Download Feb26 - HANDOUT - WarInThePacific

Name: ____________________
Global History
War in the Pacific
On December 7th 1941, General Tojo of Japan ordered a surprise attack on the American fleet stationed at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Early in the morning, Japanese airplanes attacked the base, destroying or damaging 19
naval warships, 100s of American warplanes and killing more than 2,400 troops and civilians. The next day,
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told the nation that December 7th was “a date which will live in infamy.”
He asked the US Congress to declare war on Japan and the US officially entered into another world war.
Aided by their success at Pearl Harbor, Japan began capturing many US and European islands and territories in
the Pacific Ocean. They achieved victories in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Burma, and Malaya. By the
beginning of 1942, the Japanese empire stretched from Southeast Asia to the western Pacific Ocean. The Axis
powers had reached the highpoint of their successes.
Soon, however, the tide in the Pacific war began to turn. In May
and June 1942, US warships and airplanes severely damaged
Japanese fleets during the Battles of the Coral and Midway Island.
These victories greatly weakened Japanese naval power and
stopped their advances. The Allies began to take the offensive with
an “island-hopping” campaign. The goal of this military campaign
was to recapture some islands held by the Japanese while going
around others. The recaptured islands would serve as stepping
stones to the next military objective. It allowed the Allies to slowly
move toward Japan itself.
With Japan blockaded by US warships and its cities and industries bombed by US warplanes, the Japanese
government rejected any suggestions of surrender. With the war in Europe over, the Allies poured their
resources into defeating Japan. By mid-1945, most of the Japanese navy and air force had been destroyed. Yet,
the Japanese still had an army of 2,000,000 men. The road to victory, it appeared, would be long and costly…
Some Allied officials believed that an invasion of Japan would cost a million or more casualties. In bloody
battles on the island of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Japanese had shown that they would rather fight to the death
than surrender. Some Japanese pilots choose to become kamikaze pilots who undertook suicide missions,
crashing their explosive-laden airplanes into US warships. They hoped that this would stop the Allies and save
their country from defeat.
While Allied military leaders planned for an invasion, US scientists offered another way to end the war. Since
the early 1900s, scientists had been working on splitting the atom. If successful, this allowed them to create an
explosive far more powerful than anything known to man. In July 1945, the first successful test of an atom
bomb took place in Alamogordo, New Mexico. News of this success was brought to new American President
Harry S. Truman, who had taken over after the unexpected death of FDR. The Allies issued a warning to Japan
to surrender or face “utter and complete destruction…a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never
been seen on this Earth.” When the Japanese ignored the deadline, the US took action and on August 6, 1945, an
American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The bomb instantly killed 70,000 people.
Japan again refused to surrender and another atom bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945 on the city of
Nagasaki, killing 40,000 people. Still, the Japanese refused to surrender. Finally Emperor Hirohito stepped in
and forced the government to surrender. On September 2, 1945, the formal peace treaty was signed and World
War II was over…
Name: ____________________
Global History
Source A: The Nanking Massacre, December 17, 1937
The Japanese occupation of Nanking, the capital of the Republic of China, lead to one of the greatest horrors of the
century. This eyewitness report was filed by a New York Times reporter.
The killing of civilians was widespread. Foreigners who traveled widely through the city Wednesday found
civilian dead on every street. Some of the victims were aged men, women and children.
Nanking's streets were littered with dead. Sometimes bodies had to be moved before automobiles could pass.
Any person who ran because of fear or excitement was likely to be killed on the spot as was any one caught by
roving patrols in streets or alleys after dark. Many slayings were witnessed by foreigners.
The Japanese looting amounted almost to plundering of the entire city. Nearly every building was entered by
Japanese soldiers, often under the eyes of their officers, and the men took whatever they wanted.
The capture of Nanking [by the Japanese] was the most overwhelming defeat suffered by the Chinese and one
of the most tragic military debacles in the history of modern warfare. In attempting to defend Nanking the
Chinese allowed themselves to be surrounded and then systematically slaughtered....
A favorite method of execution was to herd groups of a dozen men at entrances of dugout and to shoot them
so the bodies toppled inside. Dirt then was shoveled in and the men buried.
Questions:
(1) Why was the capture of Nanking by the Japanese the most overwhelming defeat suffered by the
Chinese?
Source B: Japanese Perspective on WWII
In 1931, Japan took over Manchuria in northeastern China. Six years later, Japan looked toward the rich European colonies
of Southeast Asia, including US-controlled Philippine Islands and Guam.
Teruko Major has a different perspective of World War II than most Shenandoah residents. A native of Japan,
Major was in the fourth grade when her homeland attacked the United Stated by bombing Pearl Harbor.
“I didn't know where (the) United States was located,” Major said. “I had never seen an American. I didn't know
why we would want to fight them.”
Major said the Japanese government told its people they would go to war with China to get the natural
resources it needed, instead of just expanding trade. The war against China started in 1937.
“Japan is a very small country; smaller than California. The population is 100 million for that small of place. We
don't have raw material, so that's the reason we start fight with China. We need to have material to survive.”
Name: ____________________
Global History
Questions:
(2) According to Major’s story, why did the Japan go to war with China?
(3) Why would Japan need raw materials and resources?
Source C: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Infamy Speech, December 8, 1941
The US was involved in an undeclared war with Hitler (US attacked German ships, loaned weapons to Britain)… but the
attack that actually drew the US into the war did not come from Germany… it came from Japan.
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and
deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
…The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military
forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on
the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
…Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces
attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the
Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. This morning the Japanese attacked Midway
Island.
…I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December
seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire."
Questions:
(4) How many countries did the Japanese attack the couple of days after Pearl Harbor?
(5) Why does President Roosevelt refer to Japan as an empire (the “Japanese Empire”)?
Name: ____________________
Global History
Source D: The Atomic Bombs
An Allied demand for an immediate unconditional surrender was rejected by the Japanese military so the U.S. government
felt it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II.
...The most striking result of the atomic bombs was the great number of casualties. The exact number of dead
and injured will never be known because of the confusion after the explosions. Persons unaccounted for might
have been burned beyond recognition in the falling buildings, disposed of in one of the mass cremations of the
first week of recovery, or driven out of the city to die or recover without any record remaining... The Survey
believes the dead at Hiroshima to have been between 70,000 and 80,000, with an equal number injured; at
Nagasaki over 35,000 dead and somewhat more than that injured...
...The flash of the explosion, which was extremely brief, emitted radiant heat traveling at the speed of light.
Flash burns thus followed the explosion instantaneously...
Survivors in the two cities stated that people who were in the open directly under the explosion of the bomb
were so severely burned that the skin was charred dark brown or black and that they died within a few minutes
or hours...
Questions:
(6) Describe the effects of the dropping of the bombs.
(7) Compare the scale of destruction in Hiroshima with that in Nagasaki.
“The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary in
order to end the war.”
(8) Do you agree or disagree with this controversial statement? Explain your answer.
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