Why did Japan Attack Pearl Harbor? (Short Animated Documentary)

The Attack on Pearl Harbor is famous for being one of the worst decisions in history when looking at what happened to Japan afterwards. So given the outcome. Why did Japan do it? Why did Japan bomb Pearl Harbor? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
/ histmattersyt
Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=4973164
Merch: teespring.com/stores/history-...
A special thanks to all of these Patrons below, without whom the show wouldn't be possible:
Southside Mitch
Franco La Bruna
Richard Wolfe
Ian Jensen
kevinh
Can’t Think Of A Name
David archaeologist
Tim Stumbaugh
אורי פרקש
Kevin Sanders
James Nile
Robert Brockway
Kevin Phoenix
Mickey Landen
Ian Smith
Brian Giordano
KNSTRKTVST
Chase Labiste
sharpie660
jdk
Brian Hamilton
Andreas Mosand
Connor Glaze
Rod D. Martin
Blah Blah Blah
Qi Xiao
D. Mahlik
Dexter_McAaron
Nathan Perlman
Paul Franche
Joseph Reinsch
Paul McGee
SirAlpaka
anon
Ainar Garipov
Curt Helmerich
Porkmeister
Juan Castillo
Wolf
Chris Fatta
Alexander Washofsky
Dragan
Joel Cromwell
Mantodea
Jack Mcbeth
Adam Stalter
John Bisges
Andrew Niedbala
John Garcia
Jeremy
Burt Clothier
Ryan Haber
Andrew Patane
Bernardo Santos
Scott O'Donnell
Riley davidson
Yick Chung
SkyEye
Chris Hall
Danny Anstess
Syagrius Beans
Jane Sumpter
William Hilton
Scott P
ScottishTrekkie
Tristan Kreller
Warren Rudkin
Heytun
Käs
Jack River
Justin Pearson
Mik Scheper
Perry Gagne
Chris Dolan
Robert Woodward
Tim Lane
Clay Carroll
Christopher Godfrey
Magdalena Reinberg-Leibel
Zachary Oertel
Vance Christiaanse
Joseph Kerckhoff
Phil Simmons
Henry Rabung
Super Bee 426
Joshua A Bishop
Kim Huett
Neil Jones
Joooooshhhhhh
Alen
Raymond He
Gregory Priebe
Michael Wagner
Joker 54
Vilelmus_veliki
Eddie
Richard W Quarles
Craig Cunningham
Chach
I'm Not In The Description
MrBanana
William Wold
Liam Gilleece
Ciege Engine
Alteredcorgi
Ellen Teapot
Mark Ploegstra
bas mensink
Matt Reed
Kinfe85
Blake Dryad
Anthony McCann
JAY ALAN EDELMAN
David Chaid
Jeffrey Schneider
Layne Nielsen
Kevin Stolz
Luke Robinson
Matthew O'Connor
Brian McKinley
Jack Nelson
James Bisonette Fan #1
Colm Byrne
Sethars
Canadian Pats
Haydn Noble
James
Thomas Wang
Spencer Smith
Chrisaztec
Colm Boyle
HelloAgainThere
Phillip Gathright
TooMuchWaterYouDie
Josh Cornelius
Arthur Hosey Jr.
Gerald Armstrong
Tailsdoll
Harley Raptopoulos
Matthew Hogan
SmythProductions
Björn Wittmann
Gabriel Lunde
Eóghan Ó'nia
Piotr Wojnowski
Dennis the Cat
Steve Bonds
StukaJi86
Dakota Brunell
Serius_Loyola
Alan Romero
Konstantin Bredyuk
Christine Purvis
Richard Manklow
João Santos
Richard Hartzell
Donald Weaver
Pierre Le Mouel
Bumble Jones
mohd
Peter Konieczny
Steve Noworyta
Seth Reeves
Mr Sandman
Imperial Pony
Ben L
Erik Carlsson

[@jamesbissonette8002]

I deny any involvement in this conflict.

[@GarlicPudding]

The man, the myth, the legend.

[@succulentchinesemeals]

Press x to doubt

[@jumperwilli7770]

:O

[@RafitoOoO]

The legend himself has spoken, fellas.

[@lordmustafa3309]

James bissonette: I deny any involvement in this conflict Subscribers: well yes but actually no

[@moosesandmeese969]

Why did (insert country) attack (insert country)? Answer: they thought they were going to win

[@morisco56]

Yom kippur intensifies.

[@badground3534]

That’s with any fight, skirmish war etc the aggressor thought it would be an easy win

[@Tzar1]

Wait, I am supposed to win? That might explain why I keep losing in eu4

[@Admiral45-10]

Why did Poland attack Poland? That's because Poles thought they will win this war quickly, but Poles were actually stronger than Poles predicted.

[@anonvideo738]

Actually in the US vs Spain war for cuba Spain knew they would lose, but chose to go down fighting because of honor

[@Anthony-jo7up]

“Preventive war is like committing suicide out of fear of death.” ~ Otto von Bismarck

[@petersmulders8058]

If japen attack the USSR the axis powers might of actually won the war because it would force Stalin to fight japan this losing Moscow to the Germans resulting in the capitulation of the USSR this allowing japan to defeat china and all of germanys troops would be able to defeat the allies in France and this allowing the Germans to continue the The Blitz on UK at 1946ish and after london has been leveled the British surrendering to the Germans at around 1948. What do you think?

[@whitezombie10]

@@petersmulders8058 there are still the USA, and it ain't that simple, the soviet union still had troops ready to receive Japan, and I don't think they would have resisted at the climate of Siberia, and the USA would have stormed at both powers while distracted anyway, making the axis fail

[@elseggs6504]

@@petersmulders8058 1. The Soviets always kept a few troops on the Far East, even after one of their spies found out that Japan wouldnt go for its Northern Expansion Plan. 2. The Japanese got smacked by the Soviets even before they managed to drastically improve themselves. They and Germany both knew that the Soviets would only be harder to conquer with each year. 3. You honestly think Japan is somehow going to do a better job at holding the entirety of Siberia and not end up like the White Army?

[@petersmulders8058]

@@elseggs6504 So your saying that the Soviets could defend when both the Germans and the Japanese are attacking them even tho the Germans were at the gates of Moscow fighting the Soviets alone? The Soviets would have no choice but to defend Moscow this allowing Japan to sweep Siberia all the way to Moscow and in result being just like the battle of Berlin in 1945 but with the Soviets

[@fransbuijs808]

@@petersmulders8058 Do you have any idea how big Siberia is? All the Russians need to do is blow up the Transsiberian Railway and the Japanese troops would have to walk all the way from Korea to Moscow. Good luck with that.

[@ignaciogonzalez3499]

Japan making those invasion plans is like me creating a whole impossible fitness routine knowing I’m going to quit on the 1st day

[@miloelite]

Ouch. I felt that. Too real.

[@stringer-ik1pc]

Two days later Hitler declared war on America and now the cowards had to fight.

[@ieatoutoften872]

At 2:32 United States Secretary of State: "It's not going to happen."

[@cursedpufferfeesharchives4539]

@@stringer-ik1pc It's strange that you're making it sound like Hitler deserves a pat on the back for what many would say was a dumb idea.

[@karnickel-s33d16]

@@stringer-ik1pc The USA was certainly cowardly to not want to get involved in a war which didn't involve them to begin with. You seem like a very smart and reasonable person, we should have a long, drawn-out discussion on the matter

[@juanmegias9147]

All people comment about James Bisonette, but no one comments about Kelly Money Maker

[@tremedar]

What about Rob Waterhouse? Or Spinning Three Plates? And the elusive David Archaeologist.

[@georgemackins9500]

Nobody comments about how is Kelly Money Maker

[@vaports6984]

MOE

[@MuchWhittering]

I want to know what kind of party a Party Boycoe is.

[@vaports6984]

@@MuchWhittering a fun one is assume

[@elemperadordemexico]

"They thought they would win" The story of all failed battleplans

[@SusCalvin]

Most of the admirality plans have some element of "And then the US public loses interest". If we just extend the war a little longer and add a few more pieces to the island security sphere the USA won't let the conflict run its full course. Imperial Japan is a weird government by assassination and negotiation. Branches of the government think they aren't responsible to eachother. This happens between the civilian government and the military, between the army and the navy, between factions of the navy etc. Some little junior officer does a thing in China and forces the others to accept that this is how we do things now.

[@Jebu911]

@@SusCalvin Japan should have invested in better encryption and they could have made usa unwilling to go past hawaii. I mean originally midways battle was supposed to be really crippling to US but they managed to make it into an ambush. Great work by the allied decoders

[@mitjed]

Japan at that point never lost any war. They do not know how to lose. They were too confident. Japan could've just ditch its alliance with the axis which is a world away, and made an alliance with the Republic of China to conquer the Soviet Union, they both have the same interests.

[@machtharry]

And all sucessfull ones as well to be fair.

[@Admiral45-10]

In 1579 Stefan Batory was sure he will win over Russia quickly. And that's what happened.

[@thefrontlineplans7068]

Germany: As long as America stays uninvolved, we’ll be all good. Japan: Hey so, we f*cked up....

[@lordbry470]

Read more history please. US was very much involved in the European theatre even before D-Day. Err Supply Convoys to UK, Lend Lease to USSR for example. Fail joke.

[@locomotivesteam9334]

Actually that joke is false, because Hitler didn't see America as a power that could defeat Germany, what was ahead of him proved him wrong.

[@cristiandeleon6869]

Lmao

[@thefrontlineplans7068]

Wow, so many history buffs. It’s just a joke guys, obv it didn’t happen like that lol. Thank you for your more accurate input tho!

[@jonesiboybeastmode6857]

@@thefrontlineplans7068 fr

[@patrickmball]

America in 1940: I'm asleep America in 1945: Damn, I'm good at war. Let's roll.

[@ystudbeast3]

Yeah no doubt. Pearl harbor also essentially brought America out of the Great Depression as well by instigating American entry in ww2.

[@nogisonoko5409]

@@ystudbeast3 US is already in WW2 way before the Attack on Pearl Harbour. US President at that time were planning to convince his people to fight against Germany since Britain is dying but the Japanese attack simplified the event.

[@ystudbeast3]

@@nogisonoko5409 Yeah sure American involvement was there before 1941 with lend lease but there was a massive difference in involvement between war mobilization and the lend lease phase. I more meant to compare how entry into ww2 revamped the US economy. Pearl harbor just happened to be the final straw.

[@nogisonoko5409]

@@ystudbeast3 It not just the Lend Lease, the Americans were protecting merchant shipping through the Atlantic sea by sinking any U-boats that they found. But other than that yes, war in Europe made US economy go boom.

[@ystudbeast3]

@@nogisonoko5409 hmm i never knew they sunk u boats before 1941

[@CP1871]

The Japanese version of "We'll be home by Christmas, lads." Oof.

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

churchills minions had kidnapped emperor of japan and attacking perl harbor on the day aircraft carriers were not in pearl harbor was the cost of releasing the emperor (we all hove come to know by this time how faithful were Japanese to their emperor) so that America could join the war and save Britain

[@georgiamurray5169]

@@raghunandanankolekar7339 sources?

[@edison7300037]

@@raghunandanankolekar7339 lol

[@shadysam7161]

@@raghunandanankolekar7339 I want whatever you're smoking.

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

@@shadysam7161 Marlboro lights 100s

[@user-yj8pt7gt3g]

Huh, someone actually mentioned the Northern and Southern Doctrine. Good job

[@TorIverWilhelmsen]

Northern plan sorta ran into a hail of Soviet bullets.

[@stafer3]

@jeremy Lyons Japan produced on average 30 tanks a month. So that’s like 1 tank a day. With such production capacity, they could have made 1 big battle with Soviet union and then get back to infantry for the rest of the war. And infantry with tanks always wins against infantry without tanks. So even if they synchronized it with operation Barbarossa, I don’t know if outcome would be different.

[@SusCalvin]

@@TorIverWilhelmsen The northern plan runs into China too. Japan is a very small country and there's a whole lot of China to take. When the war with the USA is about to start, the army is still running pacification campaigns in China, Korea etc and trying to figure out if and how they can extract themselves. A bunch of the northern plan proponents think this consolidation on the mainland, together with a consolidation of the island chains, is going to deter the USA. The navy thinks US warship production will overtake the imperial navy if they just wait.

[@GetRidOfCivilAssetForfeiture]

Kalkhin Gal is one of the least known battles but one of the most significant in world history. Because of the Soviet trouncing, under Georgy Zukhov, of the the Army of Kwangtung, coupled with the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact treaty of non-aggression between the Soviets and Nazi Germany, the Japanese knew they had no hope against the Soviet Union and could expect no help from its “ally” (Nazi Germany), the plan against the USA (also code named East Wind Rain) was the only one viable short of having to give up territory. When the Soviet spy ring, headed by Richard Sorge, found out about the Japanese plans and forwarded said plans to Moscow, the Soviets transferred literally over a dozen divisions to defend Moscow, along with Zukhov, and the Germans were defeated, saving the Soviet Union and turning the tide of war completely against Germany. Also, Japan’s failures at Pearl Harbor, besides not sinking the USA carriers, is they did not destroy the dry docks and repair facilities, nor the fuel farm nor the ammo dumps. In other words, instead of having to operate out of San Diego, the USA was able to operate still out of Pearl Harbor. This paid huge dividends at the Battle of Coral Sea, in which the Japanese had two of its carriers not be able to participate at Midway and the USA, instead of having two carriers not being able to participate at Midway (Yorktown would have not been able to be hauled to San Diego, repaired and make it in time back to Midway), were able to haul Yorktown to Pearl Harbor, affect repairs in record time and have it available for Midway. So, this is how a relatively obscure battle in 1939 affected the course and outcome of WW Twice.

[@dr.lyleevans6915]

@@stafer3 Just tying up Russian troops on the Pacific, and therefore giving Germany more advantages on the Eastern european front would likely have turned the tides in the Axis’ favor

[@tomburke5311]

Did you know that chronologically-speaking, the first Japanese action in December 1941against the western powers was the invasion of British Malaya? It happened about 45 minutes or so before the attack on Pearl - it was just after midnight local time in British Malaya. However, because of the effect of the International Date Line, it was the 8th of December locally, not the 7th (which it was in Hawaii). But looked at as a series of near-simultaneous actions, the landings in Malaya happened just before the attack on Pearl Harbor started.

[@tomasbeltran04050]

Didn't they have French Viet Nam first?

[@tomburke5311]

Yes, you’re right! I wasn’t aware of that. I think they were initially part of the Japanese campaign against China.

[@piotrwegrzyniak5798]

I mean that would look like a typo in textbooks "8th of December Japanese attacked Malaya and few hours later on 7th of December started attack at Pearl Harbor"

[@tomburke5311]

Actually, I’ll revise my agreement with this. The Japanese attacks on Indochina happened during the summer of 1941, not December as my original post said. Also, by that time ‘French Indochina’ was actually under the control of the Vichy French state, not a legitimate French Republic. (Interesting that at that time the Japanese felt confident to attack a power nominally allied to National Socialist Germany). But I think the Japanese action in Indochina was quite separate from their attacks in December 1941.

[@TankEngine75]

I'm from Malaysia but I did not know Japan invaded British Malaya before Pearl Harbour, I know it was in 1941 but I thought it was after

[@TheBonsaiZone]

I got a Japanese car ad before the video!

[@edh8900]

Is it a Toyota or Nissan?

[@justarandomsovietofficerwi2023]

@@edh8900 I ordered a Nissan, and all I got was a Chi-Ha tank.

[@edh8900]

@@justarandomsovietofficerwi2023 bummer, I ordered a Tiger 2 years ago and got a 911 Carrera instead :(((((

[@Elykar]

Cultural victory is longer but less costly than domination victory.

[@youngdrosenumbaone8371]

I got some ad about war, believe it or not. S kipped it, but it was either a game a movie or a psa lo

[@Kagemusha08]

Funnily enough Yamamoto, the mastermind behind Pearl Harbor, was one of those who was strongly against the war. He had spent time living in America as a military attaché and understood that A) the rest of the Japanese military was underestimating the grit and fighting spirit of Americans and B) they were HUGELY underestimating the US' industrial strength and resources.

[@buddermonger2000]

Honestly they weren't. They knew they wouldn't win. The only issue was time. But then they didn't really allow themselves a position in which they'd be able to negotiate for peace

[@ktbeatty]

He predicted the war with eerie accuracy. He said that if they attacked Pearl Harbor, he’d run wild with his fleet and hammer the USA for six months, then they’ll have recovered and it’s over. It was almost exactly that timeline. He was an incredibly savvy military leader.

[@wildestcowboy2668]

@@ktbeatty he is a pronoun who's he?

[@juliostevens9480]

I think B is the biggest one. The part of North American continent that the US controls is so rich when it comes to industrial strength and resources I could see why people think the Japanese were crazy for attacking Pearl Harbor but from their perspective it wasn’t quite as crazy as it is for us in hindsight it was just a fucking gamble.

[@nordickdaddy9311]

@@wildestcowboy2668 who do you think we are talking about... it's right in the original comment

[@ordinary_magician]

“Not everybody in the Japanese government agreed and they knew that they would lose any war with the United States long or short” “They did it anyway” This is one of those things that I already know about but still make me lol

[@elitefencer777]

Even better: That the key architect of Pearl Harbor didn't believe that a war with the US was likely to succeed.

[@St3v3NWL]

This video is done poorly. The original plan consisted of waves that would cripple Pearl Harbour entirely. They only conducted half of the plan resulting in Pearl Harbour still being used as forward base of operations.

[@SusCalvin]

@@elitefencer777 He is a pretty funky guy. The navy itself divides in factions as well. Some believe the imperial navy needs to trim off US carriers. Use the carrier advantage we have today to curtail the US carrier advantage tomorrow sort of. Others think consolidating and fortifying the security sphere of colonies around Japan will deter the USA and let them sue for peace. They end up doing a bit of both, branches of imperial Japan do what they want.

[@SusCalvin]

Imperial Japan is a weird government. A lot of the armed forces branches and the foreign office, the security police and the others have their own policy. They operate under direct imperial authority, and by tradition the emperor does not intervene actively. This goes down to junior officers. Some group of colonels in China can decide on their own that what the emperor really wants them to do is to start blowing railways or something, and the rest of Japan just has to go along with whatever happens.

[@stafer3]

@@elitefencer777 I mean I get the logic. We are under oil embargo. When we run out of oil reserves, our empire will collapse and we revert back to preindustrial era where we become colony of some other empire. What happens when we lose? Our empire will collapse and we become colony of some other empire. If the outcome is the same, but one one of the paths has 0,1% chance of winning and becoming great empire, you might as well do it.

[@selderane]

I'd always read that Japan didn't believe it would win. The idea was to cripple the American navy enough to allow Japan to grab a bunch of territory, then only lose some of it in a peace negotiation. The devastation of Pearl made them believe the American navy was weaker than they'd thought, which is why they put up a fight rather than go with the original plan of peace negotiations.

[@onylra6265]

Both Germany and Japan believed their own hype, and basically assumed that the Western democracies were too weak and decadent, lacking the courage and commitment to pay the price in blood to deny them their gains. It wasn't very rational in historical terms - some among them understood that it was a load of ignorant nonsense, even by a racial-political worldview the Anglo-Saxon was undeniably a ruthless and remorseless conqueror, and that the efficiency of democratic capitalism was a proven means of waging war. If certain people had paid more attention at school and drawn the appropriate conclusions this whole thing may have been avoided.

[@applesoda6308]

Well Japan lost war and territories. But the Western nations lost colonies too as a result of WW2 pacific theater. Japan got what it wanted. Decolonization of the world so that Japan could trade with them freely without any consent of the Western powers.

[@buddermonger2000]

@@onylra6265 Yeah the Anglos did kind of conquer entire continents didn't they?

[@idk-ye7ur]

@@buddermonger2000 But France also weirdly failed. One wouldn't think that would happen.

[@buddermonger2000]

@idk France failed because for some reason unlike Spain and England, they didn't really move in to the places they conquered. Like they had a HUGE chunk of North America larger than the Brits ever had before and even after the 7 years war. But the French only used it for a port and fur trading so there was basically no-one living there.

[@Paulnagi129]

Japan after the bombing: “you can stick to the war thing I’ll just do fashion and make some PlayStations”

[@renzsumaratas]

more like make cars and appliances. haha

[@bondrewdthelordofdawn3744]

Good grief

[@Gamemaster-64]

Anime and games.

[@alexanderl.6207]

dont forget about rewriting history as well

[@whitezombie10]

The USA rebuilt the Japanese economy

[@saggybones]

"We can't wage a large-scale war against a great power like the Soviet Union, instead we should fight a great power not dealing with any massive invasion" Japanese politicians

[@speedzero7478]

I never thought of it like that. Seriously good point, haha

[@joshualeonard5208]

At the time the Germans were pretending to be chummy with the USSR so the Japanese were unaware of their intentions to invade. If that had been communicated secretly to the Japanese then it may have changed the outcome of the war since both the Japanese and the Germans would have been attacking the soviets. However the Germans really were only allies with Japan in name and did basically nothing to help the Japanese. They certainly didn’t tell them any of their secrets which was a big blunder on their part. By the time they did attack the USSR the Japanese had already committed to the southern plan.

[@saggybones]

@@joshualeonard5208 didn’t know that, thanks for the information

[@SusCalvin]

The imperial government isn't united. Japan has been running a government by assassination for a few decades. The people who aren't ultrapatriots have been pushed out of politics. Different branches of the government and the armed forces, and even little junior officers on the ground, can get away with weird stuff if they feel like it.

[@soic9690]

@brandon your summation of the events are severely misguided. There were already plans in place to invade mainland japan before anybody knew of the top secret nuclear program. The war was already over before nukes were dropped, tfw japanese just refused to acnowledge it.

[@mccabber24]

Japan: I am going to do, what is called a Bad Gamer Move

[@unimportantcommenter4356]

Noob gamer move

[@longyu9336]

Yeah, this is small brain time

[@manuelsilva3365]

Underleveled player fighting a max level pro gamer at their game.

[@theoverunder9985]

Italy did so too with the Invasion of Greece

[@shindari]

Adolf agrees

[@TheLovelynoel]

Germany: All going according to plan Japan: We bombed pearl harbor Germany: You did what. *Fortunate Son starts to play in background*

[@CrashB111]

Germany: We've won the Western Front, and are now attacking the USSR! We've avoided our dread Achilles heel of a war on two fronts! Come join us in attacking the USSR, Japan! Japan: Roger that, bombing the U.S. to drag them into the war. Germany: What Japan: What

[@Sinvare]

British Aide: The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Churchill: We've won! Churchill after sleeping: First night of good sleep I have had since the fall of France.(2 years before) TL/DR quotes of Churchill below - “Now at this very moment I knew that the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all! ... How long the war would last or in what fashion it would end no man could tell, nor did I at this moment care ... We should not be wiped out. Our history would not come to an end ... Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to a powder. All the rest was merely the proper application of overwhelming force.” Short quote from Churchill's speech to a joint session of US Congress December 26, 1941: "Lastly, if you will forgive me for saying it, to me the best tidings of all-the United States, united as never before, has drawn the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard." The man could make some fantastic speeches.

[@SSky06]

@@Sinvare I find Churchill the most annoying character in modern history - a man I know was a bigot, a racist, a buffoon at times, a monster at others... and yet, the guy could give a speech that would have had me fighting on the beaches, the landing grounds, with a beer bottle if that's all I bloody well had.

[@typhoon1oon]

Fortunate son is 60 though

[@Zett76]

@@SSky06 "the most annoying character in modern history" I see you're finally back from the cave retreat you started in 2015... well, we'll give you some time, to catch up. We speak again.

[@Stiffeno]

“ I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” Understatement of the century!

[@hiteshadhikari]

He never said this

[@hiteshadhikari]

@UC0CLyNcN4S3adZLtFWNVNAg yep

[@stringer-ik1pc]

Two days later Hitler declared war on America. Now the cowards had to fight.

[@DominicPaz]

USA: "Oh, these guys are attacking me. Now, where did I put my big tub of lube? Oh well, forget the lube ..."

[@HaventheDemoness-vy9lx]

@@DominicPaz Whoa there

[@jamiebarba5701]

Japan: We Attack Pearl Harbor. USA: You just activated my trap card.

[@michaelrizka]

USA: Magic Cylinder activate!

[@harveybeaver9731]

@@michaelrizka Wait, wasn't it the Wildcat Card?

[@attilaedem101]

Also the USA: If i think about it that was not that a bad an idea *proceed to drone strike everyone including military basses in Lybia, Syria and god konw where else...*

[@Jebu911]

That was more during midway. Japan was winning for 6months before that and it went all downhill from the midway ambush.

[@hoodaticus]

UK: America, go for a walk! USA: Releasing Restraint Level Zero

[@GlutenFr33]

The risk we took was calculated, but man... are we bad at math. - Japan

[@carlrevans]

"Well believe me Mike, I calculated the odds of this succeeding, versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid, and. . . I went ahead anyway. . . " -Crow T. Robot

[@JayFLee1]

And now you know why Asian parents are so uptight on math

[@VikingTeddy]

Actually, it was a good plan. They knew they couldn't win. The point was to buy time so they'd be ready for the U.S if a truce wasn't accepted. The reason it failed was because the U.S carrier fleet happened to be absent from Pearl. The Japanese weren't stupid. I'm really disappointed that a youtuber who I like fails to do basic research :/

[@chozer1]

@@VikingTeddy in every scenario they would have been Nuked. Japan would lose every time

[@VikingTeddy]

@@chozer1 That doesn't change anything. Unless the Japanese had some way of looking in to the future. With the information they had, it was a good plan. No one knew how important carrier warfare turned out to be, they weren't ready for it. Of course they were going to lose.

[@kimchisamurai7068]

Japan: I might be a healer but I can 1v5, check this out **Japan has been slain**

[@supergamer4015]

Mobile legends or league of Nations?

[@johntonthetroll]

you have mail Japan Japan: o cool what is it Mail: all your allies are dead and you no stand against The United States, the UK, China, France and the Soviet Union. Japan: Oh ok

[@stringer-ik1pc]

@@johntonthetroll two days later Hitler declared war on America and the cowards had to fight.

[@johntonthetroll]

@@stringer-ik1pc Ok

[@whitezombie10]

@@stringer-ik1pc cowards, sure

[@slcRN1971]

When my dad signed up in the US Navy (the day after Pearl Harbor), he stated that those who joined the military that day - - all had a strong conviction that it was necessary for the defense of our country. He served in the Pacific throughout WWII and would have nightmares from what happened during that time. My husband’s dad served in Europe in the Army during that war and after being there as the death camp survivors were released, he developed a drinking problem.

[@JD-ko5tp]

Thank your dad and FIL for their service from a random internet stranger

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

Those people saw things no human should ever see.

[@BobSmith-gk9vs]

No mention of the Russo-Japanese War that was fought during 1904 and 1905 that gave them confidence that the same thing would happen with the USA.

[@kingt0295]

@Nathan Taffijn they weren’t ready for an empire, they had just transitioned from a feudal society to a western style one 40 years prior lol

[@gaditya4625]

They thought the same with USSR and lost more land

[@ZAR556]

Probably The most OOF moment in history of mankind

[@Coarvus]

From both sides honestly, we should have sent it towards the ocean to display manpower rather then kill millions of their people.

[@cazschiller]

Hilter going against Stalin is up there too

[@ZAR556]

@@cazschiller well,, if USA not backstabbing Nazi probably would've reach Moscow Operation Barbarossa fail mostly cuz USA join the war,, USA join the war cuz IJN stupid ass plan

[@zeBorat420]

@@Coarvus maybe. However dropping the bombs saved both us and Japanese lives

[@firghteningtruth7173]

@@cazschiller steals his plan from napoleon...ignores the failure at the end and repeats it. Roflcopter.

[@slik-0974]

"I feel all we have done is awake a sleeping giant and fill him with terrible resolve" - Isoroku Yamamoto

[@slik-0974]

@CKS1949 no he actually said it look up Isoroku Yamamoto quotes it's one of the first ones

[@danielhopkins2277]

@@slik-0974 nope, the real experts think he never said that, similar to his rifle and grass quote. "The Internet has a lot of fake quotes" - Albert Einstein

[@slik-0974]

@@danielhopkins2277 you had me for a second until I read who you were quoting it made me think of a not so popular quote from Sun Tzu's art of war "lmao that shit was funny"

[@DoomFinger511]

One thing left out of this, is before Pearl Harbor many countries (including the USA) made an agreement to limit the size of their Navy. As most of America's (smaller) Navy was at Pearl Harbor the idea was that their ships (including aircraft carriers) would get knocked out. This would give Japan enough time to rush in before the USA could rebuild. However all the aircraft carriers were away during the bombing, allowing the USA to still hold it's own in a naval battle while it rebuilt its destroyed ships.

[@w41duvernay]

FUNNY, how those aircraft carriers weren't at Pearl Harbor before the attack.

[@DomWeasel]

@@w41duvernay Funny how US Naval doctrine like the Japanese considered aircraft carriers secondary to battleships and USN Admirals would continue to advocate the battleship as the supreme naval weapon even after Midway...

[@spudskie3907]

@w41duvernay Enterprise was supposed to have been at Pearl Harbor on December 7, but either refueling issues with the escorting destroyers and/or weather delayed her return. On a side note…Enterprise’s baseball team was scheduled to play Arizona’s team for the Pacific Fleet championship that day. Needless to say..that game never happened.

[@The_whales]

Japan: I attacked Pearl Harbor Germany: you destroyed the carriers right? Japan: … Germany: you destroyed the carriers right??

[@101jir]

​@@The_whales replace "you destroyed the carriers" with "you blocked the mouth of the harbor" The Japanese very intentionally tried to repeat Taranto, the mini subs were supposed to be at the mouth to sink escaping ships so nothing could get in or out.

[@DamonNomad82]

The Japanese were repeating the sneak attack strategy that they had used to start the Russo-Japanese War. Japan was victorious in that war, and it was still within living memory in 1941. They found out the hard way that the USA wasn't Tsar Nicholas II's Russian Empire!

[@DamonNomad82]

@@doraemon61377 Your reply has nothing to do with my comment. I suggest you take some classes on reading comprehension, to save yourself the embarrassment of beclowning yourself further. 🤡

[@Victor-iq5rd]

@@doraemon61377 That had nothing to do with this statement this is about war so you are either a troll or poor at reading.

[@nicknack9828]

It's important to know that the main targets of the attack were aircraft carriers and the Pacific fleet had them stationed at pearl harbour most of the time. On the day of the attack no carriers were present, and that imbalance of air power really crippled Japan in the war. Maybe if the attack had hit its targets things could've been a bit different

[@onylra6265]

They were actually aware of that fact (due to spies in Hawaii) and went ahead with the attack anyway, also declining to prioritize sub facilities and fuel storage when they had the chance - if anything it was the Japanese obsession with the notion of the 'fleet in being' and battleships in particular that caused them to make such an 'oversight'. None of it really mattered in the end, because it was always an error to assume that America would be willing to sue for peace afterward - the failure was one of imagination. Maybe if it had been more successful the war could have lasted another 6-12 months The West was not as weak-minded as they assumed - somebody ought to have paid more attention in history class. The Nazi/Japanese philosophy was mind>body, they simply underestimated to an absurd degree the resolve of the Anglo-Saxon capitalist-democratic mindset.

[@YtubeUserr]

They didn''t drop the Nuclear Bombs through Aircraft Carriers. So the story would have been the same still.

[@DL-nn1ws]

@@YtubeUserr well the planes wouldn’t have reached Japan had they been launched from Hawaii

[@Xingmey]

no it wouldn't have made any difference if japan had sunk all carriers available in the pacific in 1941 or 1942 near pearl harbor the us had 5 carriers, while japan had 8 mid 1943 japan would still have had 8 carriers and maybe 2 more, while the us already were up to build 13 more and that disbalance would just increase over time, on a very steep curve japan either way had to win fast and break morale of the american people, or get bombed to death

[@johng6350]

Nope. Even if they'd had the success they wanted at Pearl, and later at Midway, Japan would have still lost. It would have only taken longer. America's industrial might was unrivaled, and was untouched by the attacks. There are documentaries about this, and it's truly mind-boggling how much stuff the US built during the war.

[@thomasdr08]

I know my elementary history teachers would have given you a C+ simply because this presentation was less than 5 minutes, but that was succinct, and well stated. Bravo.

[@amaliehavsland6896]

In the list of worst ideas ever (0.02) , what does “thinking that the horse left outside your front gate would look lovely next to the fountain” refer to?

[@msimomi]

Maybe a reference to the Trojan Horse

[@amaliehavsland6896]

@@msimomi ah haha 😂 Thanks!

[@runarandersen878]

And also: The attack om Pearl Harbour was not a success. They didn’t take the oil reserves there and many important ships wasn’t at the base at that moment.

[@rlife7853]

The japanese mostly focused on the ships, especially the battleships and aircraft carriers. But the aircraft carriers were not there, so their plan kinda failed.

[@vepiol2278]

@@rlife7853 At this point though, iirc aircraft carriers weren’t as accomplished or well known of their importance as they are now.

[@_Boobear_]

@@vepiol2278 the Japanese of that time knew of their importance to a battle

[@brianpeck4035]

Didn't take out the dry docks either

[@Kagemusha08]

@@richardtbohnen5070 Victory would absolutely have been inevitable even if they had taken out those aircraft carriers. Even Yamamoto more or less thought this, though he still went along with planning the attack because of, you know, duty. The US build over a hundred fucking aircraft carriers during the war. Not all were Essex class behemoths but a lot of them were. The US also still had a colossal technological advantage over Japan. Not even talking about nukes, but shit like radar and ships and the fact that the US broke the Japanese radio codes easily and could always know where their navy would be. The Zero had an advantage at the start of the war because of how maneuverable it was but as soon as the US figured out that came at the cost of armor and self-sealing fuel tanks they were basically sitting ducks, especially when Japan started losing veteran pilots and had to replace them with kids with virtually no training. And at the end of the day: the US had so many people people and so many more resources than Japan. Hard to win a war of attrition against someone with more shit that's better than your shit and more people. Yeah yeah, "North Vietnam did it". The NVA was fighting on home turf (compared with occupied territory with guerilla fighters) against a nation that increasingly didn't want to be fighting. The US also didn't throw all of it's military power at Hanoi because they were wary of the Soviet and Chinese reaction. There's no was the US Homefront was going to give up against a country that had attacked their home. And obviously there were no qualms about using every weapon they had available... And ultimately Japan's grand strategy was flawed: they made the whole island ring of defenses assuming the Americans would have to land on each and every one and fight it out in brutal jungle combat. Instead the US navy just bypassed the most heavily fortified islands and cut off supplies. Why fight a suicidal enemy when you can just starve them?

[@Bobong5436]

The attack on Pearl Harbor wasn't so effective because Japan's best admiral, Jamossitto Bissonnitto called out sick on that day.

[@armahpruski5877]

Sounds Italian.

[@orangedude8013]

@@armahpruski5877 Jamoshiro Bissonatto

[@Bobong5436]

@@orangedude8013 that sounds way better, i should've given it more thought lol

[@channelname8360]

@@Bobong5436 i just realised what that said lmfao

[@sharkronical]

If only the great Italian general, the successor of Caesar, Jamossita Bissonetti wasn't sick, Greece *might* fall

[@Ryarios]

They were looking for a short, victorious war. Those have been sought after throughout history and almost never came to pass.

[@ystudbeast3]

Kinda like Hitler thinking the Soviets would capitulate or fall apart quickly

[@davidalan6354]

@@ystudbeast3 I know. I wonder the thinking behind “if we hit them hard enough in their own land they will lose resolve to fight and fall apart” I wonder had that ever worked in a war?

[@jasondyrkacz8270]

@@ystudbeast3 "Then it got cold. Stupid cold."

[@wppb50]

@@davidalan6354 Worked to a degree on Russia during World War I, although it wasn't exactly an easy road there. I think the idea, usually, is less "hit them hard enough on their own land," more "I don't think they have the resolve or the economic strength to keep up after losses." Hitler did have some success in his quick tactics--look at Denmark or, obviously, France for what could happen if things went really well there. If it is possible to disrupt an enemy army's ability to function in a decisive attack, the opposing side has to reorganize and rebuild while your army is free to make that as hard as possible to do (their army being unfit to keep you from doing so). It was also a lot more possible, generally, before the twentieth century, before global wealth made fielding really modern armies practical, and when it could take months to send troops and messages out to replace losses.

[@tuluppampam]

​@@wppb50 Russia in ww1 just killed itself, it wasn't really out of the German invasion The people there just felt like it was a good time to embrace socialism, something that is essentially the only time a quick war could've worked But the USSR was not in a moment of instability, so nothing came crashing down

[@ahmetkarl1229]

nobody: Japan at 3 am: -If invade half of asia and thus fight with china, netherlands, USA, soviets, india and the british we'd never have to look for oil again.

[@armedforce6542]

Germany: Don’t do it! Every other Axis Member: Don’t do it! Japan: Ahh I can do it, what could go wrong... USA: You fool

[@liam6170]

USA:you better get your condoms ready

[@armedforce6542]

@@liam6170 yeah 😂 Greets from Germany

[@liam6170]

@Die Handwedker greets from the USA I could not resist

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

churchills minions had kidnapped emperor of japan and attacking perl harbor on the day aircraft carriers were not in pearl harbor was the cost of releasing the emperor (we all hove come to know by this time how faithful were Japanese to their emperor) so that America could join the war and save Britain

[@wowzery]

I read a book on translated letters from a Japanese admiral, wish I could remember, who talked about receiving pressure from German officials to go to war against the US. There was some thought that Japan fighting the US would divert attention away from Europe, which Hitler promptly screwed up with declaring war against the US.

[@jwil4286]

if Japan's army had been as competent as its navy, they may have been able to come out on top. part of the reason the USSR pushed back the Nazis was that Stalin was able to call in soldiers from the east who were trained to fight in the cold of the Russian winter. if they were too busy fighting Japan, they couldn't have helped against Germany.

[@detroitandclevelandfan5503]

BINGO!!!!! Always said this.

[@robertphillips6296]

I am somewhat surprised that given their treaty with Nazi Germany that they didn't attack the USSR and divided it up between them. For Russia fighting a two front war would have been difficult.

[@hunternovak4187]

To be fair attacking Russia from the east would be a hell of a journey to the more populated cities that are actually worth capturing on western side

[@robertphillips6296]

@@hunternovak4187 True, but considering the mineral wealth of eastern Russia, I could see that as a sufficient reason for them taking the risk.

[@stillewillem9652]

Japan did attack earlier but general Zhukov beat them hard so they did not try again. Also many Japanese troops where busy in China so they could not attack the USSR

[@seanpatterson1609]

Thank you very much for this and all of your videos. This was more helpful than most of what I learned in understanding the reason for this attack.

[@djifambinjotu8217]

James Bissonate, Danny Melony and Spinning 3 Plates are out here paying for my history class week in week out. Absolute class I tell u that.

[@cannonball666]

Yamamoto: “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant." 2nd Officer: "Maybe we can lull him back to sleep with some plum wine and sake."

[@longyu9336]

US Army, Navy and Marine Corps: "AYAYAYAYA"

[@clearsmashdrop5829]

Plum wine is awesome.

[@cliffowens3629]

The other part of that quote is: " ...and filling him with a terrible resolve "

[@whathell6t]

@@longyu9336 That’s wrong analogy for describing the USA in World War II. Its Phoenix Ikki that is best analogy to describe the whole thing considering both of them were awaken after hundreds of years and are the most terrifying warriors due to raw strength, tactfulness, scalding 🔥 fire power, and psychological skills to mind-rape their enemies which the Pillar Men don’t have.

[@DanRyzESPUK]

@The last Outcast it is uncertain, no actual records it seems. The line was said in the movie Tors Tora Tora (1971) as an ending, and it was actually cool. Nevertheless, Yamamoto was among the esceptic ones. He did say that Japan could only hold a war with the US for one or two years and if longer, they would lose.... As it happened.

[@rowmagnvs]

You are, hands down, the best narrator on KZbin.

[@brienluck4783]

Great video. Informative and humorous.

[@iamthad1546]

“That Hirohito boomed me”😂😂😂 the little details in your videos are amazing. Thanks for making them.

[@Domokon]

He's so good x4

[@matthewshipley739]

Japan: *Bombs Pearl Harbour and cripples a large portion of the US Navy* Japan: "Hah! We've bombed Pearl Harbour and crippled the Americans! Victory is assured!" US: "Hold my beer..."

[@SusCalvin]

The imperial navy sort of understands this. A bunch of them think that unless the imperial navy aggressively decimates the US navy, US warship production will overtake them. We have a carrier advantage today, but if we sit and wait the USA will build more carriers and faster than we can. A lot of their plans have an optimistic aspect, if we only extend the war a bit longer or add a few more parts in the island security sphere, the USA will be deterred and let us sue for peace.

[@Jebu911]

@@SusCalvin Yeah also both of the yamatos should have been supercarriers instead of battleships. Could have turned all naval battles with that kinda air superiority considering japanese fighter pilots were better than Americans at start.

[@SusCalvin]

@@Jebu911 The imperial navy is in that situation in general through the war. How do we use a temporary advantage to keep a future disadvantage away.

[@Admiral45-10]

Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1579: Orderes his envoys to mock Polish-Lithuanian king Stefan Batory: puts heavy punishments on envoys and decleares war on Russia Tsar after the war: *Easy there fella, I was just joking*

[@SusCalvin]

@Vim Fuego There's little legalism in international relations. There is no neutral nation-court in 1936. The great powers do things, and the other powers might like it or not. A lot of smaller nations think their only chance against one great power is to find a friendly opinion within the others. Imperial Japan wants to build up the Co-prosperity Sphere and a lot of local liberational nationalists don't like it any more than having a european power above them. The USA has a sort of idealistic and non-interventionist opinion. People on the street are looking at what Japan is doing to their would-be client states in the Co-prosperity Sphere, there's US journalists reporting back on events in China. People from the Chinese nationalist movement have been building international sympathies for years. That US opinion is still strongly against large foreign wars. It might disprove of colonialism but there's a sense that democratic examples and economic muscle will be enough.

[@richdouglas2311]

I didn't know about the Northern strategy. Awesome stuff!

[@scotturban54]

Thanks for posting

[@FranBunnyFFXII]

"They thought that they'd win" seems like a common theme here.

[@AndrewAMartin]

It wasn't just that they thought they'd win, but that they'd win QUICKLY. They knew their chance of success would drop severely the longer the war went on...

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Also overly complicate their plans to a point they fail because it really on everything going as plan not that something het screw up here and there

[@EroticOnion23]

They thought they'd take out China in 6 months...

[@monikhadka]

Japan: bombs Pearl Harbor US: levels two entire cities Japan: I like anime!

[@dextercochran4916]

That's called, "getting the bushido beat out of you".

[@nogisonoko5409]

*Ignoring the fact of the entire cities in Japan other than Hiroshima and Nagasaki got firebombed to oblivion*

[@tragic_solitude7992]

We leveled more than 2 cities.

[@pcdeviation6594]

This is not a good joke, and has nothing in common. Japan has always been making art as well. Forever. Before world war 2. Before world war 1. Anime is also not as big in Japan as you think. Get funny

[@aquariumdude7829]

""What an insane war Japan has launched! Any fool knows the power and might of the United States!" -Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist upon hearing of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

[@mostlynormal9467]

Good vid I recommend At Dawn We Slept It’s a long book but it’s also a good one

[@billyjoellivealbums8654]

I just love how james bizzonete has become such a meme with the community been there from the beginning Guess the Japanese lost cus they weren't sponsored by james bizzonete.

[@cameronberra8838]

If only the Japanese got some funding from Kelly Money Maker.

[@tituskriswanto5110]

james funded the nuclear bomb program

[@billyjoellivealbums8654]

@@tituskriswanto5110 he gave the soviets the nuclear plans

[@LordJaric]

I don't get what makes this guy so special

[@billyjoellivealbums8654]

@@LordJaric how

[@marcelorivera199811]

Japan Army: *Loses a few border conflicts* Japanese Navy: "Ah! See! The southern strategy is the way to go!" US Navy: *Opens up coffin* "Alright get in."

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

churchills minions had kidnapped emperor of japan and attacking perl harbor on the day aircraft carriers were not in pearl harbor was the cost of releasing the emperor (we all hove come to know by this time how faithful were Japanese to their emperor) so that America could join the war and save Britain

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

@Plo Koon first I am not on meth Or cocaine & second you have no idea who I am and my family history is my grand father was fighting the British in india on nonviolence movement under Gandhi leadership but his brother joined the I.N.A (Indian national army) and had taken up arms with the Japanese under leadership of subash chandra bose to fight the British this is something I heard from my grandfather when I was young that his brother told him after returning from Burma I dont remember the details as I was very young at he time but I got no proof and even if I can get the emperor of Japan to convince you you will not listen because people you think that they just know everything just because you will believe the words of liers that a truth speaking brother

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

I bet you have not even heard of most of the facts i have revealed to you till date if you don't trust me crosscheck the details of the people I have mentioned above on the internet and you will be surprised how much less you know about the history of ww2

[@Alpha0727]

@@raghunandanankolekar7339 First, you need to use proper grammar and punctuation. Second, did you suggest that Great Britain attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor disguised as the Japanese in order to force the US into WWII?

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

@@Alpha0727 i am suggesting u can learn history better when u learn it with a open mind

[@jonathanharrop2978]

Well that was short and comprehensive. Thank you.

[@daakrolb]

Thank you for the vid.

[@mariat2801]

2:28 “He got me,” Roosevelt said of Hirohito's first strike over him. "That f***ing Hirohito boomed me." Roosevelt added, “He’s so good,” repeating it four times. Roosevelt then said he wanted to add Hirohito to the list of leaders he colonizes with this summer.

[@johnf.kennedy343]

You should do a video about “How did the world react to the nuclear bomb dropping in Hiroshima?”

[@cb-gill9423]

There is a video already

[@johnf.kennedy343]

@@cb-gill9423 He made a video about what Hiroshima did right after the bomb but he hasn’t made a video about the world’s reaction to the bomb.

[@lotrlmao1648]

i guess it is just this nation shocked or disbelieved or want to make an atom bomb as well or something

[@joksizantos7520]

Soviet Union: hehe spy mode activate

[@worldman3218]

I can say with certainty that every other Asian country that Japan invaded, celebrated when they were bombed to oblivion. I don't know about the other countries.

[@prakashghumaliya2002]

Thank you for video sir 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼💐💐💐

[@v2taoandzen364]

Very nice. Thank you.

[@michealcronin8586]

An extremely important detail I fee you left out, Japan expected the pacific carrier fleet to be in harbor at the time and the main point of Pearl Harbor was to knock out that. Unfortunately for Japan the fleet was exercising and they attacked too early. The enterprise was hours from returning and her CAG actually participated in battle.

[@hyort3613]

Actually not really, at the time carriers weren’t seen as important as they are now and the Japanese focused on the battle ships. The reason carriers became as important as they did is because the US has to get crafty with them

[@BjornHeiden]

I believe that Roosevelt did that on purpose. It was widely known that carriers were the future of naval warfare…and seeing what Roosevelt did just before the attack was obviously him trying to get the US involved in the European war. It’s no coincidence that the carriers were absent, Roosevelt knew the Japanese would defend their honour if they were provoked. All that just so he could get the US out of isolation and become world power. Roosevelt let the Soviets take over and allowed communism to arise. He ruined the world because he wanted to fight the Axis, his ego screwed us.

[@kemarisite]

The carriers were not exercising. Saratoga was in San Diego to pick up her air group after scheduled maintenance in Bremerton, Washington. Enterprise was on her way back from delivering USMC fighters to Wake Island in place of the squadron of P-40s that higher HQ in Washington wanted to send, and Lexington was delivering USMC dive/scout bombers to Midway in place of another squadron of P-40s. As I recall, the battle force under William Pye had been exercising a great deal, but was largely opened up for inspection on Sunday morning, which helps explain why some of the battleships sank so quickly (aside from the obvious bomb in Arizona's black powder magazine).

[@Wolfe1966]

@@BjornHeiden BS, the US would at war with Japan regardless of Pearl Harbor. Japan didn't only attack Pearl Harbor, but also invaded the Philipines, wich was a American colony at that time. The invasion of an American colony would definatly meant war between Japan and the USA.

[@BjornHeiden]

@@Wolfe1966 Why do you think they even attacked in the first place? You act like I forgot the details of the pacific war.

[@thebigskip-e]

You know what I like about your channel? You get to the point and you don't fill the first two minutes with sponsorships. Unlike a certain other channel...

[@fernandosacchetto5215]

The answer was that they took a calculated risk, but were really bad at math

[@johnarnold6623]

It seems like the common reason for war is, “I think I have to” and “I think I will win”

[@williammaitland8262]

I love that the list of bad ideas accurately lists "Killing Mongol Ambassadors" as number one.

[@manubishe]

Is this some myth about bad ideas?

[@williammaitland8262]

@@manubishe look up the Khwarazmian Empire and see

[@manubishe]

@@williammaitland8262 distrust to the Mongol empire and refuse to repay for spilled blood? That's usual stupidity, not anything close to "strike the biggest country, which also develops nuclear weapons".

[@LamborghiniDiabloSVPursuit]

​@@manubishe To put this into perspective, the Mongol Empire was the single biggest and most powerful united empire in history during this time. The Khwarazmian empire was utterly destroyed in a matter of 2 years, all because their sultan wanted to be a spiteful prick against the single biggest, most powerful man in existence during that time. Whom he fully knows about, mind you, because his own delegates back in China wrote reports about him when Genghis was besieging the region. So yeah, this isn't usual. You don't get a 200-year old empire destroyed for utter pettiness.

[@franmartinezgalvez6357]

Just in case someone does not get all the events from 0:02: 1- Persia vs Mongolia (RIP Baghdag) 2- Napoleon and Hitler 3- Pretty Obvious 4- Troy 5- Pretty obvious too.

[@cornandbeefs]

Thank you! I could not figure out Troy and it was bothering me. Now instead of bothered I just feel silly for but getting it.

[@franmartinezgalvez6357]

@@cornandbeefs same. Sometimes you have to think outside the box.

[@Jay-qb9gi]

Yep.

[@jimwegerer5988]

For number two you can add Charles XII of Sweden.

[@TheSilverCanine_R3D-H]

Troy?

[@Godflakes]

vaping to this right now, wild

[@Lando_-tr3es]

Japan: Bombs Pearl Harbor USA: And I took that personally...

[@stringer-ik1pc]

Two days later Hitler declared war on America. Now the cowards had to fight.

[@Blate1]

It’s also important to note that their plan wasn’t quite as insane as it seems because half of our fleet wasn’t at Pearl Harbor when they thought it would be. If it had been, they might have succeeded in crippling us, at least for a time

[@christopherjones8448]

They had also defeated Russia with a similar strategy before, so again not as crazy as people think

[@BoldWittyName]

Emphasis on "at least for a time." The number of ships the USA produced vs what Japan produced was staggering. There's a good vid on the topic on yt.

[@madensmith7014]

It wasn't an insane plan cause the actual operation included the simultaneous invasions of the Philippines, Guam and Malaya. The bombing of the naval base was a part of a bigger pre-emptive strike on the Allies and did succeed in crippling the Pacific Fleet enough so that they won't be coming while their invasions are ongoing

[@madensmith7014]

​@@BoldWittyName I seriously doubt the industrial capacity mattered much in the Pacific theatre. Anyone in the time knew that the US was a sleeping giant, more so for the resource constrained Japan. The war was more of a huge gambit on the political will in the US. The US was isolationist, didn't want to be involved in foreign wars, and primarily targeted colonies in Asia which are as good as places no American of the time cared for. Imo, Pearl Harbor was a fuck up cause the US was able to emphasize the American soldiers stationed there and make it feel like it was the Americans under attack.

[@sabin97]

@@madensmith7014 actually usakistan was economically choking japan. they were for all effects and purposes already at war. japan simply punched first. sadly they didnt have all the infromation we have now. if their attack had been executed when all the carriers were there, and they had taken the base instead of trying ot destroy it, they could have used it as a platform to keep the west coast of usakistan from producing ships. and at the very least force usakistan to withdraw some of its troops in europe, which would have given germany some breathing room, maybe enough to finish off england. but this is just hindsight. the attack was the worst possible kind of failure. one that looks and feels like a success.

[@deshaunmurry1214]

Japan: This war will be quick and decisive for us to win. America: Are sure about that?

[@calebbarnhart5856]

America: Yes for U.S.

[@locomotivesteam9334]

Japan: We will win easily. *Bombs Pearl harbor* *America gets nuke* America: Get inside it please.

[@gaditya4625]

Lol, even Napoleon and Hitler thought it's an easy win against Russia.

[@PhaxMas]

The "Soon" graphics are my favourite part of these videos 😂😂😂

[@jackolantern404]

That's a great list at 0:01.

[@James-qn3wi]

That actually made a lot of sense. And you explained it better than my history teachers. My great great grandfather was confused as Hell to think why they would bomb Pearl Harbor in the first place, he thought it was either that they hate us, or they want to show "who's boss" But either, it's both. Or they got confused of who they're supposed to attack.

[@omarharoon1436]

As unexpected as an inquisition

[@peterg76yt]

Ironically the Spanish Inquisition did operate in the Philipines at one point, so they should have expected it.

[@morisco56]

Spanish

[@Hungabrigoo]

Even more ironically, but the Spanish Inquisition and the Pearl Harbor attack were very well expected by their recipients.

[@lc-mx1ir]

Lol i love that show

[@stc3145]

Nobody expect the nobody expect the nobody expect the comments

[@charlesajones77]

What's ironic is that Japan ended up far better off in the long run than they would have been if they had had to take and hold Indonesia themselves.

[@null8036]

yeah about that, no comment. seriously if we had enough manpower with brain, maybe the story will go another way but seeing that some people with influence (golongan tua) at the time in indonesia are willing to help japan in exchange for their independence, if not for US nuked japan 2 times and sovient invasion plan making vacuum of power then indonesia will definitely help japan at that time, by mean help i mean helping by supplying manpower and resources... (why the heck we have large resources but slow in progression unlike europe or america is still big question for me)

[@Kenboi88LOL]

0:01 what was that part about the horse and the fountain about 😂

[@Kevin-cm5kc]

There's a really good ww2 channel called 'military history visualised' that comes to a slightly different conclusion. He doesn't describe it as 'they thought they would win' but more like 'they took an all or nothing gamble in an act of sheer desperation'. I lean more towards that interpretation myself. It's worth checking out for another perspective. Great video as always!

[@soap3468]

This is an explanation I've heard from my family (Japanese) but I haven't seen anyone else mention it, thank you!

[@BjornHeiden]

They literally didn’t have a choice. America denied them a major fuel for Japanese economy, again. The Americans have been bullying the Japanese for so long by that point and now they controlled their economy, without those resources the Japanese people would have went poor and starved. The only reason they invaded Manchuria was because they need resources to make sure their people didn’t starve, the same for Malaysia. Trade embargo on Japan was obvious to Roosevelt that they would retaliate.

[@lordofdarkness4204]

@@BjornHeiden Is that why they committed massacres against the Chinese?

[@BjornHeiden]

@@lordofdarkness4204 nearly every civilization in history has done some form of genocide, being on a large scale or small. I never justified it so don’t come at me with those baseless speculations. I could even provide examples if you refuse to understand: Tutsi genocide, Armenian genocide, German ethnic cleansing, holodomar, holocaust, ect. ect. I don’t think I need to continue.

[@buddermonger2000]

Well in many ways it's pretty obvious that all of the details showed that they didn't really think that they'd win an actual war (just try to get them to not spend the effort and institute a done deal). However, it makes for a really nice wrap-up and it's correct in spirit.

[@tamipalin8171]

Now we just need to hear from "spinning three plates"

[@Grusharaburas]

Never heard about Khan's ambassador before this. Very informative.

[@Plainview200]

Have you done a video on the Japanese/Russian battles of Khalkhin Gol/ Nomonhan that you alude to here?

[@K_1_T_S_U_N_E]

Worst.Ideas.Ever. 2. Invading Russia from the West. Imperial Germany: Am I a joke to you?

[@juanma5213]

They had would lose if was not by lenin

[@MrDwarfpitcher]

@@juanma5213 the Russians lost when the Tsar failed in his battles It swayed public opinion against its rulers Lenin was juat an obvious leader to turn too

[@juanma5213]

@@MrDwarfpitcher I don't deny that the Germans won in Russia, but they didn't invaded her deeply until the Russian Civil War started

[@juanma5213]

@Noodle Bob Kerensky Offensive?

[@nickbell4984]

@@juanma5213 Well yes but thats the reason Germany didn't see a point of carrying on as they weren't going to fight anyway.

[@melkiorwiseman5234]

Short version: Japan: They're going to attack us anyway but if we strike fast we can take out all their important fighting capability and they'll just give up once they realise we're super-powerful. America: We admit to nothing, no you didn't, no we won't, no you aren't.

[@romaniangypsy3640]

Hirohito:hey guess what mustache boy we did something you could never do Hilter:really what Hirohito:attack the US- Hilter:im sorry ehat

[@bobg5362]

What's with the horse left by the front gate fountain idea?

[@ethribin4188]

The two of three main reasons for declairing wars: 1) they though they had to. 2) they thought they'd win.

[@cryptan6756]

He never puts those little jokes in the last few seconds. I miss those.

[@solracer66]

The key piece of information missing from this video is that the Japanese expected that the US aircraft carriers would be in Pearl Harbor when the attack came and without those carriers it would take the US months to generate any sort of major response. However the three carriers (Enterprise, Lexington and Saratoga) were not in port on December 7th. The Lexington was in San Diego and the other two were at sea. If they had destroyed or heavily damaged those carriers then the war may have gone more the way they expected.

[@justsomegamer6606]

Japan: "We'll win" *U.S Navy respawns* Japan: Damnit

[@corinth492]

02:44 this image pretty much sums up WW2

[@robbiephillips2465]

please do “The History of the Life of James Bisinette”

[@eamonahern7495]

I heard that one of the failures of Pearl Harbour was that a lot of the ships were out on patrols of the Pacific at the time so it wasn't as crippling as the Japanese hoped

[@str2010]

The aircraft carriers of the Pacific fleet were absent, scattered across the Pacific. Lexington was further west of Hawaii, Enterprise was returning from delivering planes (one of her patrols were attacked but the Japanese never made the connection) and Saratoga was all the way in the mainland undergoing maintenance

[@LiquidCallous]

i dont understand why these videos are so addicting

[@EARLYYY4215]

Because we see different ways of people dying.

[@ameyd3728]

kinda shot itself in the foot....just the foot for now

[@Newdivide]

Oversimplified

[@MrRemicas]

It was a calculated risk, but damn were they bad at math.

[@jesseberg3271]

This is why you shouldn't put your faith in stereotypes.

[@sterlingarcher2653]

Stolen comment

[@adamstampley7207]

"Were" being the keyword. They definitely corrected that mistake. 🤣

[@kimkim2718]

@@jesseberg3271 Stereotypes? You mean people noticing what other groups of people do? Let us all know when you clowns start moving to Non-white countries or down into the hood. Then you can tell us your BS thoughts on (Stereotypes). LOL.

[@kingt0295]

@@kimkim2718 what

[@bbenjers]

Nice presentation, although you could also mention that how the results of the Russo-Japanese war fueled Japan’s confidence that they could defeat another western power & that the U.S. had not yet been established as the dominant superpower we think of today.

[@mikeef747]

The USSR (Russia) was far from a powerful military force at the time. They were not an industrialized nation and were very poor. Quote from Stalin "I want to tell you what, from the Russian point of view, the president and the United States have done for victory in this war," Stalin said. "The most important things in this war are the machines. The United States is a country of machines. Without the machines we received through Lend-Lease, we would have lost the war."

[@dextercochran4916]

Japan: attacks Pearl with planes Planes: *I'm about to end this man's whole career*

[@raghunandanankolekar7339]

churchills minions had kidnapped emperor of japan and attacking perl harbor on the day aircraft carriers were not in pearl harbor was the cost of releasing the emperor (we all hove come to know by this time how faithful were Japanese to their emperor) so that America could join the war and save Britain

[@Johnny-vd9qw]

@@raghunandanankolekar7339 wtf

[@colormedubious4747]

@@Johnny-vd9qw He's trolling with nonsense as the bait.

[@olivermoore7020]

Dan Snow just did a peice on this on Timeline. The take-home message from that was that Japan was hoping that knocking-out the US Pacific fleet would neutralise them as a threat for around a year. By which time Japan could have secured and strengthened their position in the Pacific. The failure was that the damage done to the US Pacific fleet was actually fairly moderate (only a few ships were sunk, many were damaged but repairable) and by sheer coincidence the US Aircraft carriers were not present at Pearl Habour that day. So the attack ultimately didn't achieve its strategic objectives.

[@jonttopia]

0:01 can someone explain nr 4 on the list "thinking that the bone left outside your front gate would look lovely next to the fountain". I don't get what it's referencing

[@dreadgod81]

I had to look it up too, but you'll definitely recognize it when I remind you: it's referring to the (in)famous Trojan Horse of Troy. *facepalm* Don't feel, we both didn't make the connection and many other didn't either.

[@moboutmen]

Love the list.

[@TheRewasder97]

I like how all this videos about military decisions that backfired end like: most importantly, they thought they would win.