Japan’s Pacific Campaign

Japans Pacific Campaign

Japans Pacific CampaignJapans EmpireExpansion began in 1931Attack on Manchuria1937 Invade ChinaExpected quick victoryResistance caused war to drag onLook toward rich European colonies of SE Asia American ResponseOct 1940 Americans crack Japanese codeAware of plans for SE AsiaJapan could threaten US coloniesAmericans send aid to ChinaJuly 1941 FDR cuts oil shipments to JapanJapanese continue conquests

Day of InfamyJapanese Admiral Isoroku YamamotoCalled for attack on US in HawaiiDec. 7, 1941 Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor19 ships sunk or damaged2300 Americans killed1100 wounded

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Declarations of WarUS against Japan December 8Germany and Italy against US December 11Isolationist attitudes disappearOpen support for Britain commencesThe PhillippinesJanuary 1942Japanese take Bataan Peninsula in AprilDefended by Americans and Filipino forcesJapanese spread control to British coloniesHong Kong, Malaya, Singapore Dutch East Indies

East Asia for AsiansAnticolonialist idea used to win supportAfter victory, Japanese clearly were conquerorsTreated people with extreme crueltyBataan Death March70,000 Allied POWS54,000 survive march85 mile march up Bataan Peninsula

Allies Strike BackDoolittle RaidsApril 1942 16 B-25 bombers attack TokyoDid little physical damagePsychological damageJapan was vulnerableBattle of Coral SeaMay 1942Australian and US naviesNew type of warfareShips didnt fire a shotTotally fought by planesAllies lose more ships and planesVictory because it stopped Japanese movement southBattle of Midway June 1942Admiral Nimitz had intercepted Japanese ordersKnew they were approachingHid and waited for attackUS victoryTurning point in the war in the PacificCrippled Japanese fleet

Japan controlled hundreds of islandsToo many to take one by oneGeneral Douglas MacArthur develops island hoppingSeize islands that werent well defended but were closer to JapanAvoided strongholds

Jump Around, Jump AroundBattle of GuadalcanalJapanese airbase in the Solomon islandsAugust 7, 1942US Marines land on GuadalcanalBattle lasts 6 months24,000 of 36,000 Japanese diethe Island of Death

Battle of Leyte GulfJapanese hope to destroy US Pacific FleetLose in 4 daysEliminates use as fighting forceJapanese begin to rely on kamikazesSuicide pilots

Hes Back MacArthur Returns

Iwo JimaMarch 194536 days70,000 American troops6800 deaths22,060 Japanese21,844 dead216 taken prisonerFlag raisingAmerican victory

OkinawaApril 1 June 21 1945One of the wars bloodiest battles183,000 American vs 120,000 Japanese12,513 vs. 95,000+42,000 150,000 civilians killed

Manhattan ProjectTop-secret US programDeveloped Atomic BombHeaded by J. Robert OppenheimerFirst exploded July 16, 1945Truman warned Japanese the US had the bomb

HiroshimaPaul Tibbets - pilotEnola Gay - planeAug 6, 194570,000 - 80,000 die immediatelyLittle Boy

NagasakiAug 9, 1945Fat Man70,000 killed instantlyMANY more of the years from radiation poisoning

Japanese SurrenderSeptember 2, 1945General MacArthur accepts surrender on USS Missouri in Tokyo HarborNuremberg TrialsNov 20, 1945 Oct 1 194623 political and military leaders of Third Reich12 sentenced to deathCreated International Military Tribunal Tries men for crimes against international law