Download *Ch.25.3 War in the Pacific Notes Main Idea: The U.S. dropped the

*Ch.25.3
War in the Pacific
Notes
Main Idea: The U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Japan to defeat
them and bring an end to the War in the Pacific.
What did the Japanese do following Pearl Harbor?
-after Pearl Harbor the Japanese conquered an empire that made
the Third Reich look small
-Hong Kong
-French Indochina (Vietnam)
-Malaya
-Burma
-Thailand
-much of China
-Dutch East Indies
-Guam
-Wake Island
-Solomon Islands
-Aleutian Islands of Alaska
How did the Allies turn the tide on the Japanese?
-Doolittle Raids-April 18, 1942- James Doolittle leads 16 bombers on
-“Pearl Harbor” style attack on Tokyo
-Battle of the Coral Sea-Japan was on march toward Australia
-May, 1942- Australian and American troops stop Japanese
advance using
bombing raids from aircraft carriers
-not a single shot was fired from a surface ship
-first time since Pearl Harbor that a Japanese advance had
been stopped
-Battle of Midway-turning point in the Pacific War
-June 3, 1942- break Japanese code naming Midway as
next island to be attacked
-strategic island for fueling of ships
-Americans and Allies begin island hopping and retaking
islands from Japan
-brings Allies closer to Japanese mainland
-Battle of Guadalcanal-first land battle lost by the Japanese
-August, 1942
What tactics did the Japanese use in the Pacific?
-Kamikaze- Japanese fighter pilots went on suicide missions
purposely crashing planes into allied ships
-threw entire fleet into single battle
-Leyte Gulf in the Philippines
-Imperial navy played only minor role after defeat
-heavily defend a single island
-Iwo Jima,
-caves and tunnels utilized for defense
-Americans felt island could be used by heavy bombers to
attack Japan
-ritual suicide
-rather than surrendering, officers committed suicide
What did the battle of Okinawa tell the Allies about an attack
of the mainland?
-last island before Japan’s mainland
-foreshadowed what an attack of mainland would be like
-1900 Kamikaze attacks
-fiercest fighting of the war - 110,000 lives given to
defend island
-ritual suicides
How did President Truman feel he could avoid the fierce
fighting on the mainland?
-Atomic Bomb
-Manhattan Project had quickly developed the bomb
-600,000 men and women worked on the project
-most secretive project of the war-Truman only found out about it when
he became President
What was the argument for using the atomic bomb?
-Churchill felt it would save 1.5 million lives of allied troops
-Truman felt it would bring a quick end to the war
Where were the two Bombs to be dropped?
-Hiroshima- important military center
“Little Boy” dropped on August 6, 1945
-Nagasaki“Fat Man” dropped August 9, 1945
-200,000 people died as a result of the attack and
radiation
What was the Emperor Hirohito’s response to the bomb?
-almost immediate surrender
“I cannot bear to see my innocent people suffer any longer.”
-September 2, 1945- Japanese officially surrender
What was the result of the Yalta Conference?
-February, 1945
-Stalin favored treating the Germans harshly
-occupied military zones to assure Germany would not
threaten the Soviets again
-Churchill strongly disagreed with Stalin
-FDR acted as a mediator
-wanted Soviets to join war in the Pacific
-wanted Soviets to be an ally in the United Nations
-Divided Germany into 4 zones- 1. American
2. British
3. Soviet
4. French
What happened at the Nuremberg Trials?
-trial of those in the Nazi regime accused of war crimes and
crimes against humanity
-Nazi party officials
-government ministers
-military leaders
-industrialists
-12 of 24 sentenced to death
-Principle of individual responsibility becomes entrenched in
international law
-“I was only following orders.”, is no longer a defense in
war time
What happened to Japan after their surrender?
-occupied by the U.S.
-7 years of occupation
-large scale economic recovery due to free-market
enterprises
-restructure government to one similar to the U.S.
-new constitution- Mac Arthur Constitution
-women’s suffrage and basic freedoms
-trials similar to the Nuremberg Trials take place