The United States became involved in world war ii to oppose the aggression of the Axis Powers, including Japan, Germany, and Italy.
There was an event that made the country finally decide to take up arms and enter the conflict at the side of the allies: the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The United States had been blocking Japanese trade for some time. On July 29, 1941, the invasion of Indochina took place according to the Vichy government. This caused the Americans to publish a letter demanding the evacuation of China and Indochina. The Japanese country took it as an affront and planned an attack against the United States.
Shortly before 8 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Japanese aviation attacked the American fleet that was in the port of Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands, by order of Commander Yamamoto. The attack occurred in two waves. On the one hand, the attack on the naval fleet moored in the port; and on the other the attack on aviation, destroying the air base.
In just 90 minutes the Japanese army managed to destroy 7 battleships, about 90 ships, 250 aircraft and a total of about 5,000 men injured or killed. Most of them fell in the bombing of the USS Arizona, whose remains have become a monument to the victims of that fateful day.
The next day, December 8, the Congress of the United States declared war on Japan, with which the United States entered fully into World War II at the side of the allies. As a result, Germany declared war on the Americans on the 11th. The war against Japan was going to be a difficult enterprise due to the breadth and distances of the combat sites, such as the Pacific Ocean, but the balance of the Second Great War would definitely tilt.
