Left for Dead

Chapter 3 establishes the geopolitical climate before and during the Second World War, particularly in the Pacific Theater. In 1937, the Japanese army occupied Chinese Manchuria and continued its militaristic advance through Northern China and French Indochina (modern Vietnam). Japanese expansionism threatened the colonies of other colonial powers, such as Hong Kong (then under British control), especially when Japan became allied with Italy and Germany to form the Axis powers.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, president of the United States, implemented diplomatic strategies in an attempt to curb Japan’s dangerous trajectory. American trade with Japan ceased, including the sale of American oil in 1941, which Japan’s military relied heavily upon. Japan viewed America’s navy as a threat to its imperialistic goals, describing America’s naval forces at Pearl Harbor as a “dagger pointed at our throats” (21). Japanese military strategists decided on a decisive and aggressive preemptive attack on America’s naval forces, which would then allow them to move into strategic areas of the Pacific. Given that Japan estimated America’s industries to have “ten times the production capacity of Japan,” Japan’s strategy was to establish powerful strongholds in key areas before America had time to recuperate and rebuild its navy (21).

In the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, eight battleships were sunk or badly damaged, as well as three cruisers, three destroyers, two auxiliary ships, one mine layer and one target ship.