Brookfield Library Commemorates 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor

From the Brookfield Library: The Brookfield Library Commemorating the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.

The Strategic Significance of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor with Professor Mark Albertson will be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.

Professor Mark Albertson will discuss “The Strategic Significance of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor.” He will not be speaking on the attack itself; military and related channels are going to broadcast that approach all month. Rather, he will discuss the why

• The rise of Japan as a power, resulting friction with the United States
• The importance of oil
• The importance of naval power in the world’s largest ocean
• How Pearl Harbor, together with the Red Army’s victory over the Wehrmacht at the gates of Moscow showcase December 1941 as the turning point of the war

December 7, 1941 represents more than just America’s entry into World War II. It is the culmination of decades of strategic friction with Japan in the world’s largest ocean; the rise of Asian power in the face of the Western colonial agenda and the unalterable change in the course of a war that, for the most part, had been a European conflict. Together with the battle of Moscow, Pearl Harbor forms the turning point in the war. For in December 1941, the war becomes a global conflict; a conflict that proves beyond the capabilities of the Axis Powers and, sets the stage for the ultimate victory of the war’s two big winners: The United States and the Soviet Union.

Mark Albertson has been a member of the United States Naval Institute for more than 25 years. He is an historical research editor at Army Aviation magazine and has authored three books: USS Connecticut: Constitution State Battleship,They’ll Have to Follow You! The Triumph of the Great White Fleet, and On History: A Treatise. He teaches World War II history at Norwalk Community College for Lifetime Learners.

This program has been generously funded by The Friends of The Brookfield Library. Please register so that we can plan seating, online or by calling the library, 203-775-6241.

Image via the Brookfield Library