World War II
War in the Pacific
Japanese Military Flag Japan’s National Flag
Japan Goes to War
• Just like Germany & Italy, Japan was unhappy with their situation
• Lack of raw materials
• Lack of markets for industries
• Lack of space for growing population
• Suffering from Great Depression of 1930’s
• In 1931 Japan went to war, in 1941 they attacked Pearl Harbor
Fall of the Philippines
• 1941 – Japan attacks the Philippines*
• 1/2 of U.S. forces lost during air attack
• U.S & Philippine troops retreated to Bataan Peninsula - held out 4 months
• U.S. General Macarthur ordered to leave his army & escape to Australia
• April 1942 – forces retreated to the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay
• Lack of food & ammunition - 72K U.S troops surrendered
*(The U.S. occupied the Philippines since the Spanish-American War in 1898)
Bataan Death March
Prisoners from Corregidor divided into groups - 500 to 1000
Marched 60 miles north to a prison camp
6-12 day march - 10K U.S. soldiers died
News of this did not reach the American public until 1945
The Battle of Midway Japanese goal – destroy remaining U.S fleet
June 4, 1942 - fought entirely by air
U.S. planes discovered Japanese fleet of carriers reloading & refueling planes – Japanese were unable to launch an air defense
U.S sunk 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers & destroyed 250 planes
Heavy blow to the Japanese fleet prevented any further offensives in the Pacific
Battle of Guadalcanal 1st land battle btw. Japanese & U.S
August 1942 - 11K marines landed
2200 Japanese fled into the jungle
First taste of jungle warfare
U.S faced booby traps, ambushes, snipers
February 1943 - remaining Japanese escaped undetected
Island Hopping
1943 to 1944 – Two-prong allied advance
MacArthur & Adm. Halsey leapfrogged through Solomon Islands towards Philippines (skipping some islands)
Admiral Nimitz moved west across the Gilbert, Marshall & Marianna Islands
Air bases used to bomb future targets - Guam, Iwo Jima & Okinawa
By the end of 1944, the U.S was bombing Japanese cities.
The Philippine Campaign Oct. 1944, 160K U.S. troops invaded island of Leyte
Japanese lost 80K troops
Battle for Manila killed 100K Filipino civilians
Allies secured the Philippines, June 1945
Largest naval battle in history unfolded off the coast
280 ships including every warship Japan had left
Navy virtually destroyed
Japanese use Kamikazes
(suicide planes)
The Battle of Iwo Jima Japan occupied the 14 square mile volcanic island with
rocky slopes
700 miles from Japan – U.S could begin bombing Japan
25K Japanese, heavily fortified with concrete bunkers, honeycomb network of tunnels
Nov. 1944 - 74 days of aerial & & naval artillery with 110k troops
March 1945 - 6800 marines dead
Only 216 Japanese captured
The Battle of Okinawa April - June 1945 - bloodiest battle
350 miles from Japan - Last obstacle for an invasion of Japan
Allies launched attack the size of Normandy
U.S. used 1300 ships & 180K troops vs. 100K Japanese
Japanese used Kamikazes & Banzai tactics
After 3 months - 50K U.S casualties, 7200 prisoners
The Manhattan Project 1939 - Albert Einstein contacted FDR & explained possibility
of making a nuclear weapon.
Germany was attempting to build one of these new weapons too
FDR created the Manhattan project
1942 Enrico Fermi created 1st controlled nuclear reaction
Fermi’s work was field tested on July 16, 1945 in the desert of New Mexico
Hiroshima, 8 months after
Japan Surrenders
3 options other than the Atom bomb
Land invasion, naval blockade, conventional bombing
Aug. 6, 1945 - Hiroshima
140K killed instantly, 1000s more from burns & radiation
Aug. 9 – Nagasaki, similar results
Japan surrendered Aug. 14th, 1945
The End
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