Download First Phase (Dec 1941 – June 1942)

Objectives

Know the key events that shaped the course of
World War II in the Pacific Theater
WWII in the Pacific: 4 General Stages
First Phase (Dec 1941 – June 1942)
• From 7 December 1941, until June 1942, the
Japanese successfully:
• Attacked the Pacific Fleet’s base at Pearl
Harbor
• Captured Wake Island and Guam
• Invaded and conquered the Philippines,
Hong Kong, Malaya, and seized the
British base of Singapore.
• Conquered Burma thereby cutting off
China from all overland routes to the
western Allies
• Seized the Netherlands East Indies and
British Borneo, thereby securing a muchneeded source of oil.
Pearl Harbor
 On the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds
of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American
naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu,
Hawaii.
 The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was
devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy
nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight
enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes.
 More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors
died in the attack, and another 1,000 were
wounded.
 The day after the assault, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on
Japan; Congress approved his declaration with
just one dissenting vote.
 Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and
Italy also declared war on the United States, and
again Congress reciprocated
Japanese Occupation
 Korea:
 In 1942, the Japanese authorities instituted extended provisions of
the National Mobilization Law to include the conscription of
Korean workers for factories and mines on the Korean peninsula,
Manchukuo, and the involuntary relocation of workers to Japan.
 Tens of thousands of young Korean women were drafted as
“Comfort Women” - in effect, sexual slaves - for Japanese soldiers.
 Of the 5,400,000 Koreans conscripted, about 670,000 were taken
to mainland Japan for civilian labor. Those who were brought to
Japan were often forced to work under appalling and dangerous
conditions. 60,000 Koreans are estimated to have died between
1939 and 1945 from harsh treatment and inhumane working
conditions. The total deaths of Korean forced laborers in Korea
and Manchuria is estimated to be between 270,000 and 810,000.
 Philippines: Japanese led their U.S. prisoners on a forced
march out of Bataan. Covering sixty miles through intense
heat with almost no water or food. Somewhere between 5,000
and 11,000 U.S. soldiers did not survive the trip
Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway
Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942)
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
Second Phase (June 1942 – Mid 1943)
 The second phase in the Pacific War was one of relative stalemate. From June
1942 until late-1943, neither side could muster the land, sea, or air power
required to take the offensive and seize the initiative from the other. The Battle
of Guadalcanal was an example of this stalemate.
Third Phase (Mid 1943 – Mid 1945)
 Period of the Allied offensives.
 U.S. Army/Marines: Series of amphibious operations up the Solomon Island chain
and along the northern coast of New Guinea, with the Philippine Islands as the
ultimate objective.
 U.S. Navy: Strategy designed to move directly toward Japan and to draw the Imperial
Japanese navy into a decisive fleet engagement as happened at the Battles of the
Philippine Sea (June 1944) and Layte Gulf (October 1944). MacArthur’s and Nimitz’s
campaigns merged into one for the invasion of the Philippines.
 After the Philippines are retaken the campaign continues with the invasions of Iwo
Jima and Okinawa.
Fourth Phase (Mid 1945 – September 1945)
 During the latter stages of the war the Army Air Force, operating out of the
Mariana islands and flying the B-29 Superfortress, which begun to fire bomb
the cities of Japan.
 These raids culminated with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima
on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945.
 Japan surrendered to the Allies on 2 September 1945.
Fire Bombing – Tokyo (May 1945)
Estimated100,000 civilians dead
Why not precision bombing as in Europe?
USS Missouri, 2 September 1945
Objectives

Know the key events that shaped the course of
World War II in the Pacific Theater