236 a short history of the united states
event of war. With designs on French Indochina, Japan then signed an
agreement with the Vichy government in France that allowed the Japa-
nese to establish military bases in Indochina.
The renewed aggressiveness of the Japanese in Asia prompted Roo-
sevelt to issue a sharp warning to Japan on July 26 , 1941 , by renouncing
the Japanese-American Commercial Treaty of 1911 and halting all ship-
ments of steel and scrap iron to countries outside the western hemi-
sphere, except Great Britain. This embargo was aimed directly at
Japan, and it was deeply resented. Indeed, General Hideki Tojo and
other Japanese militarists regarded it as a hostile act. Since half the oil,
steel, and iron that Japan needed to maintain its economy came from
the United States, something had to be done to restore trade relations
between the two countries if Japan was to remain a viable modern, in-
dustrial state. It tried negotiating, offering one concession after an-
other, such as promising not to attack the Soviet Union and giving
assurances that it would not be bound by the Triple Alliance to declare
war against the United States if America went to war with Germany.
But Secretary of State Cordell Hull demanded more. He wanted Japan
out of China, which was totally unacceptable. In turn the Japanese in-
sisted that the United States cease giving aid to the new Chinese leader,
Chiang Kai-shek, something Hull refused to do.
An impasse ensued, whereupon the Japanese turned to violence as a
solution. On November 20 , 1941 , an aircraft-carrier strike force under the
command of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto set out from Japan and headed
for the Hawaiian Islands, maintaining radio silence for the entire jour-
ney. On Sunday morning, December 7 , three waves of aerial bombers
from the carriers attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Taken completely by surprise despite several warnings that the Japanese
might launch an assault, the administration failed to notify army and
navy commanders in Hawaii of the possibility and as a result American
forces on the island suffered crippling losses. Nineteen ships were sunk
or disabled, including eight battleships. Over 100 airplanes were de-
stroyed, and more than 2 , 000 men killed. The Japanese also struck naval
and air bases in the Philippines, Guam, Midway, Hong Kong, and the
Malay Peninsula. Indeed, the American air force in the Philippines was
virtually annihilated when its planes on the ground were hit at their base
near Manila. Clearly, neither the leaders in Washington nor the com-