The War in the Pacific

The War in the Pacific The U.S. takes on Japan

The U.S. mobilizes • Did not wait for the end of the war in Europe • Attack on Pearl Harbor missed the Pacific Fleet’s submarine and aircraft carriers • Almost all sunken and damaged ships repaired and returned to service

Japanese Empire • After Pearl Harbor, Japanese conquer huge empire in Asia • Anatomy of the War • Dwarfs Hitler’s Third Reich • Included most of the Pacific

Japanese Empire

The Philippines • General Douglas MacArthur in charge • 80,000 held out against 200,000 Japanese • MacArthur ordered to leave after 4 months, vowed “I shall return.” • Japan surprised by their success, think they are invincible

The U.S. retaliates • Doolittle’s Raid • 16 bombers sent in to bomb Japanese cities, including Tokyo. • Goal of the mission was to boost American morale • Dampened spirits in Japan

Battle of the Coral Sea • All fighting done by carrier-based planes • Allies lose more ships but Japanese turned back because of shortage of fuel. • First time since Pearl Harbor a Japanese invasion is stopped and turned back.

The Battle of Midway • Admiral Chester Nimitz learns that 110 Japanese ships headed toward Midway. • Nimitz prepares a surprise reception for the Japanese. • Orders planes to “inflict maximum damage on the enemy” • Big victory for the U.S., Japanese lose 4 aircraft carriers and 322 planes. • “Pearl Harbor has been avenged”

Leapfrogging • Strategy used by the U.S. to seize less well-fortified islands, build airfields, and cut supply lines to enemy troops and shrink Japan’s empire. • Japanese were too far spread out • Eventually starved out

Leapfrogging

Leapfrogging • First land battle: Guadalcanal • First defeat on land for Japanese • Next up: Leyte Gulf in the Philippines • MacArthur retakes the Philippines in October 1944 • “People of the Philippines: I have returned”

Kamikaze • Suicide plane attack in which Japanese crashed their planes into Allied ships • In the Philippines, 424 kamikaze pilots sink 16 ships and damaged another 80 • Battle of Leyte Gulf a disaster for the Japanese

Iwo Jima • Critical to the U.S. as a base from which heavily loaded bombers could reach Japan • Desolate island that was perhaps the most heavily defended spot on earth: 20,700 Japanese entrenched. • 6,000 Marines died, only 200 Japanese survive

New president • 3 months into 4th term, President Roosevelt dies from a stroke • Harry S. Truman: VP that takes over as president after Roosevelt dies.

Okinawa • Last Japanese outpost before main islands • 1,900 kamikaze attacks during Okinawa campaign • Sank 30 ships and damaged 300 more • 7,600 Americans, 110,000 Japanese die • Major American victory • Two generals committed suicide instead of capture

Okinawa • Foreshadowed what a final invasion in Japan would look like. • Estimations said 1 million American lives and 5oo,ooo British lives would be lost

Manhattan Project • U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb for use in WW2. • Best kept secret, work began in 1942 • 6oo,ooo Americans working on it • J. Robert Oppenheimer: headed group of scientists that developed the atomic bomb. • Truman as VP did not know this was going on!

Manhattan Project • Questions: • Would it be a dud? • Would it not pack as much punch as they thought? • Would it set the atmosphere on fire? • Test bomb in New Mexican desert seen 180 miles away

To bomb or not to bomb? • There were doubts about using the bomb on Japan: • Nothing less than dropping a bomb on a city would convince the Japanese to surrender • The test might be a dud • The Japanese might shoot down the delivery plane or move American prisoners to the test site • Must give Japan a warning

The decision • On July 25, 1945 Truman orders the military to make plans for dropping the only 2 atomic bombs in existence. • “If it can save a handful of American lives, it is worth it” • An invasion of Japan could cost a million American lives • Warning of “prompt and utter destruction” given to Japan

Hiroshima • Important military center • Aug 6, 1945 Enola Gay releases “Little Boy” over Hiroshima • In 43 seconds later, almost every building collapses into dust • Hiroshima ceased to exist after impact • No surrender

Nagasaki • Soviet Union declares war on Japan • Aug 9, 1945, “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki • Levels half the city • 200,000 people die from both bombs as a result of injury and radiation.

The war ends • Emperor Hirohito horrified by the death and destruction, orders to draw up papers to end the war. • V-J Day: September 2, 1945. Japan surrenders

Why did the U.S. win? • Geography: Spread out too far and wide • Technology: Americans had superior technology and weapons. Better planes and the atomic bomb. • Strategy: island hopping worked very well • Resources: America could repair and replace shps faster, had more manpower and larger economic output.

Rebuilding Begins • Yalta Conference: February 1945: Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin meet to make decisions about the future • Created the United Nations (UN): a new, international peacekeeping body. • Based on principles of the Atlantic Charter • Create governing body

Rebuilding Begins • Potsdam: Truman meets with Stalin and Churchill to discuss plans for: • Disarming Germany • Eliminating the Nazis • Divideing Germany and Berlin into 4 zones.

Rebuilding Begins • Nuremberg Trials: court proceedings after WW2 in which Nazi leaders were tried for was crimes. • Many German officials tried, either executed or sentenced to life in prison • First time in history that a nation’s leaders were held responsible for actions during wartime.

Rebuilding Begins • Japan occupied by U.S. forces under General MacArthur. • More than 1,100 Japanese leaders put on trial for war crimes. • Tojo sentenced to death. • MacArthur reforms economy, creates a constitution based on the U.S. Constitution. • Known to this day as the “MacArthur Constitution”

The War in the Pacific