The War in the

Pacific
 Japanese Advances
• Within 6 months of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
they conquered:
– Hong Kong
– French Indochina
– Malaya
– Burma
– Thailand
– Half of China
– Formosa
– The Dutch East Indies
– Guam
– Wake Solomon Islands
– Two of the Aleutian Islands
 Fall of the Philippines
I Shall
• General Douglass Return!
MacArthur and 80,000 US
marines held out for 4
months against 200,000
Japanese.
• 14,000 killed 48,000
wounded Americans
Bataan Death March
Bataan Death March
 Doolittle Raids
• 16 B-25’s bombers led by
Col. James Doolittle
attacked Tokyo’s factories
by surprise from an aircraft
carrier.
• Doolittle raids were a blow
to the enemy – they began
to wonder if they were
indeed invincible.
 Battle of the Coral Sea
• First naval battle in
which neither side’s
ships ever saw one
another.
• The Battle was fought
in the air.
• The Allies were able
to stop the invasion
of Australia though
they lost more ships.
 The Battle of Midway
• The Japanese were preparing
an invasion of Midway and
then to Hawaii.
• The US learned about the
invasion through intercepted
communication.
• The US prepared a surprise
attack that destroyed 4
aircraft carriers and 322
planes.
• “The Americans have
avenged Pearl Harbor.”
 Island Hopping Strategy
• MacArthur planned on
bypassing Japanese
strongholds by
“leapfrogging” past them.
• Islands would serve as air-
cover for future
operations; air cover also
could be used to stop
Japanese supply-lines to
their strongholds.
 Guadalcanal
• The “Island of Death”
• Took 6 months to
defeat the
entrenched Japanese
soldiers.
• 1st Japanese land
defeat
MacArthur “Returns” to the Philippines
• October 1944
– 178,000 troops
– 738 ships headed toward Leyte Gulf, Philippines.
 The Battle of Leyte Gulf
• Japanese begin to use Kamikaze (Divine Wind)
attacks.
• Cost to the Japanese:
– 4 Aircraft carriers
– 13 cruisers
– 400 planes
– The Japanese imperial navy becomes insignificant.
Kamikaze Attacks
 Iwo Jima
• 20,700 Japanese
soldiers were deeply
entrenched in the
caves of the island.
• 6,000 marines died
taking the island –
the most costly of
any Pacific Battle.
 President Truman Inaugurated
• Truman was
unprepared for the
office.
• He was a two-term
Senator and former
County Judge prior to
assuming office.
 Okinawa
• The last defensive
stronghold of the
Japanese Islands.
• Japanese unleash 1,900
Kamikaze attacks
– Sink 30 ships
– Damaged 300 more
– Killed 5,000 servicemen
 Okinawa
• US Soldiers KIA
(Killed in Action)
– 7,600
• Japanese losses:
– 110,000
– Two Generals
committed Seppuku
 Okinawa
• Chilling foreboding of what was in store for
the Allies when they invaded Japanese home
islands.
• Estimated losses were at 1,000,000 American
soldiers dead or wounded.
 The Manhattan Project
• Best kept secret of the war
• 600,000 Americans involved in the project
• Scientists from Europe and America
• Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer
 To Bomb or Not to Bomb
• Immoral to drop a bomb without warning
– Test Explosion theory problems:
• Wouldn’t convince the Japanese until it was on their
island.
• Test could dud
• Japanese might shoot down the plane or put POW’s on
the test island
 Little Boy and Fat Man
• The only two atomic bombs in the US
posession were dropped over Hiroshima
and Nagasaki
– Hiroshima was first
– Nagasaki 3 days later
• 200,000 Japanese died of direct and
indirect results
from the bombs.
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Atomic Destruction
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki
 Unconditional Surrender
• The Japanese surrendered to General
MacArthur on September 2, 1945.
 Rebuilding the World
• Yalta Conference
– Russia went to war with Japan
– Agreed to pursue the United Nations
– Agreed to punish war criminals
 Rebuilding the World
• Division of Germany by the Allied Powers
 Rebuilding the World
• Nuremberg War Trials
– Hitler’s Party Leaders
– Government Ministers
– Military Leaders
– Powerful Industrialists
– 22 sentenced to death
– 200 found guilty of war crimes
– First time in history a nation’s leaders were held
responsible for their actions during war.
 The Occupation of Japan
• Gen. MacArthur commanded US occupation
forces in Japan.
• 1,100 Japanese put on trial for war crimes – 7
were sentenced to death.
 The Occupation of Japan
• Japanese Recovery
– Free-market economic principles that made the
economy boom.
– A new Constitution that gave women the right to
vote and guaranteed basic freedoms.
– Self-defense clause – no offensive military
programs were allowed under any circumstances.
• Japanese Self-Defense Forces