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Introduction
Note: If you're familiar with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the history that led up to it, you may wish to skip to the next heading.
In 1904, negotiations to resolve conflicting regional ambitions between Russia and Japan broke down. The Imperial Japanese Navy then launched an attack upon Russia 's fleet, a day before war was declared. Later, when the war ended, Japan was recognized as a major power, and it would be invited to important global conferences for years to come.
When historians ponder the Pearl Harbor attack, some find parallels to 1904.In the early 1940s, American-Japanese negotiations were prolonged, perhaps because Japan needed time in which to prepare for war.Late in November 1941, it made a final proposal for peace in the Pacific. Five days later, the U.S. countered that proposal with an ultimatum.As expected, Japan rejected it - but even before the ultimatum was delivered, an Imperial Navy task force had set out for Hawaii .A declaration of war was delivered only after the attack began.
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For many reasons, Pearl Harbor should have been better-prepared for the attack, but it was not.On that December 7th, as on other Sunday mornings, it was defended only lackadaisically.Many officers were not on ships or at airfields, but in their homes in Honolulu .Those who oversaw the radar had not been put on special alert, and casually assumed that the approaching aircraft were American.Much of the ammunition that defenders would need was locked away - after all, it was Sunday morning, right?American sailors and soldiers had never been taught to quickly tell by its silhouette if an airplane overhead was American or not.
The swift attack was both disorienting and disabling.Its first wave (there were two) met little opposition, in large part because it took time to break out ammunition.People on the ground resorted to shooting at speeding aircraft with rifles or pistols.The noise of screaming engines, airborne gunfire, sirens, and explosions made it hard to think clearly; it was hard to hear, let alone obey, any orders that were shouted.Things had improved by the time the second wave arrived.A number of defensive guns now were armed, especially on some of the ships.Several Japanese planes were downed - but so were some of the few American planes in the air.Some panicked defenders shot first and looked for insignia later, targeting all the aircraft they saw, whether or not they were Japanese.
The defenders did their best, but their best did not count for much. Pearl was left a shambles of wrecked, even sunken, ships.The airfields, also primary targets of the attack, were cratered ruins.More than 3,500 Americans lay dead or wounded, strewn wherever they happened to fall - some near their guns, where they had chosen to risk their lives in defense of their country.
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