War in the Pacific • The war started badly for the Americans • In spite of the warnings, USS Arizona
War in the Pacific
• The war started badly for the Americans
• In spite of the warnings, they were ill-prepared
USS Arizona
Wake Island
• Coral atoll • 6.5 square km, or 2
square miles• Natural resources:
– none
‾ arable land: _%
‾ permanent crops: _%
‾ permanent pastures: _%
‾ forests: ___%
• Location: midway between Pearl Harbor & The Philippines
On _____________, 1500 Americans surrendered to the
Japanese
HOn December 8, 1941 the Japanese began the invasion of the Philippines
HGeneral MacArthur led his men and the Filipino army in the fight
HThey were forced to retreat along the
MBy April the exhausted troops were forced to surrender
MGeneral MacArthur was rescued from the nearby island of
MAs he left, he pledged to his men “______________”.
The Philippines
Bataan Death March• When the Americans surrendered the
Philippines in April, 1942, they left __________Filipino and American troops
• The Japanese marched the prisoners across the Bataan Peninsula under brutal conditions
• Of over 12,000 American POWs that began the march, only ________ survived
Battle of the Java Sea
• February 27 - March 1, 1942• 1st major naval battle between Japanese
and American forces• American, Dutch, and British forces
attempted to prevent further expansion in Southeast Asia
• They were unsuccessful
• April 18, 1942 ________________________embarked on their journey
• Although they inflicted little damage on Tokyo, it was a morale booster for the USA
Battle of the • May, 1942 off the coast of Australia
• First naval victory for USA
• First naval battle fought with the ships out of sight of one another – fought entirely from the air
• Battle is actually considered a draw but we prevented the invasion of Australia
The USS Lexington was sunk and the USS
Yorktown was heavily damaged
• Planned invasion of Midway Island as a precursor to an assault on Hawaii
• American intelligence anticipated the attack and launched a counter-attack
• Midway Island was heavily damaged by bombers but was not invaded
The Battle of Midway__________________
Battle of Midway
• US carriers battled Japanese carriers
• Entire first squadron of flyers was lost due to inexperience
• Only one man survived; floated in the water and watched the remainder of the battle
• He was later rescued by submarine
• The USA lost the carrier USS Yorktown
• Survived the attack with heavy damage but sunk as it was being towed back to Pearl Harbor
The Battle of Midway________________-
Significance of Midway
• Americans lost ___________, which they were able to replace
• Japanese lost ____________, which they were unable to replace
• June 6, 1942 would mark the
• As a diversion, the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands on the same day
• Ironically, they were successful in the Aleutian Islands
The Battle of Midway
Guadalcanal• Located in the
• Proximity to New Guinea, Australia, and the American territories in the Marianas made it important to both sides
• August, 1942 - February, 1943
• Land battles (American marines against Japanese marines)
• Naval battles (various battles involving battleships, carriers, and PTs)
Island Hopping
• From 1942 to 1945, Americans engaged in a campaign of island hopping
• This involved capturing select islands on the way to mainland Japan
• By destroying the Japanese navy, the remaining islands were cut off from supplies
Tarawa (Gilbert Islands)
Nov. 20 - 23, 1943
A series of small islets; the largest measured 3 miles long, and 1/2 mile in width
Japanese built an airstrip here, with fighter and bomber range to the Solomon & Marshall Islands
It was defended by 4700 troops, dug into a series of pillboxes and bunkers
Tarawa• Only ____ Japanese soldiers
lived to surrender on the 3rd day of battle
• ______ Korean forced laborers survived
• American casualties were 3301 (990 killed)
The PhilippinesOctober, 1944 – June, 1945
• ________Japanese defenders in The Philippines
• _______ survivors• 100,000 Filipino civilians died• 160,000 American invasion force• 8,000 Americans killed
Battle of Leyte GulfOctober 23 – 25, 1944
• Largest naval battle in world history
• 280 warships• Victory for Americans but at
great loss of sailors and ships
Iwo Jima• Located 700 miles from mainland Japan• A volcanic island of only 8 square miles,
the Japanese had dug in there in tunnels that crisscrossed the island
• ____________________is the highest part of the island
Iwo Jima• 21,000 Japanese defenders
–______ killed –______ POWs
• 82,000 American invaders –_________ killed –_______________wounded
(*depending on the source)• There were no civilians on the island
Okinawa
• Soon after the assault on Iwo Jima ended, the battle for Okinawa began
• Okinawa is a Japanese island off of the mainland
• At the time of the attack in April, there were 250,000 civilians and 50,000 troops, and 50,000 conscripts on the island
Okinawa April – June, 1945
• US losses were:– Killed in action
• Navy – 5,000• Marines – 8,000
– Wounded• Navy – 5,000• Marines – 31,000
• A major factor in the decision to use atomic weapons 6 weeks later
• By the time Okinawa was secure, the Japanese had lost ________ soldiers and conscripts, and ____________ civilians
• These figures were used to analyze the possible fatality rate of an invasion of mainland Japan
• The estimates ranged from 500,000 to 1,000,000 Americans and from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 Japanese
Okinawa
Choices for ending the war:
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
August 8, 1945
Japanese surrender Aug. 14, 1945 by order of Emperor Hirohito
The formal surrender is signed September 2, 1945
World War II
Finally ended
• ___________ Japanese Americans lived in the USA, mostly on the west coast
• Americans were afraid of them spying or just plain hated them
• Americans also were interested in obtaining their property
Internment
• ___________ Japanese were forced to move into camps in the interior of America
• 2/3s of them were born in the USA
• None of them were convicted of a crime
Internment
• ________________________–Internment legal
• 1988 - Congress apologized and gave each survivor ___________in compensation
Internment
• Italians–only effected non-US citizens –1600 interned–600,000 had travel restrictions and
curfews–10,000 were forced out of their homes
in California and forced to move inland
–hysteria lasted about a year
Internment
Prisoners of War• German and Japanese POWs were returned
to their countries immediately after the war• Germans and Italians treated their American
POWs with respect; death in captivity rate was _____%
• Japanese starved, worked and tortured their prisoners; death rate in captivity was over ____________
Minorities
• African American, Hispanics, and other minorities served in segregated units
• Japanese Americans served in Europe• The Navajo were instrumental in winning
the war• After the war, they returned to “Jim
Crow” laws in the USA