World War II was arguably the greatest war of the 20th century. It was fought in the Pacific and in Europe. At the beginning of the war the United States, which at the time consisted of 48 states, was not involved. Suddenly everything changed on the fateful morning of December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed. This changed the course of the entire war. Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress to inform them of Japan's attacks on the United States, to convince them to declare war, and to mobilize the American people against the evil powers that threatened freedom. Japan had its reasons for attacking Pearl Harbor. First, the Japanese began to protect themselves from attacks. They signed a treaty declaring that Japan and the Soviet Union were mutually neutral. That way they could have less to worry about if they attacked Britain or the United States. By the end of 1941, it looked (to the Japanese) that the Soviets would lose, so Japan tried to take oil from Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Japan had plans to conquer the Pacific, Asia and ultimately the world and the Americans did not like this (Pearl Harbor). "The United States wanted to stop Japanese expansion, but the American people were not willing to go to war to stop it. The United States demanded that Japan withdraw from China and Indochina, but they would settle for a symbolic withdrawal and of the promise not to conquer any more territory" (Pearl Harbor). So the United States, with its people reluctant to fight, punished Japan in 1940 by placing "an embargo on Japan prohibiting exports of steel, scrap iron, and aviation fuel to Japan, due to the seizure of control by part of Japan's northern French Indochina" (Pearl Harbor History: Why Japan Attacked). The United States was the main supplier of everything... center of paper...."History of Pearl Harbor: Why did Japan attack? Eyewitness accounts, casualty list, background."Welcome to the official website of the attack on Pearl Harbor.NP, nd Web. April 11, 2014."Pearl Harbor." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. May 8, 2014. “The History Place – Timeline of Pacific War.” The History Place – Timeline of Pacific War, May 9, 2014. “United States Declares War on Japan.” McGrath, Jane. “HowStuffWorks” After Pearl Harbor “HowStuffWorks” Web May 12, 2014. Neumann, Richard K Jr. “The myth that “eight warships were sunk” at Pearl Harbor.Robinson, Bruce. “Pearl Harbor: A Rude Awakening.” BBC Web. May 10, 2014. Roosevelt, Franklin Delano “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation.” United States Capitol, Washington DC, December 8 1941.