Description
Similar to Hitler, Japan's military leaders also had dreams of empire. At the time Japan was secluded from the rest of the world, it was overcrowded, and faced shortages on raw materials. To solve their problems and to unify the country under nationalism, Japan began a program of empire building that would ultimately lead to war. In 1931 Japan began its expansion when it took over Manchuria in northeastern China. Japan continued to invade China, expecting a quick victory, the Japanese troops were stunned by Chinese resistance. In order to increase their resources Japan looked towards the rich European colonies of Southeast Asia. However if they were to conquer European colonies there they would be threatening American controlled Philippine Islands and Guam. The U.S. government tried to stop the Japanese advancement but Japan continued its conquest. They wanted to catch the U.S. by surprise and they did exactly that. On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, sinking and damaging American ships and killing many more. On the very next day Congress declared war on Japan which then brought the U.S. into WWII.
Maps
This shows the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in August 1940. The lines show the path the bombers and torpedo planes went and show where they hit. The blue represents the first wave of attack and the red lines show the second wave.
During the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese sunk or damaged 18 ships. This map shows where those maps where and how many where sunk, damaged, and undamaged.
This map is showing both Japanese and American forces heading towards Midway during the Battle of Midway in 1942.
This map/ timeline includes the events that took place during the Battle of Midway, showing both US (blue) and Japanese (red) actions.
The Battle of Guadalcanal took place on August 7, 1942 when US marines invaded Japan. The red lines represent Japanese movement, the black lines represent American movement and the yellow letters/ numbers represent sinking ships.
This video is not on youtube so click here to go to the website and watch the video.
or click on the link.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor/videos
This is a war veteran who fought during Pearl Harbor.
or click on the link.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor/videos
This is a war veteran who fought during Pearl Harbor.
Videos
Roosevelt's speech after Pearl Harbor.
This is a retired US marine who fought during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Articles
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/james-h-doolittle
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-coral-sea
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_midway_01.shtml
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/alaska-japan/.
http://www.history.com/topics/douglas-macarthur
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/at-a-glance/guadalcanal-fact-sheet.pdf
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-guadalcanal