Question

When did Japan attack Pearl Harbour?
a. 24th May 1942
b. 17th October 1938
c. 7th December 1941
d. 1st March 1943

Answer 1

Hint:
Before Japan invaded Pearl Harbour, relations between the US and Japan had already worsened. In 1910, Japan occupied Korea and, in 1937, conquered China, sending warning bells ringing in the US and other Western powers over Japan's manifest expansionist policy.

Complete step by step solution:

Attack on Pearl Harbour

- The attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 was one of the most important moments of the Second World War.
- It marked the formal US entrance into the hostilities, which ultimately led to the nuclear bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
- Significantly, in December 2016, Shinzo Abe became the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit Pearl Harbour.

What led to an attack?

- Before Japan invaded Pearl Harbour in 1941, relations between the US and Japan had already worsened.
- In 1910, Japan occupied Korea and, in 1937, conquered China, sending warning bells ringing in the US and other Western powers over Japan's manifest expansionist policy.
- Between December 1937 and January 1938, an episode dubbed the "Nanking Massacre" or the "Nanking Rape" occurred— Japanese troops killed and raped Chinese civilians and combatants.
- Japanese scholars believe that between tens of thousands and 200,000 Chinese have been killed.
- The US was opposed to Japan's intervention in China and, after its invasion, imposed international sanctions and trade embargos.


Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:
- Around 7:55 a.m. on December 7th, 1941, around 180 Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft struck the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbour, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii.
- The bombing killed over 2,300 Americans and sunk the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma battleships.
- Approximately 160 aircraft were lost and 150 were affected.