Download Chapter 16

Chapter 18 Section 4
Toward Victory
Setting the Scene
General Douglas MacArthur stood at the dock on
Corregidor in March 1942. A boat waited to
evacuate him from the fortified island in the
Philippines. Although the United States Army and
Filipino defense forces had battled to keep the
Japanese out of the island chain, they had not
been successful. Thousands of Allied civilian men,
women, and children were being held in prison
camps throughout the islands, and American and
Filipino soldiers were under attack on the Bataan
peninsula. After reaching Australia, MacArthur
pledged his determination to free the Philippines
with the words "I shall return.”
Allied troops found that the war in Southeast Asia
and the Pacific was very different from that in
Europe. Most battles were fought at sea, on tiny
islands, or in deep jungles.
I. War in the Pacific
By May 1942, the Japanese controlled much
of SE Asia and many Pacific islands, including
the Philippines
I. War in the Pacific
Hundreds of American and 10,000 Filipino
soldiers were killed during the Bataan Death
March
I. War in the Pacific
In May and June 1942, the US stopped the
Japanese advance at the battles of the Coral
Sea and Midway Island
I. War in the Pacific
In August 1942, US Marines landed at
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and
began an "island-hopping" campaign
I. War in the Pacific
By 1944, the US Navy under Admiral Chester
Nimitz was blockading Japan and bombers
pounded Japanese cities and industries
I. War in the Pacific
In October 1944, MacArthur began to retake
the Philippines while the British were winning
in the jungles of Burma and Malaya
MacArthur returns to the
Philippines
British in Burma
II. The Nazis Defeated
As Allied armies advanced into Belgium in
December 1944, Germany launched a massive
counterattack – the Battle of the Bulge
II. The Nazis Defeated
Allied bombers hammered Germany with roundthe-clock bombing raids
Dresden, Germany
II. The Nazis Defeated
In March 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine
River into Germany and Soviet troops closed
in on Berlin
Crossing the Rhine River near
Worms, Germany
Red Army in Berlin
II. The Nazis Defeated
In late April, American and Soviet soldiers
linked up at the Elbe River
II. The Nazis Defeated
As Soviet troops fought their way into Berlin,
Hitler committed suicide. Germany
surrendered on May 7, 1945 – V-E Day
A soldier raises the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin
III. Defeat of Japan
Most of the Japanese navy and air force had
been destroyed, yet the Japanese still had an
army of two million men
III. Defeat of Japan
Officials estimated that an invasion of Japan
would cost over a million casualties - scientists
offered another way to end the war
Provision Order of Battle
for Invasion of Japan
(August 1945)
III. Defeat of Japan
In July 1945, Allied scientists successfully
tested the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo,
New Mexico
On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the
Trinity Site, equivalent to eighteen thousand tons of TNT
III. Defeat of Japan
President Harry Truman warned the Japanese
to surrender or face destruction, but they
ignored the deadline
The "Potsdam Declaration"
described Japan's present
perilous condition and ended
with an ultimatum: Japan
must immediately agree to
unconditionally surrender, or
face "prompt and utter
destruction".
III. Defeat of Japan
On August 6,1945, the Enola Gay dropped an
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing more than
70,000 people
Crew of the Enola Gay
Hiroshima after the atomic bomb
III. Defeat of Japan
On August 8th, the Soviet Union declared war
on Japan and invaded Manchuria - Japan still
did not surrender
III. Defeat of Japan
On August 9th, the US dropped a second
atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing more than
40,000 people
Atomic “Mushroom cloud”
Aftermath of Nagasaki bombing
III. Defeat of Japan
Emperor Hirohito forced the government to
surrender - the peace treaty was signed
aboard the battleship Missouri on September
2, 1945
An Ongoing Controversy
Dropping the atomic bomb brought a quick end to
the war. It also unleashed terrifying destruction.
Ever since, people have debated whether the
United States should have used the bomb. Why
did Truman use the bomb? First, he was
convinced that Japan would not surrender
without an invasion that would result in an
enormous loss of both American and Japanese
lives. Truman also may have hoped that the bomb
would impress the Soviet Union with American
power. At any rate, the Japanese surrendered
shortly after the bombs were dropped, and World
War II was ended.