In 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii. The attack, which was a surprise one, was conducted by 350 Japanese aircraft. As a result, eight American battleships, 300 aircraft, and eighteen naval vessels were destroyed. More than 2400 Americans lost their lives in the process (Toland, 2016). The events of the attack shocked and angered Americans in equal measure. President Roosevelt viewed the attack as a deliberate one and requested Congress to declare war on Japan, which it did, setting the tone for World War Two. If the Japanese had not attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States would have entered the war, but at a later date. Isolationist Republicans had advocated for a non-confrontational America concerning the country’s foreign policy engagements (Toland, 2016). The increasing tensions between Japan and the US would eventually have led to conflict between the two nations. The attack would have taken place as early as January 1st 1942, after Japan had formally withdrawn from negotiations with the United States.
Theodore Seuss Geisel, a renowned cartoonist at the time of the event, drew a cartoon captioned ‘He Never Knew What Hit him’ on the same day the United States decided to join the Second World War. He blamed the isolationists for the protracted tensions between the United States and Japan, culminating in the Pearl Harbor attack (Minear & Deb, 2017). Echoing Geisel’s sentiments, I believe that the cartoon illustrates my view on the war. The United States' deliberate ignorance on international political matters helped its World War Two rivals to build their arsenal and gain intelligence on how to attack the United States should the need arise.
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References
Minear, R., & Deb, S. (2017). The Dr. Seuss Museum and His artime Cartoons about Japan
and Japanese Americans. ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL-JAPAN FOCUS , 15 (16).
Toland, J. (2016). But not in shame: the six months after Pearl Harbor . Ballantine Books.
