The Attack On Pearl Harbour As The Most Significant Turning Point Of The War

downloadDownload
  • Words 1127
  • Pages 2
Download PDF

Introduction

A turning point is a specific, significant moment when something begins to change. During certain periods of history there were certain events that took place that were so significant that it changed the outcome of a period history for example: Historians say that Rosa Park’s famous bus protest was a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. The way historians do this is by looking back at historical events and marking various turning points. Some of the major turning points of WWII include: The battle of Stalingrad, Pearl Harbour, the battle of Moscow, the battle of Britain, Great Britain and France declare war, Midway and D-day.

The first historical event that was significant to WW2 was the Pearl Harbour Bombing. Pearl Harbour is an American Harbour that is based in Oahu, Hawaii that was attacked in 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbour was an important historical event that lead to the involvement of America in the second world war which changed the reason of why they would fight in the war, and potentially changed the outcome of World War II. Before the attack, the United States had declared to ‘remain a neutral nation’ in the war by Roosevelt. This event occurred in Pearl Harbour when the Japanese attacked America by surprise. It happened on the 7th of December, 1941 and began at 8am. The reason for the attack at Pearl Harbour is because America began helping Britain by shipping supplies. Despite their ships being attacked many times by German submarines, that was not enough to make the U.S. enter the war. Japan wanted to become the most powerful Asian country and began invading China to get supplies. Japan then allied with Germany and Italy to form the Axis. Japan was growing quickly and becoming bolder. Tension between Japan and the U.S. began to rise, until the only thing separating the two countries from war was the Pacific Ocean. The United States Pacific Fleet moved from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, which was very intimidating to Japan so the Japanese began to plan their attack on Pearl Harbor. Their main goal was to ‘prevent the U.S. Navy from interfering with their scheme of being the dominant country in Asia.’ During this time, Hitler was finally under control and The United states slowly began gaining back territory when it was close enough to Japan to strike. Germany finally surrendered, but Japan did not.  Pearl Harbor was the catalyst that launched the United States into World War II. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour brought the United States into the war in such a way that it was fully mobilized and fully antagonised and eventually it’s going to have major influence in both theatres of the war.

Click to get a unique essay

Our writers can write you a new plagiarism-free essay on any topic

Another historical event that was significant to WW2 was the Battle of Stalingrad. According to https://www.jacquespauwels.net/70-years-ago-december-1941-turning-point-of-world-war-ii/ and https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-stalingrad the main turning point of WWII was the battle of Stalingrad which was a dangerous campaign between the Russians and the Nazis during World War 2. The battle between forces is so popular because it was recorded as one of the largest and bloodiest. The battle was from August of 1942 to February of 1943 and two million people were causalities including thousands of Russian civilians. But overall this battle turned the tide of the war in the favour of the Allied forces, hence why historians say that this battle was the main turning point.

Another important turning point is the battle of Moscow that took place on the June 22, 1941 when Hitler launched his armies to invade the Soviet Union, that resulted in 3 army groups that had 3 million Nazi soldiers that went across the frontier into Soviet territory. The invasion covered a front from the North Cape to the Black Sea. By this point German combat effectiveness had reached its apogee, the forces invading Russia represented the finest army to fight in the twentieth century. This was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced the Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources. The Germans had serious deficiencies. They severely underestimated their opponent and German industrial preparations for a sustained war had yet to begin. But the greatest mistake that the Germans made was to come as conquerors they were determined to enslave the Slavic population and exterminate the Jews. Thus, from the beginning, the war in the East became an ideological struggle, waged with a ruthlessness and mercilessness not seen in Europe since the Mongols. Moscow seemingly lay open to a German advance, but at this point Russian weather intervened with heavy rains that turned the roads into morasses. The frosts of November solidified the mud, so that the drive could resume. Despite the lateness of the season and the fact that further advances would leave their troops with no winter clothes or supply dumps for the winter, the generals urged Hitler to continue. The Germans struggled to the gates of Moscow where Soviet counterattacks stopped them in early December. In desperate conditions, they conducted a slow retreat as Soviet attacks threatened to envelop much of their forces in a defeat as disastrous as that which befell Napoleon’s Grand Army in 1812. In the end the Soviets overreached, and the Germans restored a semblance of order to the front; the spring thaw in March 1942 brought operations to a halt. But Barbarossa had failed, and Nazi Germany confronted a two-front war that it could not win.

In conclusion, the attack on Pearl Harbour was the most significant turning point of the war to a good extent because Pearl Harbor was the catalyst that launched the United States into World War II. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour brought the United States into the war in such a way that it was fully mobilized and fully antagonised and eventually it’s going to have major influence in both theatres of the war but there were also other events that were also turning points in World War 2 that where more important than the Pearl Harbour bombings for example: Some historians say that the most significant historical event was the battle of Stalingrad because the battle resulted in the turned tide of the war in the favour of the Allied forces.

Bibliography

  1. HISTORY. 2020. Operation Barbarossa. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  2. Foreign Affairs. 2020. The Battle For Moscow, Turning Point Of The War. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  3. 2worldwar2.com. 2020. The Turning Points In World War 2. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  4. Ww2history.com. 2020. Major Turning Point Of WW2 > Dr Conrad Crane > Ww2history.Com. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  5. Khan Academy. 2020. Pearl Harbor (Article) | World War II | Khan Academy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  6. History.com. 2020. [online] Available at: [Accessed 31 March 2020].
  7. History.com. 2020. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 April 2020].

image

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.