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SECTION 3: THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC • The Americans did not celebrate long, as Japan was busy conquering an empire that dwarfed Hitler’s Third Reich • Japan had conquered much of southeast Asia including the Dutch East Indies, Guam, and most of China Essential Questions • What was the key difference between the war in Europe and the war being fought in the Pacific? • What were the Allies’ plans for winning the war? • What were key events in the war in the Pacific? • How were islands in the Pacific liberated from Japanese control? Key Figures in the Pacific War • Douglas MacArthur • Supreme Allied Commander of Forces in the Pacific • Why have another American as Supreme Commander? – The U.S. had the biggest investment of forces in the Pacific – Great Britain had its hands full with Germany Admiral Chester Nimitz • Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in the Pacific • Defended Midway • Would coordinate with General MacArthur to squeeze the Japanese Empire from the north and south Hackettstown Connection • Vice-Admiral John D. Bulkeley • Hackettstown HS graduate • Medal of Honor recipient • He was also the PT boat skipper who evacuated General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in the Philippines • Buried with full honors at Arlington National Cemetery The Sea Wolf What was the key difference between the war in Europe and the war being fought in the Pacific? • Naval rather than land offensives • Carriers replaced battleships as the mainstay of the fleet • The need for amphibious units to capture islands called for the U.S. Marines to do most of the fighting • Show Carrier DVD- 10:00-18:45 The Doolittle Raid- April 18th 1942 • How long after the attack on Pearl Harbor? • A carrier-based attack designed to attack Japanese cities • Not much damage, but a huge morale boost to America! • According to FDR, the raid was “a pinprick in the heart of Japan” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQfBCsy WFxI BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA • The main Allied forces in the Pacific were Americans and Australians • The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other. • In May 1942 they succeeded in stopping the Japanese drive toward Australia in the five-day Battle of the Coral Sea THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY June 1942 • Japan’s next thrust was toward Midway Island – a strategic island northwest of Hawaii • Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Commander of American Naval forces in the Pacific, moved to defend the Island • The Americans won a decisive victory as their planes destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 250 planes • https://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=MEXZ1sUO5gs WW2 from Space 21:30-27:50 The Turning Point of the War in the Pacific • The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war; from this point on, the U.S. was on the offensive • Soon the Allies were island hopping toward Japan • What is island-hopping? – Going island by island clearing out the Japanese, while bypassing the more heavily-defended islands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXZ1sU O5gs WW2 From Space 56:00-1:00:10 The Code-Talkers • Communication during the war was important • Messages could be intercepted • The U.S. had already broken the Japanese codes and were always one step ahead of them. How could we stop the Japanese from breaking our codes? • Navajo Code Talkers WindTalkers • Navajo Indians served in the Pacific • Their language was not a written language; • The Japanese were never able to break their code Major Battles of the Pacific Theatre • Guadalcanal (the first major U.S. offensive in the Pacific) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXZ1sUO5gs WW2 from Space 56:00-1:03:20 • Saipan • Tarawa • Iwo Jima (first of the Japanese home islands) • Okinawa (second of the Japanese home islands) • As U.S. forces get closer to the Japanese home islands, the fighting becomes increasingly ferocious; casualties higher • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXZ1sUO5gs WW2 from Space 1:15:00- 1:19:55 KAMIKAZE PILOTS ATTACK ALLIES In the Battle for the Philippines, 424 Kamikaze pilots sank 16 ships and damaged 80 more • The Americans continued island-hopping across the Pacific toward Japan • Japanese countered by employing a new tactic – Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks • Pilots in small bomb-laden planes would crash into Allied ships • General MacArthur and the Allies next turned to the Island of Iwo Jima • The island was critical to the Allies as a base for an attack on Japan • It was called the most heavily defended spot on earth • Allied and Japanese forces suffered heavy casualties IWO JIMA American soldiers plant the flag on the Island of Iwo Jima after their victory THE BATTLE FOR OKINAWA • In April 1945, U.S. marines invaded Okinawa • The Japanese unleashed 1,900 Kamikaze attacks sinking 30 ships and killing 5,000 seamen • Okinawa cost the Americans 7,600 marines and the Japanese 110,000 soldiers • Civilians at War 00-4:42 • https://www.youtube.co m/watch?v=HFe7BZSoG Ms&feature=related INVADE JAPAN? • After Okinawa, MacArthur predicted that a Normandy type amphibious invasion of Japan would result in 1,700,000 Allied deaths and close to 10 million Japanese casualties! • President Truman saw only one way to avoid an invasion of Japan . . . Okinawa The loss of life at Iwo Jima and Okinawa convinced Allied leaders that an invasion of Japan was not the best idea “The Bomb” • Civilian Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer • Along with General Leslie Groves, he led the effort by the OSRD to build a weapon which could split the atom and unleash a tremendous amount of energy. • About 100,000 scientists were involved in its development; many had no idea! As VP, Harry Truman didn’t even know about the bomb. • Code Name: The Manhattan Project • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXZ1sUO 5gs WW2 from Space 1:19:55-1:28:08 J. Robert Oppenheimer- Later, at a meeting with Truman, he remarked “I feel I have blood on my hands." Potsdam Conference • Took place in July 1945 in Potsdam, Germany • Meeting of the “Big Three”- Truman, Stalin and Churchill (replaced by Clement Atlee midway thru) • Truman learns of the success of the atomic bomb after a successful test at Alamogordo, NM • Truman had mentioned an unspecified "powerful new weapon" to Stalin during the conference, trying to use it as a political tool. • Stalin, though, had full knowledge of the atomic bomb's development due to Soviet spy networks inside the Manhattan Project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj4rDmYOZjc&feature =related The Homefront, 7:20-13:55 • Truman warned Japan in late July 1945 that without a immediate Japanese surrender, it faced “prompt and utter destruction” • They ignored the ultimatum U.S. DROPS TWO ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN • On August 6 (Hiroshima) and August 9 (Nagasaki) a B-29 bomber dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan The plane and crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945 HIROSHIMA 20,000+ soldiers killed 70,000–146,000 civilians killed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFe7BZSoGMs &feature=related Civilians at War Pt. 2 13:00-15:00; Pt 3 0-1:45 August 9, 1945 NAGASAKI The bomb was dropped at 11:02 a.m., 1,650 feet above the city. The explosion unleashed the equivalent force of 22,000 tons of TNT. The hills that surrounded the city did a better job of containing the destructive force, but the number killed is estimated at anywhere between 60,000 and 80,000 (exact figures are impossible, the blast having obliterated bodies and disintegrated records). JAPAN SURRENDERS Even though the War Council still remained divided (“It is far too early to say that the war is lost,” opined the Minister of War), Emperor Hirohito, by request of two War Council members eager to end the war, met with the Council and declared that “continuing the war can only result in the annihilation of the Japanese people…” The Emperor of Japan gave his permission for unconditional surrender. (History.com) At the White House, President Harry Truman announces the Japanese surrender, August 14, 1945 •General MacArthur said, “Today the guns are silent. The skies no longer rain death . . .the entire world is quietly at peace.” Should the bomb have been used? • Yes! Invasion of the main islands would cost millions of lives- Allied and Japanese. The entire Japanese population was mobilized to defend the home islands. • No! The bomb was a terrible weapon that would target military as well as civilians. Official Surrender Ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, September 2, 1945 THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN • Japan was occupied by U.S. forces under the command of General MacArthur • During the seven- year occupation, MacArthur reshaped Japan’s economy by introducing freemarket practices that led to a remarkable economic recovery • Additionally, he introduced a liberal constitution that to this day is called the MacArthur Constitution • In February 1945, as the Allies pushed toward victory in Europe, an ailing FDR met with Churchill and Stalin at the Black Sea resort of Yalta in the USSR • A series of compromises were worked out concerning postwar Europe THE YALTA CONFERENCE (L to R) Churchill, FDR and Stalin at Yalta YALTA AGREEMENTS • 1) They agreed to divide Germany into 4 occupied zones after the war • 2) Stalin agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe • 3) Stalin agreed to help the U.S. in the war against Japan and to join the United Nations NUREMBERG WAR TRIALS Herman Goering, Hitler's right-hand man and chief architect of the German war effort, testifies at his trial. He was found guilty of war crimes but avoided execution by swallowing potassium cyanide. • The discovery of Hitler’s death camps led the Allies to put 24 surviving Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against humanity, crimes against the peace, and war crimes • The trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany • “I was only following orders” was not an acceptable defense as 12 of the 24 were sentenced to death and the others to life in prison, though some were released • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFe7BZSoGMs&feature=related Civilians at War- war crimes trials, 1:45-7:10 The Cost of War • 16 million Americans served in the armed forces during the war • 415,000 Americans died in the war, and many were missing in action • 70 million people died in World War II • More than half were civilians What next? • The end of the war against fascism and militarist aggression would only lead to a new war against communism… End of the War 11:15-14:00 Homefront https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m j4rDmYOZjc&feature=related