Japan Strikes at Dawn! Defeat at Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, and Singapore: Conspiracy or Foul-up?

At the beginning of the Second World War from December 7, 1941 to March 8, 1942, in just 91 days, Imperial Japan was spectacularly victorious. The Japanese attacks decimated much of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, destroyed U.S. air and naval capacities in the Philippines, and conquered the supposedly impregnable Gibraltar of the East – Singapore. How could this have happened? Were conspiracies and intelligence failures responsible for these debacles? Or were they the result of a series of foul-ups, poor planning, worse strategy, and ill luck? This program will focus on the events and personalities that shaped the early Japanese victories in the opening phase of World War II in the Pacific.

Presenter: Dr. Edward Gordon