There were many defining events of the Second World War but one of the most famous, and the most politically contentious, is without question the attack on Pearl Harbour. The attack on Pearl Harbour, also known as the Batlle of Pearl Harbor, commenced on 7th December 1941. It was the only attack on American soil in the Second World War, though it is not on the mainland but in Hawaii. For this reason, the attack was very symbolic and brought the United States fully into the Second World War.
Just before 8am, over 300 Japanese aircraft began their assault on the military base in Hawaii. All eight of the ships that were present in the military base were damaged and 4 of them were sunk completely. All but one were raised after the battle. It is believed that the attack was totally unexpected, though some people contest this notion. The reason for such damage and loss of life is often said to be because the Americans were nor prepared.
The motivations for the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor are complex and not directly related to the conquest of America. The Japanese believed that by destroying this huge military base, which was located half way between the States and East Asia, they would prevent the Americans assisting other Asian nations that the Japanese wanted to conquer.
Though the attack was shocking and terrible for the morale of the American people, the attack did not do as much damage as the Japanese thought it might. This was for two reasons. Firstly the boats were in shallow water, thus they were able to retrieve them from the water and repair them. The second is that three of the most modern and important ships were not docked at the time and thus survived the attack.
The Americans declared war on the Japanese on the 8th December, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.