how did the attack on pearl harbor affect the united states?
406568
It officially drew us into World War II.  Just days after the Japanese attack on the Pacific Fleet Germany and Italy declared war on the United States drawing us into both theaters of the conflict.  On December 7, 1941 our Pacific Fleet was all but destroyed by the Japanese sneak attack.  This left us vulnerable in the Pacific and very much on the defensive for the first few months of the war.  We overcame these early obstacles, yet it still took nearly a full 4 years to bring the war to an end.
622054
I believe the army air corps and navy air did far more damage than artillery of WWII. Besides the two a-bombs dropped on Japan, the carpet bombing of Dresden is a prime example of the devastation left in the wake of bombing runs. That example was played over and over again in Europe, as well as the island campaigns of the south Pacific.  Then again, naval gun fire played an awfully large part in the Pacific, so I'm going to revise my answer by saying, in Europe air power was more significant, whereas in the Pacific, artillery and naval gun fire were dominant, excluding the A-bombs of coarse.
638141
- Germany invaded poland\n- Japan Bombed Pearl Harbor\n- Battle Of Midway\n- Battle of Britain\n- United states dropped two atomic bombs on japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)\n\nfor some...\n\nIf you are looking in only 1944\n - Southern France invaded\n - Battle of Philppine sea\n - B-29 raids in japan\n - Battle of Leyte
194737
Iwo Jima is significant because of WWII's Battle Of Iwo Jima. The island was of value to the U.S. from a strategic standpoint. They were already taking over a good portion of the Pacific theater, and Iwo Jima was a step closer to the main islands of Japan. In Imperial Japan's eyes, the loss of the island signaled that their defeat was close at hand.
244444
The US had been putting political and economic pressure on Japan to end their occupation of Mongolia and parts of China, and withdrawing their troops.  The Japanese weren't going to do this, and were actually planning on expanding the scope of their war in China.  However, they needed more resources to do so, and the nation of Japan is almost totally dependent on importing natural resources such as rubber, iron, oil, etc.  They were considering invading the British and Dutch possessions in the East Indies in order to obtain the resources they needed, and it became imperative for them to do so once the US cut off exports of the resources they needed.\n\nSo, faced with needing more resources to simply run the country at a normal level, much less support the ongoing war in China, they decided to take the East Indies possessions they needed.  However, they realized that this would start a war with the Dutch and English (who were already involved with fighting Germany and didn't pose much threat), yet even more importantly would probably see the US enter into war against them.  Therefor, they decided to launch a preemptive attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor to prevent it from interferring with their operations.  They hoped to do enough damage to prevent the USN from interferring at least until they captured the possessions they needed, and also hoped that the American people would be appalled by the large loss of life and wouldn't have the stomach to start a war with Japan, and would then simply accept the status qou at that time.  However, as we all know, it didn't work out that way.\n\nIgnore all the answers involving conspiracy theories that we let Japan attack Pearl Harbor just so we could enter the war.  They're so ludicrous they're not even worth thinking about.
342821
it helped delay Japanese advancement through the Phillippines and through the Pacific as a whole, which possibly could have saved Australia from a potential invasion by Japansese forces.  \n\nIt gave time for the US to get their fleet back in order to continue the war, and it cost the Japansese some of their finest troops.
395978
Click and Paste is great, but it just shows you don't understand what you are answering.\n\nThe primary reason for Japan attacking the US fleet at Pearl Harbor is because Deterrence as a long-term source for peace simply does NOT work. By imposing trade sanctions against Japan and the concentrating both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets at Pearl Harbor, the US wanted to send the message "if you do anything, we will destroy you." The message the Japanese received was "if we DON'T do anything the Americans will destroy us!"\n\nJust like Vietnam, the US was drawn into World War II by trying to prop up a dying European colonial empire, again it was France. When Germany destroyed France in June of 1940 the new government was called Vichy France because the city of Vichy was the only unoccupied city that could handle the number of bureaucrats in the French government. When General De Gaulle ran away leaving his fellow countrymen to face slavery and humiliation, he began politically luring some of the French posessions to follow him. In early 1941, the island of New Caledonia had a coup which ousted the Vichy governor and installed a Free French administration. Japan, which had already made an agreement with the Vichy government in Indochina to occupy what is now Laos and North Vietnam to stop supplies from reaching the Chinese army, decided it must act before a similar event took Indochina out of their reach as well. Japan launched an amphibious invasion of all of Indochina. This is the reason for the economic sanctions against Japan.\n\nJapan knew it could not hope to win a long war, simply because of the logistical problems involved. As a small island nation, not only did Japan have to import almost all of its natural resources, but almost half of those resources arrived via cargo ships flying American, British and Dutch flags. Japan's economy was already realing from the huge expense of building a gigantic military and a modern navy (and, like the USA, cheating on the restrictions!). Any sort of long embargo from America would surely send Japan back into Depression, but any sort of political retreat would surely provoke the Japanese military to once again seize power like they did in the early 1930's. By destroying the combined fleet at Pearl Harbor at one blow, along with the British and Dutch posessions in the western Pacific, Japan felt they could be in such a strong position that they could dictate terms to America before she was able to recover. As Admiral Yamamoto had said, for the first six months I can run wild through the Pacific, but after that I can promise nothing.\n\nJapan's problem was that the strike force sent to Pearl Harbor was able to inflict severe damage on the actual fleet but was simply not strong enough to do the sort of damage to Pearl Harbor's logistical capabilities that was necessary (the dry docks, the repair shops, the fuel storage tanks, etc). By leaving Pearl Harbor relatively untouched, America's distance to strike back at Japan was cut more than in half. If the US Navy had to work out of San Francisco rather than Pearl Harbor in 1942, it would have been a drastically different war!\n\nAnd don't EVEN get me started on the ridiculousness of the FDR "conspiracy" to get Pearl Harbor bombed so the USA could enter the war. The vein in my forehead is pulsing again!
482259
The US had put an oil embargo on Japan for invading China. Without oil, Japan could not keep its war machine in operation - planes, ships and tanks use a lot of oil. \n\nI don't think you could really say attacking Pearl Harbor solved that problem, and of course it was not going to win the war, but it was the only way the Japanese military felt they could prolong the inevitable defeat. (They never believed that could actually beat the US in the end. But by attacking Pearl Harbor they thought they could gain 6 more months to advance into Southeast Asia).
247111
The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan were on cities with no significant military targets. I had family on both sides of WWII and lost family on both sides. Dropping the atomic bombs took a lot of consideration from the government back then and decided that it was the only option they had to avoid large scale death invading, both to the US and to Japanese civilians. If it had to be done, then I agree with you, why not a legitimate target? Pearl Harbor was a military target attack by "surprise". The Japanese officials who were to deliver the notice of war that morning were delayed in a US waiting room and were not able to deliver the notice prior to the attack. War history is written by the victors, so it was a surprise. To rally America into war, the President called it a surprise in his radio address. I ask any of you to take a trip to Hiroshima and visit the museum. My mother's family was on the other side of the mountain range from Nagasaki and that is what saved them, but they did witness the cloud, had some affect of the fire, and saw the destruction when they went to help. Japan's research at the time determined that the bomb was not possible with the technology available, so they did not believe the US's claim they had it. Japan was negotiating for surrender after the first but the US want unconditional, so dropped the second. I understand the decision to drop, just not the target.\n\nPaulHalloway-I do disagree with you on the legitemacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki being military targets. May 1945 the target committee listed Hiroshima as a class AA target using year old inteligence. The depot had been moved in Oct 1944. Nagasaki was never on the Target committee's list. The only other reason for Hiroshima to be targeted was the terrain and larger city. Mountains around Hiroshima would increase the affects of the blast and the size of the city  would allow that if the bomb was off target, would still cause mass distruction and casualties. It was also in the original plan recommendation to follow the bombing by an incendiary bombing of the city. Also the orders from Gen Spaatz on July 1945, identified the city as the target, not any military base, contrary to Truman's direction to Sec. of War Stimson.
386176
The USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor, Hawai'i, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed on the USS Arizona during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 by Japanese imperial forces and also the events of this day. The attack on Pearl Harbor was the action that forced United States involvement in World War II.
939332
What would have been worse was that Japan would have secured the resources it needed in the Pacific to really wage war against the US.  Pearl Harbor was done to cripple the US in the Pacific so that Japan can invade and take over what they needed to maintain their war machine.\n\nAlso, lets not forget Hitler.  If the US had not entered the war, Germany would have taken England and would have had a pretty strong hold on Europe.  There is nothing short of war that could have stopped him.  Sanctions would not have worked because Germany was very industrial and could produce just about anything it needed.  If they needed it and could not make it, they would just invade whomever had it.  Diplomacy would not have worked because Hitler had a grand plan and you would not have been able to talk him out of it.
387269
World War II: The Impact at Home\n\nThe quick fall of France to the German army in 1940 shook the strong pacifist sentiment of the American public. Suddenly, Great Britain alone stood between Nazi Germany and the United States. Once the United States was fully committed to the war in December of 1941, patriotism soared in American society. Americans' willingness to carry out blackout and civil defense drills; to recycle metals, paper, and even cooking fats; to work longer hours, but to have fewer consumer goods to buy with their salaries demonstrated the nation's strong support for the war. There were political changes as well, as the country began to shift to the right. \n\nhttp://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture21.html\n\nWhat effects did WWII have on women in America?\n\nWomen began to do the jobs that the men used to do. They worked in factories, steel mills, and on fighter planes. A woman who worked in an industrial or manufacturing job was refered to as "Rosy the Riviter".\n\nWomen married earlier in life, had more children and relied much less on their husbands after the war. The divorce rate in the United States and Britain skyrocketed, compared to previous years. Women held higher paying jobs than in pre-war years, and this caused some conflict when men were discharged from the military and wanted their old jobs back, which were now held by women.\n\nWomen went into the workplace and never looked back. They took over factory jobs, drove trucks, flew military aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean to England, and numerous other jobs that had traditionaly been open only to men. Once the men returned from the war the women were more independant than ever and would never be content to sit at home again.\n\nWomen played the role of helping fabricate weapons and bombs and all the equipment the soldiers would need. Women never set foot on the battle field but they also were nurses and assistants and that helped alot since they needed medical treatments\n\nhttp://www.faqfarm.com/Q/What_effects_did_WWII_have_on_women_in_America
409355
the effects that it caused.
199132
Attacked and invaded China to get the resources they needed for world domination.  \n\nThen attacked the US at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.\n\nThen they lost the war they started.
48171
On the morning of December 7, 1941, planes and midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy issued a surprise attack on the US under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. This attack brought the United States into World War II. At 6:00 a.m. on December 7th the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 181 planes composed of torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 7:53 a.m.. They attacked military airfields at the same time they hit the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. Overall, twenty-one ships of the U.S. Pacific fleet were damaged and the death toll reached 2,400.
230068
The US had previously declined to be involved in WW II.  Pearl Harbor forced the US to take a stand and become involved.  Also, it helped develop a cause for the US and also developed a sense of American National spirit.  Remember Pearl Harbor became the motto for a lot of American Sailors and soldiers.
328676
America only entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese on 7th December 1941. There was resistance from U S ships so that is probably the first area of combat that Americans faced. As the invasion of Europe by allied forces did not take place until 6th June 1944 Americans would not have faced combat in France or Italy. Ships regularly ran the blockade of the English Channel but American ships were not used until 1944. The first American involvement was probably by air at Guadalcanal, the Coral Sea and Midway, air and sea battles.