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1941: Pearl Harbor

The British Expeditionary Force retreated from France in June 1940.

Although President Roosevelt responded with a proclamation of neutrality, he and all Americans were deeply shocked. The country was still determined to avoid involvement in another European war, but there was sufficient softening of isolationist thinking to allow Roosevelt to persuade Congress to pass a new Neutrality Act, which made provision for America's allies to buy arms on a cash-and-carry basis.

Strangely, there followed a period of relative calm which lasted until spring 1940. The panic of civilian evacuations, gas masks, and impending death and destruction from the skies gave way to tedium; the British called it a "phoney war."

But there was nothing phoney about Hitler's intentions. In April 1940 he unleashed his forces against Denmark and Norway, and on May 10 German troops invaded Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, while simultaneously outflanking the Maginot Line - France's formidable defensive fortifications along part of its border with Germany - with a lightning armored advance through supposedly impassable terrain in the Ardennes. British troops, who had been rushed to France's aid, had to withdraw from the beaches of Dunkirk within three weeks, and on June 14 the German army entered Paris. Britain stood alone.

If Americans had been shocked by the fall of Poland, they were astonished by the rapidity of Hitler's new conquests. Their reaction gave Roosevelt some room for maneuver, and he was able to send Britain fifty much-needed naval destroyers to help in its defense. The U.S.A. was still not ready for war.

In November 1940 Roosevelt was re-elected for an unprecedented third term. Despite his campaign pledge not to involve the U.S. in a "foreign war" - fresh from victory, and with the heartfelt pleas of Britain's new prime minister, Winston Churchill, ringing in his ears, - he was able to get his Lend-Lease program enacted, allowing Britain to obtain vitally needed supplies.

Britain had survived the aerial Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 and its cities had undergone a winter and spring of heavy bombing in the Blitz. But still the American public resisted war, even when German U-boats sank U.S. Navy ships in the North Atlantic. When war did come, it came not from Europe but from Asia.

The Roosevelt administration was aware of Japan's incursions into mainland Asia and its designs on strategic resources in the Pacific, but believed that economic sanctions would deter further overt aggression. When Japan occupied China and expanded further into Indo-China in July 1941, the U.S. tightened sanctions, particularly on oil supplies. To the Japanese this was intolerable; there was no honorable alternative to war with the United States.

On December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was caught unawares and virtually destroyed by an attack by aircraft-carrier-launched planes; American bases in the Philippines and on the Pacific islands of Guam and Wake were also attacked. On December 8, President Roosevelt declared war. The United States had at last been shaken out of its complacency.

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hongkong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.

As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounded determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

It was 12:38 when the President ceased speaking. At 12:40 the joint Session was dissolved and the Senate returned to its own Chamber at the other end of the Capitol. At 1:00 , twenty minutes later, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution declaring a state of war with Japan. At 1:10 the House of Representatives, with only the dissenting voice of isolationist Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin of Montana, adopted the resolution. At 4:10 P.M. President Roosevelt signed the declaration. The United States was formally at war with Japan three and one-half hours after the Commander in Chief had asked the Congress to declare war.

It is interesting to note that at 4:00 P.M. Washington time on December 7-twenty-hours before the President's signature-the Japanese Imperial Headquarters announced that war had begun as of "dawn" on that date, hours before the first bombs hit Pearl Harbor.

Ambassador Grew had been held incommunicado under house arrest in Tokyo since that "dawn" and the State Department had been unable to contact him. During the night of December 9-10 Secretary Hull received this telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, dated December 8 (December 7 in Washington) and bearing the signature "Grew": "There has arisen a state of war between Your Excellency's country and Japan beginning today."

Inexplicably, the Axis powers then made a monumental mistake. Three days after Japan had awoken the "sleeping giant," Germany and Italy also declared war on America. Churchill rubbed his hands with glee. The free world was still on the edge of the abyss, but the U.S.A.'s economic and military power would alter the whole balance of the war.

Stewart Binns & Adrian Wood. 1929-41: The Inevitable War. . Sevenoaks Limited. 2001.

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