the
population would use the underground stations. Each night
underground stations played host to thousands of families in
London grateful for the protection they afforded.
Despite blackout restrictions, the Luftwaffe had a relatively easy
way of getting to London. They simply had to follow the route of
the River Thames which also directed them to the docks based
at the East End of the city. Each night, the first bombs dropped
were incendiary bombs designed to give the following bombers
the most obvious of markers. After the incendiary bombs, came
the high explosives.
The government used its control over all forms of the media to
present a picture of life going on as normal despite the constant
nightly attacks. They did not show photos of people known as
trekkers the families who would spend the night away from
their homes, preferably in local woodland or a park where they
felt safer from attack. Such photos were censored. An American
film "London can take it" - presented the image of a city
devastated by bombs but one that carried on as normal. The
narrator makes the point that "bombs can only kill people, they
cannot destroy the indomitable spirit of a nation."
However, we know that life was not quite as easy as propaganda
showed. London could take it but only because there was little
else they could do. Under wartime restrictions, people could not
simply leave their homes and move elsewhere. The poorest in
London lived in the East End and it was this area that was
especially hit hard by bombing because of the docks that were
based there. However, most of the families there could do little
else except stay where they were unless specifically moved by
the government. These families developed what became known

as a war-time spirit. They adapted their lives to the constant

night-time bombing.
By May 1941, 43,000 had been killed across Britain and 1.4
million had been made homeless. Not only was London attacked
but so were many British cities. Coventry and Plymouth were
particularly badly bombed but most of Britains cities were also
attacked Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool etc.
The defence of these cities relied on anti-aircraft guns,
searchlights and an early warning system. The Royal Observer
Corps played a vital role in this as many units were based on the
coast and could inform the authorities in London of impending
attacks. ROC units based on the West Coast could also given
early warning of German bombers coming in from Norway. As
Britain had no night-time fighters then, the bombers only had to
cope with AA fire and avoiding barrage balloons and searchlights.
Within the cities, the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) wardens, police
and other services organised the emergency services after a raid.
The AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service) played a vital role both during
and after a raid in coping with the many fires caused by
incendiary bombs. The part played by the Women's Voluntary
Service is well documented.
Britain also adopted a bombing campaign against German cities.
Bomber Harris, commander of Bomber Command, was a strong
believer in aerial bombardment destroying a nations morale
hence the attacks. However, the same war-time spirit shown in
British cities during the raids, was also shown in German.
The Blitz on Britain was called off in May 1941. Hitler had a far
more prized target. In the following month, Operation Barbarossa
was launched the attack on Russia. The huge military force
needed for this attack included many bombers and two-thirds of
the German military was to be tied up on the Eastern Front for the
duration of the war.

Pearl Harbor
The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, took place on
December 7th 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor was called a "day of infamy"
by President FD Roosevelt. It was to bring the United States of America
into World War Two.
The air attack was led by Commander Mitsuo Fuchida. The first wave of
planes consisted of 183 fighters, bombers and torpedo bombers. It started
its attack at 07.55 a.m. The second wave had 170 planes in it and attacked
Pearl Harbor at 08.54 a.m.
They took off from the aircraft carriers Akaga, Kaga, Hiryu, Soryu, Zuikaku
and Shokaku. By the time the war ended, all six had been sunk by the
Americans along with all the other Japanese capital ships involved in the
attack.
The pilots in the first attack used a radio stations mast near Pearl Harbor
to home in on. The first casualties were 35 American servicemen who were

having breakfast at the Army Air Forces Hickam Field - a 550lb bomb hit
their dining hall.
The most serious casualty was the USS Arizona. One torpedo and eight
bombs hit her, 1,760 lbs. of explosives, as she lay moored up at Ford Island
Naval Station. One bomb is thought to have pierced the forward deck
setting off over one million pounds of gunpowder. 1,177 men were killed on
the Arizona alone.
Those who survived on the USS Nevada moored directly behind the
Arizona and badly damaged in the attack - claimed that the Arizona was
launched up to ten feet into the air as a result of the huge explosion that
tore her apart and sunk within nine minutes. One witness on the Nevada said
that the Arizona was broken in two before she sunk. Along with the Arizona,
the Utah and the Oklahoma never sailed again but all the other ships
damaged in the attack did sail again once repairs had been successfully
carried out.
Twenty-nine Japanese planes were brought down by the defences at Pearl
Harbor during the attack that lasted for two hours. Midget submarines were
also used in the attack and one managed to get into Pearl Harbor itself only
to be sunk by USS Monaghan.
The Japanese saw the base as the pinnacle of Americas military supremacy
in the Pacific Ocean. If a catastrophic blow could be struck against America
at Pearl Harbor, then the Japanese surmised that America would pull out of
the region leaving it free for the Japanese to continue their expansion in the
Far East.
The Americans saw Pearl Harbor as impenetrable. The naval station could
only be approached by narrow waterways that were only 40 feet in depth,
twisting and fully protected by anti-submarine nets. Such was the
confidence of the naval command at Pearl Harbor, that the Pacific Fleet was
lined up in what was known as "Battleship Row". This was to prove disastrous
when a fleet of planes attacked the base as the pilots would have seen rows
of warships in a line and would have only needed to have flown in a straight
line over these lines to deliver their deadly payload.
Who was to blame for the disaster?

The bulk of the Japanese fleet had to sail over 4000 miles to get from its
base to where the aircraft carriers could launch their planes for Hawaii.
Some have criticised the lack of success of Americas intelligence community
for failing to notice a complete fleet heading across the Pacific for such a
large journey. Others argue that the Japanese left in the dead of night thus
not attracting any attention and that they maintained complete radio silence
during the journey so any form of radio interception was impossible.
After the attack, recriminations started. Admiral Husband Kimmel (the naval
commander at Pearl Harbor) and General Walter Short (head of the army at
Pearl Harbor) were held responsible by the American government for not
taking the necessary precautions despite the worsening diplomatic relations
between Japan and America. Both were demoted and both were denied the
right to a court martial where they would have been given the opportunity to
defend themselves. Both men died dishonoured in the eyes of Americas
military.
However, in recent years there has been a re-consideration about the roles
played by Kimmel and Short. Americas Congress has decided to re-instate
the ranks of both men before they were demoted. This has to be ratified by
the president as commander-in-chief of Americas armed forces and Clinton
failed to do this. The onus is now on the current president, George W Bush,
to do so.
Some issues have developed since the investigation into responsibility, that
have given some historians the opportunity to argue that the event was
manipulated by the American government to persuade an isolationist public
into supporting a desire to get involved in a war assisting the Allies in
Europe. These include:
The issue of intelligence gathering. How could a fleet of 30 capital ships
spend 11 days at sea travelling 4000 miles without being detected? American
seaplane patrols that had taken place each day up to December 6th were
stopped the day of the attack. Why? Why were the reports from the
captain of the USS Ford ignored? He reported at 3.a.m. and 5 a.m. that the
sea around Oahu (the island in Hawaii where Pearl Harbor is stationed) "is
full of Japanese submarines". On both occasions he got the reply
"Reinvestigate and report". One crew member of the 'Tangiers' also
reported that the chain that was always put across the mouth at the
entrance to Pearl Harbor at night for added security against a sea borne

attack, was not secured on the night of December 6th. Why was a radar
operator told "not to worry" when he reported that something "completely
out of the ordinary" was on his screen? The official finding for this was that
the response came because it was believed that what the operator saw was a
fleet of incoming B17s expected at the base that day. In fact, he had seen
the incoming Japanese planes. Why was a message from General Marshall
which stated that Japan had issued "what amounts to an ultimatum" not sent
as a matter of urgency to Kimmel and Short? This would possibly have
allowed both men to put the base on a state of alert. It arrived by
motorbike courier after the attack.
None of the above prove anything and they could be mere coincidences.
However, the attack on Pearl Harbor did lead to America getting involved in
the Second World War. Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister,
wrote on December 9th in his diary "Japan has suddenly taken action.the
mood among the German people has risen considerably."
President Roosevelt said of the attack that "it was a date which will live in
infamy" and "no matter how long it may take for us to overcome this
premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win
through to absolute victory."