• The Attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was a surprise attack on the U.S. military base of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces.
• The aim of the Japanese forces was to disable U.S. military forces and take them out of the war to continue their invasion of countries in the Pacific.
• The attack was the climax of worsening relations between the U.S.A., such as American trade sanctions against Japan.
• This brought U.S.A. into the Second World War where they had previously avoided joining.