A new WWII question for the New Year

[Hagar]

And Hagar...

The Yorktown and Saratoga launched the same attack against Pearl Harbor during one set of war games in the mid 1930's. It took the harbor by suprise and the upper eschelon vowed to never let it happen again....

I seem to remember reading that General 'Billy' Mitchell warned about the same thing. In fact he forecast Pearl Harbor being attacked in much the same way as it was. Ironically it might have been his own bombing experiments against warships in the 1920s that gave the Japanese the idea.

PS. http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/postwwi/gbm.htm

MITCHELL THE PROPHET
Billy Mitchell was a visionary far ahead of his time. His predictions on the role of airpower in a future war were uncanny, though they made little impression upon his superiors in the mid-1920's. Following a trip to Japan early in 1924, Mitchell submitted a report which has been labelled "the masterpiece of his career." In it, he foretold of Japanese expansionist ambitions in the Pacific and presented what he considered would be the start of a Pacific war. Basically, he stated such a war would start with a Japanese air and sea attack upon Pearl Harbor in Hawaii with an accompanying aerial attack on the Phillipines:

[Woodlouse2002]

Ironically it might have been his own bombing experiments against warships inthe 1920s that gave the Japanese the idea.

It was our attack on Taranto that gave them the idea.

[Woodlouse2002]

Or at least prooved that it was possible.

[Hagar]

Or at least prooved that it was possible.

That might be so but Admiral Yamamoto was at Harvard University from 1919 to 1921 & between 1925 and 1928 he served as Naval Attach

[beaky]

And now I understand. I never really understood why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or what they had agains the US, but now I get it. Thanks Rotty.

 They were planning on taking as much of the Pacific as they could for a long time; the Philippines, for example, were a major bone of contention as regards the US (our history of occupation there is not exactly stellar, either).  They wanted more land and more resources (esp. oil), and knocking over the islands of the Pacific would be a snap compared to attacking their mainland neighbors like China or Russia... and the US fleet was the only major obstacle.
I'd imagine  the attack on the US Pacific fleet(Pearl Harbor was targeted because most of the fleet was there) was in the works even before Hitler came to power. I was just describing how Germany and Japan wound up at war against the US at the time they did.

[TacitBlue]

I see. Maybe I should research this furthur on my own.  ;)

[Felix/FFDS]

[quote]I see. Maybe I should research this furthur on my own.

[TacitBlue]

I've always been more interested in ancient history, and more on the human side of it. I like reading about what everyday life was like at different times in different places and how the old mythology fit into everything. It's fascinating to see how they explained the world around them with Gods and heros. I've only recently developed an interest in WWII, and there again, I wonder more about what it was like to live through the Holocaust or the Battle of Britain than what motivated Hitler to allie himself with the Japanese or what the turning point of the battle of Midway was.

[Papa9571]

Actually Rotty...

The Japanese had attacked China and had been at war with the since the early 1930's.

Events such as the rape of Nanking and their trreatment of prisoners of war told of the unspeakable horrors and atrocities that they were capable of.

You must remember that the Japenese firmly believed in their own superiority as a warrior nation. Their code of honor said you kill yourself, you do not surrender to you enemy. If you surrendered you lost not only your own honor but that of your famlies as well. They expected their enemies to act the same way and when they didnt they were classed as sub-human and were treated as such. Many captured prisoners had their heads cut off or were shot because of that code.

That is why to this day there is so much resentment towards the Japanese around the world and why China was gravely offended by the Japanese Prime Ministers visit to the monument to honor Japanese war dead.

The Japanese didn't consider attacking the US until the US stopped sending scrap iron, oil, and other raw materials to Japan to protest Japan's war against China.

[Woodlouse2002]

Actually after 1905 a war between America and Japan was inevitable. After the Russians lost the 1905 war against Japan it left only Japan and the USA as major powers in the pacific and it was only a matter of time before they came head to head.

[beaky]

Actually Rotty...

The Japanese had attacked China and had been at war with the since the early 1930's.

Events such as the rape of Nanking and their trreatment of prisoners of war told of the unspeakable horrors and atrocities that they were capable of.

You must remember that the Japenese firmly believed in their own superiority as a warrior nation. Their code of honor said you kill yourself, you do not surrender to you enemy. If you surrendered you lost not only your own honor but that of your famlies as well. They expected their enemies to act the same way and when they didnt they were classed as sub-human and were treated as such. Many captured prisoners had their heads cut off or were shot because of that code.

That is why to this day there is so much resentment towards the Japanese around the world and why China was gravely offended by the Japanese Prime Ministers visit to the monument to honor Japanese war dead.

The Japanese didn't consider attacking the US until the US stopped sending scrap iron, oil, and other raw materials to Japan to protest Japan's war against China.

How I forgot about that I have no idea... embarassing. I had a kung-fu teacher who was a rifleman with the Chinese Army during that awful period; he was very proud of his service. Good thing he doesn't visit these forums... he's old, but can easily  kick my butt...  ::)  ;D

[dcunning30]

Alot of good points.

I agree that Japan had plans to go to war with the US for several decades, and the US had plans with Japan.

[Woodlouse2002]

[quote]You see, contrary to current critics claims:

[Hagar]

I've always been more interested in ancient history, and more on the human side of it. I like reading about what everyday life was like at different times in different places and how the old mythology fit into everything. It's fascinating to see how they explained the world around them with Gods and heros. I've only recently developed an interest in WWII, and there again, I wonder more about what it was like to live through the Holocaust or the Battle of Britain than what motivated Hitler to allie himself with the Japanese or what the turning point of the battle of Midway was.

I think this is a very good point. It's not possible to fully appreciate even comparatively recent historical events like WWII without taking the way people lived & thought at the time into account. I've noticed considerable changes throughout my lifetime & most things are very different now compared with even 50 years ago. Being around at the time some of these events were taking place helps me to understand it much better than many who were not even born until years or even decades afterwards. I'm afraid that many modern historians & documentary makers ignore this & look on things from a modern point of view. This gives a distorted picture to my mind.

[dcunning30]

Woodlouse2002

I disagree.