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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.

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The War in the Pacific

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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. Japanese Empire

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. 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.

  8. 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”

  9. 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

  10. Leapfrogging

  11. 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”

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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!

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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.

  23. d

  24. 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

  25. 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.

  26. 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

  27. 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.

  28. 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.

  29. 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”

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