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Surprise Attack[[image:http://www.sugarbushsquirrel.com/image/18337133.jpg width="497" height="404" align="right" link="jfkldas"]]
On the 7th of December 1941 at 7:53 am Japanese warplanes attacked the American fleet as it lay at anchor in Pearl Harbor, the Naval base in Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. 40 minutes later a second wave of 170 warplanes attacked the harbor. Without a declaration of war from the Japanese, the attacks came as a complete surprise to the American nation although war with Japan was expected to break out at anytime. Political relationships between the USA and Japan had broken down in 1937 when Japan attacked China to add to their growing empire, having already taken control of Korea and Manchuria, The Japanese aim was to also take control of British French and Dutch colonies in the Far East and the American controlled Philippines. The Chinese leader Chiang Kai-Shek who was resisting the Japanese attack had the full support of Washington, and America imposed sanctions on Japan. In Italy on the 27th of September 1940 The Japanese signed the Tripartite Pact with the Germans and Joined the Axis.