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 Germany’s 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 Germany’s 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 didn’t know was that Hitler’s 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 could’ve 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 AnschlussThe Munich AgreementOnly 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 Nazi’s 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 didn’t seem to affect the Jew’s life,

however, there were many rules that forbid them from having a normal

lifestyle. The Nazi’s 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 children’s 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 anti-semitism 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 didn’t more didn’t 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 Hitler’s 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 Europe’s 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 Hitler’s heart was not in an attack on Britain but that he wanted to concentrate his country’s 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 nation’s 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 Hitler’s attempt to destroy Britain’s 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 Britain’s 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 nation’s 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 station’s 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 America’s 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 America’s 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 America’s military.

However, in recent years there has been a re-consideration about the roles played by Kimmel and Short. America’s 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 America’s 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 B17’s 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."