- In late 1937,

the Japanese escalate their military campaign

in China.

♪

They already occupy Manchuria.

♪

After three months of fighting,

they take Shanghai...

[soldiers cheer]

♪

And move to the ancient Chinese capital of Nanking.

♪

The Japanese brutality that follows

will shock the world.

♪

- They enter the city,

but instead of just occupying it,

they let the Japanese troops off the leash.

They rape, they pillage,

they burn, they steal.

♪

- The Japanese commanders

ordered their soldiers not to take any prisoners,

which meant executions.

♪

[people screaming]

- The Japanese invasion does identify

the Japanese as an aggressive power in the Pacific,

that they are brutal

in the way that they've treated the population.

And this starts to change people's perceptions

with regards to the Japanese.

- To counter continued Japanese aggression in China,

Roosevelt orders the U.S. fleet

to move from San Diego to Pearl Harbor--

a naval base on Hawaii

2,000 miles closer to the Japanese mainland.

♪

- This is a land that is an extension of the United States.

It is the United States.

♪

- Roosevelt is sending a clear signal

he hopes will deter Japan:

the Pacific is America's sphere of influence.

♪

- He wants the fleet to be positioned far enough forward

that the Japanese will take it seriously,

but at the same time not to be overtly provocative

by moving it to a place like the Philippines

or maybe Singapore.

- Pearl Harbor is now the front line

of American naval power in the Pacific.

- The Pearl Harbor naval base is perfect...

because it's got a narrow channel into a wide harbor

with an island right in the middle.

So it looks like a fortress.

♪

- In the summer of 1941,

the United States takes its strongest stand yet

against Japan's territorial ambitions.

- The United States has been concerned

about Japanese expansion and aggression in Asia

for some time.

Roosevelt has stopped short of a military response,

but there's been a series of embargoes--

embargo on weapons, an embargo on scrap iron.

- Japan is almost entirely dependent

on oil imported from the U.S.,

so FDR imposes an embargo on the Japanese.

- In the summer of 1941,

America essentially turns off the tap.

♪

- The embargo becomes a disaster

for the Japanese economy and military.

- By installing an oil embargo,

we have basically said, we are going to control your future.

♪

- Although meant to deter Japan,

FDR's order to move the Pacific Fleet base

from California to Pearl Harbor

means it's now within striking distance.

♪

- Roosevelt doesn't really understand

that by moving the fleet this far forward,

it now becomes a potential target for the Japanese,

because the Americans, in general, don't understand

the sophistication and level of capability

that the Japanese now have.

♪

- December 7, 1941...

♪

- 183 Japanese planes descend on Pearl Harbor

in the first wave of the attack.

Their target...

the airfields.

- The result is going to be

this concentrated bombing attack

to try to put as many American planes out of business

at the outset of the attack.

♪

- At 7:55 a.m....

♪

The first bombs hit.

♪

- When you hear the airplanes overhead, you're like,

oh, boy, they sure are doing training early today.

♪

And then when all of a sudden

things start to explode, you're like, oh, man,

somebody's really going to get in trouble

because this training event is way out of hand.

♪

- Another formation of Japanese aircraft

dive on the ships anchored along Battleship Row.

- Torpedo planes at low level...

♪

And overhead bombers.

♪

- It's not until ships actually start exploding...

bullets start ripping through the decks

that they realize, oh, my God, this is really real.

♪

The "Oklahoma" and the "West Virginia"

are very heavily hit.

♪

"Oklahoma" ends up capsizing,

trapping hundreds of men in this overturned ship.

♪

- After two waves of attack...

♪

The Japanese withdraw.

[somber music]

♪

188 U.S. aircraft are destroyed.

♪

1,178 servicemen and civilians are wounded.

2,403 are dead.

♪

- The America that wakes up on December 8, 1941

is a different country.

- The country's being tested.

Are we up to this?

♪

Can we meet this challenge?

We are being put in the balance,

and would we be found wanting or not?

♪

- At 12:30 p.m., Congress assembles.

♪

- Yesterday,

December 7, 1941...

A date which will live in infamy...

a state of war

has existed

between the United States

and the Japanese Empire.

[applause]

♪

- Look very carefully at what Franklin Roosevelt

said on the 8th of December.

"We are declaring war against the Empire of Japan."

♪

He does not mention Germany.

The 8th goes by.

The 9th goes by. The 10th goes by.

And not until the 11th,

when Hitler decides to declare war on the United States,

did the United States then, in turn,

declare war on Germany.

♪

- America now faces a global war on two fronts.

♪

- We were dragged into this. Let's be very clear.

The United States of America did not wake up

in the middle of the 20th century

and decide it was going to defeat tyranny.

Tyranny had to force us into a struggle

that we now recognize to be

the great existential struggle,

arguably, of the last millennium.

But it was not a quick or easy date

with destiny.

♪

- We are now in this war.

We're all in it, all the way.

Every single man, woman, and child

is a partner

in the most tremendous undertaking

of our American history.

♪

It will not only be a long war, it'll be a hard war.

♪

We are going to win the war.

And we are going to win the peace that follows.