On the Eve of War

4.4.1.wav

In the years before WWII, Alaska had virtually no military defense. As late as 1939 (two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor), the only military installation in the territory was the Chilkoot Barracks in Haines. There, 300 soldiers with ancient Springfield rifles watched over the old gold rush trails—hardly a need in 1939. Their only transportation was a 52-year-old tug boat.

For most of the 1930s, Alaska's non-voting delegate to Congress, Anthony Dimond, tried without success to improve Alaska's defenses. He argued that spending money to fortify Pearl Harbor, America's largest Pacific base in Hawaii, without taking any precautions to defend Alaska was like locking one door of a house and leaving another wide open. He said the territory could be taken "almost overnight by a hostile force," and any effort to recapture Alaska would come at the cost of millions of dollars and thousands of lives.

Another supporter of building Alaska's defenses was General William Mitchell, a pioneer in using air power and considered the father of the Air Force. In 1935, he told Congress, "I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world."

As relations between Japan and the United States deteriorated in the late 1930s and war in the Pacific became increasingly likely, the U.S. military looked at Alaska in a new light. Advances in air warfare had indeed made Alaska strategically important. Air bases there would be the shortest distance between Japan and the U.S. The shortest sea routes between Japan and the U.S. West Coast also were through Alaskan waters.

The new Alaskan defense plan was centered around combined naval and air power to defend Alaska and the North Pacific area. A network of air and naval bases were built at forward locations, with army garrisons to protect them. These new bases included airfields at Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Annette Island, and Yakutat. Naval bases were built at Sitka, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor. Alaska’s military population dramatically increased from about 300 in 1939 to 35,000 in September 1941.

Is Alaska "the most important strategic place in the world"?

To navigate through the textbook, click on the next page button or go to the navigation menu on the top left.

Report abuse