A Date That Will Live In Infamy
On 7 December 1941 an attack of Japanese air forces on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor marked a beginning of the Second World War at the Pacific Theatre and caused an involving of the USA to the Second World War. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused great losses of American army, because it was a surprise attack, which used new methods of military tactics as well as secret strategy. In this context, the attack on Pearl Harbor played a significant role in military history, because it became the strategic and tactic precedent, which influenced further development of military tactic and strategy during the Second World War as well as during the Cold War. On the other hand, there was also cultural dimension beside the military and political dimensions of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which was related to cultural shock caused by unexpected threat for America. This shock shaped the image of the Japanese as enemies and determined the shape of a culture of the war, which existed in the USA during the Second World War. After the end of the Second World War the fear of surprise attack still was present in American culture and it even increased during the Cold War, because at that time it already was associated with a fear of surprise nuclear attack, which would destroy whole country. In this light, an investigation of military, political and cultural significance of the attack on Pearl Harbor should be based on the analysis of political and military causes of this operation as well as on the analysis of its military, political and cultural consequences. The results of this analysis show that the causes of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were associated with the plans of Japan to prevent a possibly intervention of the USA to the war in Southeastern Asia, while the consequences of this attack were controversial. On the other hand, it determined the military successes of Japanese expansion during the first period of the Second World War in the Pacific (1941-1942). On the other hand, this attack was a great challenge for the USA, which stimulated a development of its military strategy as well as the changes in political and cultural life of America, which finally led to its victory in the Second World War.
The Causes of Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The causes of Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor were related to different dimensions of Japanese policy in the first half of the 20th century. On the one hand, the causes of attack on Pearl Harbor were associated with geopolitical goals of Japanese imperialistic expansion in Asia and the Pacific region. In this context, the plans of Japanese aggression against the USA also were associated with a history of confrontation between Japan and America. On the other hand, the plans of attack on Pearl Harbor were related to military purposes in the context of Japanese military campaigns in Asia.
The Geopolitical Causes …
