Download CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING – End of War in the Pacific

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
OBJECTIVE 1. Identify the major turning points that led to the end of war in the Pacific
Directions: Please answer the questions below to help you assess how well you understand this objective
1. What was the significance of the Battle of Midway?
2. Describe the US strategy of “island-hopping.”
3. Put the following events in order:
- Japanese surrender to the United States
- Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
- Battle of Iwo Jima
- Battle of Guadalcanal
- Attack on Pearl Harbor
- Battle of Okinawa
- Battle of Midway
- Atomic bombing of Nagasaki
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING – End of War in the Pacific
OBJECTIVE 1. Identify the major turning points that led to the end of war in the Pacific
ANSWERS
1. What was the significance of the Battle of Midway?
The Battle of Midway was one of the most important naval battles of World War II. Between June 4-7, 1942,
only six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea, the United
States Navy decisively defeated the Japanese Navy around the Midway Atoll. inflicting massive damage on the
Japanese fleet including the sinking of 4 Japanese aircraft carriers. In all, the United States lost one aircraft
carrier, one destroyer, nearly 150airplanes, and just over 300 men. The damage to the Japanese was far worse:
four aircraft carriers, along with more than 230 airplanes and more than 2,000 men.
The victory was a major boost to the morale of American forces and allowed the US to shift from defensive
position to go on the offense using the island-hopping strategy. Japan’s losses at Midway forced it to shift into a
defensive mode. Never again would Australia or the U.S. mainland face serious danger of Japanese attack.
Although the war in the Pacific was far from over, for the rest of the World War II, Japan’s struggle would
remain a fight to maintain the territory it had already conquered, rather than an aggressive campaign for further
expansion. Eventually, Japan would gradually lose all of these earlier gains.
2. Describe the US strategy of “island-hopping.”
After the Battle of Midway, the United States began a strategy of "island-hopping," capturing certain key
islands, one after another, getting closer and closer to Japan. General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Chester
Nimitz had the goal of attacking Japanese weak points while avoiding the locations in the Pacific that the
Japanese had most well defended.
In this strategy, US forces attacked each island with amphibious landings (troops and vehicles moving directly
from the water onto the land) supported by ships and planes. Island-hopping began at Guadalcanal and the
Solomon Islands and ended with the capture of Okinawa.
3. Put the following events in order:
December 7, 1941
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
June 4-6, 1942
Battle of Midway
August 1942–February 1943
Battle of Guadalcanal
February-March 1945
Battle of Iwo Jima
April-June 1945:
Battle of Okinawa
August 6, 1945
Atomic bombing of Hiroshima
August 9, 1945
Atomic bombing of Nagasaki
August 14, 1945
Japanese surrender to the United States (Surrender is officially signed on
September 2, 1945 on the USS Missouri)