Japan depended on supplies from the United States, namely oil, to support their naval forces, but the Tokyo government began to look elsewhere and targeted Southeast Asia which is rich in minerals and oil. America’s foreign policy in the Pacific centered on support for China against the aggression of Japan, thus creating potential conflict. On July 7, 1937, tensions exploded when gunfire was exchanged between Japanese units and the United Front of Chinese Nationalists at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. The Second Sino-Japanese war had begun.
In response, the U.S. extended a loan to China in 1938. The following year, America terminated the 1911 Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with Japan. Twelve months later, export of materials “useful in war” to Japan were restricted. After Japan occupied Indochina and entered into an alliance with the Axis powers of Germany and Italy, the U.S. severed all commercial and financial relations with Japan, froze Japanese assets, and declared an embargo on shipments of petroleum and other war materials. Militarists in the Japanese government resented the U.S. aid to China, but negotiations between the two countries limped along.
Meanwhile, the argument between isolationists and interventionists continued about the war in Europe.Isolationists believed the nation’s interests were best served by avoiding conflicts overseas and dealing with problems at home, especially those related to the Great Depression that continued to grip the U.S. Congress agreed and passed several neutrality acts designed to prevent future involvement in foreign wars by banning American citizens from trading with nations at war, loaning them money, or traveling on their ships.
In January, 1940, 88% of U.S. citizens opposed the idea of getting involved in Europe. However, September of that year 52% now felt America should risk war to help the British. By April 1941, the number had risen to 68%. Both ideologies became moot on December 7, 1941.
By the end of the attack, forty-two of the one-hundred-twenty-six planes on the ground were destroyed, forty-one were damaged, and forty-three remained fit for service. More than one-hundred-eighty aircraft were destroyed. Within thirty days of the attack, 134,000 Americans enlisted in the military.
A little-known fact is that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor a second time on March 4, 1942. Operation K used two naval flying boats that could each carry one ton of bombs with a crew of ten. Nicknamed the flying porcupine each plan had five 20mm cannons and four machine guns. However, this time the invaders were seen on radar, and just after midnight fighters took to the air and patrolled the harbor. Cloudy skies reduced visibility, and one aircraft released its bombs over a remote hill and the other into the ocean.
Printed on matchbooks, war bonds, license plate toppers, signs, plates, handkerchiefs, games, playing cards, flags, posters, buttons, cardboard shields, envelopes, and more, “Remember Pearl Harbor” became a rallying cry.
**All photos courtesy of the author
War’s Unexpected Gift
Love and war don’t mix. Or do they?
Eager to do even more for the war effort, nurse Gwen Milford puts in for a transfer from a convalescent hospital outside of London to an evac hospital headed across Europe. Leap-frogging from one location to the next, nothing goes as expected from stolen supplies to overwhelming numbers of casualties. Then, there’s the handsome doctor who seems to be assigned to her every shift. As another Christmas approaches without the war’s end, can she find room in her heart for love?
Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves.
Whether you choose her books set in the Old West or across the globe during WWII, you will be immersed in the past through rich detail. Follow the journeys of relatable characters whose faith is sorely tested, yet in the end, emerge triumphant. Be encouraged in your own faith-walk through stories of history and hope. Visit her at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com