Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, one of the largest American military defeats in history occurred. Most of the United States Naval Pacific Fleet was destroyed and thousands of soldiers were killed or wounded, all before 9:00 A.M. that Sunday morning. The forces stationed there did not have any knowledge of the coming attack, mostly because of their superiors’ ignorance, but partially because of the military strategies of their Japanese opponents. Although a string of events earlier that morning all pointed to an attack, the United States forces were not ready because they did not believe the Japanese would ever directly attack American soil.
Prior to 1941, World War II saw little American military intervention. After the fall of France to German invasion, President Franklin Roosevelt promised his country that no American troops would be sent to Europe to aid in the battle against Hitler and the Nazis. This statement made Roosevelt the target of much criticism, even from his closest advi...