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WWII in the Pacific Dec. 7, 1941-August 14, 1945 USA Leads the Way PHASE ONE: Japan on the Move • Goal of Japan’s Militarist government? I. Attack on Pearl Harbor (Hawaii): A. Japan attacked P. Harbor because the entire U.S. naval fleet docked there. -U.S.A. was only country in the Pacific that could stop Japan -December 7, 1941: 2,400 Americans dead; 1,100 wounded PHASE ONE: Japan on the Move (cont’d) B. The United States reacted to the attack by declaring war on Japan the next day, and on Germany 3 days later. -President Franklin D. Roosevelt: “The American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.” -U.S.A. now joins the Allied Powers II. Japanese Victories • Japan now tried to quickly conquer Allied territories in the Pacific, before the U.S. could respond to the Pearl Harbor attack. • From USA: Jan. 1942 attacked Philippine Islands (conquered by May ’42) • From Britain: Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore (Jan-March ’42) • From Netherlands: Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) • By April 1942, Japan controlled 1 million square miles of Asian land. Cruel conquerors. Prediction? A Japanese “Zero” TURNING POINT: Midway and Coral Sea • Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942): both sides used a new type of naval warfare. • Aircraft carriers: served as mobile airstrips. Planes took off from them, attacked opponent’s ships, then landed back on the aircraft carrier. • Allies lost more ships and troops than the Japanese • Allies stopped Japan from moving closer to Australia Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) • Midway Island: home to a key airfield, midway between Hawaii and Japan • American pilots destroyed 332 Japanese planes, all 4 aircraft carriers, and 1 support ship. • Japanese navy: no more aircraft carriers! • American factories: started massproducing carriers, ships, and planes PHASE TWO: USA on the Move • Allied Offensive: “turning point” victories gave U.S. forces experience and confidence, so they went on the attack • Guadalcanal: Japan constructing airbase • U.S. Marines fought for 6 months in jungle warfare, Japan gave up Guadalcanal by Feb 1943 U.S. Strategy • “Island-Hopping”: take over one island, then the next, “hopping” to Japan • Split forces in two: a. Navy and Air Force=Pacific Ocean Area (open seas, bomb islands from sea) b. Army: Southwest Pacific (landed on islands after bombing, fought on land to control each island) US Victory in Pacific • Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944): US destroys remainder of Japan’s navy • Kamikazes, or suicide pilots, are now Japan’s only weapon against US forces • Iwo Jima & Okinawa (1945): US takes two islands within striking distance of Japan • US learns that Japanese will fight to the death to defend their island (samurai code) US Victory (continued) • August 6, 1945: US drops first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan • Truman warns Japan to surrender or face “a rain of ruin from the air” • August 9, 1945: US drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan • Japanese forces surrender Aug. 14, formal surrender of Japanese gov’t Sept. 2, 1945 (V-J Day!)