The War in the Pacific

The War in the PacificChapter 25 Section 3

Objective & Do NowObjective:Understand the war strategy employed in the Pacific theater of war

Do Now: Should the US use Atomic weapons to defeat its enemies?

I the Allies Stem the Japanese TideA. Japanese Advances

•6 months after PH, Japanese took over much of Asian mainland along w/ many island nations•Gen. MacArthur & his troops

are forced to retreat from the Philippines but proclaims “I shall return”• Japanese empire dwarfed that

of Hitler’s Europe

B. US Retaliation• B-52 bombers take off from aircraft

carrier for Tokyo and bomb cities, factories, oil tanks, etc.• Doolittle Raids

• Amer & Aussi fleet intercept Japanese strike aimed for Australia• All fighting done by carrier based

planes (opposing ships never saw each other)east. New type of naval warfare• Allies lost more ships but Japanese ran

out of enough fuel

C. The Battle of Midway• Commander of US forces in Pacific

learns of Japanese invasion force heading towards Midway= strategic island in the Pacific• Prepares troops on island to surprise

Japanese• Orders to “inflict maximum damage on

enemy• Japanese lose irreplaceable war

ships• Americans “avenge Pearl harbor”

D. Island Hoping• Pacific theater was one of scattered islands

across thousands of miles of ocean• MacArthur implements Island Hoping

strategy• troops would attack and seize only certain

strategic Japanese held islands, rather than trying to recapture all of them

• Goal= go from island to island to come w/in striking distance from Japan • Attack garrisons to cut off supplies &

reinforcements• Seize airstrips to help support the next Allies

advancement

• 1st American land offensive was in Guadalcanal• Guadalcanal marks Japans 1st defeat on

landUS troops continue to leapfrog towards Japan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maMQcutkHFw

• Japanese threw their entire fleet into the battle of Leyte Gulf• Test new Kamikaze (“divine wind”)=

suicide plane attacks• Significance= from then on, the Imperial

army played only minor role in defense of Japan

•American troops then turn their attention to the island of Iwo Jima• Iwo Jima was critical to US as a

base from which heavily loaded bombers could reach Japan• However, it was the most heavily

defended (tunnels and caves)•Okinawa now the only obstacle

between Allies and final assault on Japan

II the Atomic Bomb ends the WarA. the battle for Okinawa• FDR dies after a stroke leaving Harry Truman as Pres.• Battle at Okinawa is Japan’s last defensive outpost• Faced even more opposition than iwo Jima110,000 American casualties

• Okinawa was scary foretaste of what allies were to expect to encounter on Japanese home islands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uVOoqTAbNc

B. The Manhattan Project• Not long after Truman takes office

he is informed that the US is months away from having an atomic bomb• Scientists led by J. Robert

Oppenheuimer create the actual bomb• First tests took place in New

Mexico more powerful than they had expected

C. To Bomb or not to Bomb• Scientists who creates bomb signs petition arguing it

would be immoral to drop bomb w/o warning• Some suggest demonstrating bombs force to Japanese

officials to convince them to surrender• Interim Committee formed to discuss use of Atomic

bomb• Oppenheimer outlines prob. w/ test explosions• Nothing less than dropping on city would lead to surrender• Test might be a dud• Japanese might shoot down delivery plane or move POW’s to

test area

•Convinced by op.decide to drop w/o warning

III Rebuilding for PeaceA. Preparation for Peace• FDR, Churchill, & Stalin met at Yalta Conference • Create the UN based on principles of Atlantic Charter• Stalin promises to fight against Japan after defeat of Germany and hold free

elections in any Soviet held territory in return for 2 islands

• UN agree on charter and establish General Assembly= made up of all member nations which serves as “town meeting of the world”• 11 member security council held the real power (GB, US, SU, France, & China)

given permanent seats on council• Any permanent member had the power to veto any council action

• FDR, Churchill, & Stalin meet in Potsdam to decide how to eliminate the Nazi regime & decide on stern justice for all war criminals

B. Nuremburg War Trials• Potsdam ConferenceGermany divided

into 4 zones (GB, US, France, &SU)• Berlin, located in SU terr., was divided

into another 4 zones shared by occupying powers

• Nuremburg Trials= international tribunal representing 23 nations tried 22 Nazi leaders• NUREMBERG TRIALS= THE FIRST TIME IN

HISTORY THAT ANTIONS LEAFER WERE HELD LGALLY RESPONSBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS DURING WARTIME

C. Occupying Japan• Japan occupied but US forces under MacArthur• Japanese including PM Hideki Tojo were put to trial

• MacArthur reformed Japanese econ by introducing free –market practicesecon. Recovery• Also worked to transform gov’tnew constitution granting women suffrage

• Until this day constitution known as MacArthur Constitution