The War in the Pacific

The War in the Pacific

vs.

Early War in the Pacific• Germany main priority• U.S. loses Philippines• U.S. retaliation for Pearl

Harbor—Doolittle Raids on Tokyo

• Midway—U.S. surprises Japanese– Japan could have

attacked Hawaii– Major victory for U.S.

As an adviser to FDR, how would you advise him to attack the Japanese?

Island Hopping• Process of leapfrogging or

bypassing Japan’s strongholds and attacking weaker islands.

Map

Forward

First Land Offensive• Guadalcanal was the first

land victory for the U.S. vs. Japan.

Invasion of the Philippines• General

Douglas MacArthur led the invasion of the Philippines.

New Japanese Strategy• Kamikaze

mission.• Japanese pilots

flew planes loaded with bombs into U.S. ships.

Iwo Jima’s Importance• Gave the

U.S. a base close enough to fly large bombers on missions over Japan.

Okinawa’s Importance• Last

defensive outpost before the main islands of Japan.

Estimated Death Toll• Over 1 million

Americans and 500,000 British soldiers would die invading Japan.

• Japanese fought to the death