Download July 1945

1. Who was the lead scientist on the
Manhattan Project?
2. Which city was the first city to be bombed
with an atomic bomb?
3. Where were the German war crimes trials
held?
4. Who was the US admiral in charge of the
US Navy in the Pacific?
5. What did FDR, Churchill and Stalin agree
to create after the war to keep world
peace?
25.3 THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
America at War: 1941-1945
FDR’s STRATEGY:
1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK
2. Attack Japan second: give ground in Pacific
PROBLEM: Will America arm itself (and its
Allies) in time?
CONCERN: Were totalitarian warriors better than
citizen-soldiers?
WWII: Pacific Theatre
Act I
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/2130.jpg
12/7/1941: Pearl
Harbor
12/1941-5/1942:
Grim Defeat and
Retreat
Fall of Dutch
East Indies, Fall
of Philippines,
Corregidor,
Bataan Death
March,
Gen. MacArthur
– “I shall return.”
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/ma
ps/photo/8-Bataan.jpg
PHILIPPINES
80,000 US
VS.
200,000 JAPAN
After 5 MonthsUS Forces:
14,000 KIA
48,000 WIA
http://ghostofbataan.com/image2/deathm1.jpg
Map: Closing the Circle on Japan, 1942-1945
Closing the Circle on Japan, 1942-1945
Following the Battle of Midway, with the invasion of Guadalcanal (August 1942), American forces began the costly process of
island hopping. This map shows the paths of the American campaign in the Pacific, closing the circle on Japan. After the Soviet
Union entered the war and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bombs, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
U.S. Retaliation
The Doolittle Raids
On April 18, 1942, sixteen B25 bombers,
with 80 volunteers commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, took
off from the aircraft carrier Hornet. Their
mission was to drop the first bombs on
Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama. All
reached their targets successfully, with
little Japanese response. Then, low on
fuel, fifteen of the planes crashed or were
abandoned in China. (The Japanese would
eventually execute 250,000 Chinese for
helping the American fliers escape.) A
sixteenth plane landed near Vladivostok.
Two of the Doolittle raiders came down in
enemy territory and three crewmen were
executed. But 71 men eventually came
home.
http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/_images/photos/battlefield/doolittle/05.jpg
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h97000/h97502t.jpg
WWII: Pacific Theatre
Act II
May-June 1942: Allies Turn the Tide
Battle of the Coral Sea (saves Australia)
Battle of Midway (destroys Japanese Carriers)
Aug. 1942: “Island Hopping” begins
Guadalcanal (20K Japanese dead to 1200 USA)
Tarawa, Marianas, Solomon Islands
Aug. 1943: Recover Aleutian Islands
MEANWHILE: US subs destroy Japansese navy,
US begins bombing Tokyo and Japan
Battle of Midway
http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/_images/photos/battlefield/doolittle/11.jpg
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/science/9806/04/yorktown.found/midway.island.lg.jpg
• Admiral Chester Nimitz, US Commander
• US uses intercepted/decoded Japanese messages re:
invasion fleet of 110 ships
• Nimitz sets trap, destroys 332 planes, 4 aircraft carriers, and
many experienced Japanese pilots
Island Hopping
• By-pass Japanese
strong-points
• Seize small, unfortified
islands
• Build airfields on them
• Use air power to
destroy Japanese supply
lines
• Starve out Japanese
strong-points
• Repeat
Guadalcanal
• First land offensive in the
Pacific theater
• August 1942 – Feb
• Focused on capturing
“Henderson Field”
• Goal was to control air over
the Solomon Islands and
shut down Japanese
shipping, AKA the “Tokyo
Express” through “the slot”
Tarawa by Tom Lovell
Tarawa by Tom Lovell
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
On November 21, 1943, marines stormed ashore on the atoll of Tarawa, soon to be called
"Bloody Tarawa." The marines secured the island, but the cost was high. Of the 5,000 marines
who fought in the battle, more than 1,000 were killed and another 2,000 wounded. Nearly all of
the 5,000 Japanese defenders died, many in a final "death charge." (U.S. Marine Corps Museum)
Map: Closing the Circle on Japan, 1942-1945
Closing the Circle on Japan, 1942-1945
Following the Battle of Midway, with the invasion of Guadalcanal (August 1942), American forces began the costly process of
island hopping. This map shows the paths of the American campaign in the Pacific, closing the circle on Japan. After the Soviet
Union entered the war and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed by atomic bombs, Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945.
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur
• Supreme Commander of
Allies in Pacific
• Utilized “island hopping”
• Brilliant strategist
• 1/10 kill ratio US/Jap.
• Put in charge of
governing Japan after
WWII
• Led US forces in Korean
War
• Fired by Truman for
insubordination
http://www.e-yliko.gr/Fyyl/Istoria/prosopawwarII/Douglas%20MacArthur.gif
WWII: Pacific Theatre
Act III
Oct. 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf (final destruction of J
navy)
Jan.-July 1945-: Liberation of Philippines
March 1945: Iwo Jima
April-June 1945: Okinawa (Kamikaze)
July 1945: Potsdam Conference (US, UK, USSR’s
ultimatum)
Aug. 6, 1945: Hiroshima – 180,000 deaths
Aug. 9, 1945: Nagasaki – 80,000 deaths
Sep. 2, 1945: V-J Day
Kamikaze
http://www.rotten.com/library/death/kamikaze/kamikaze.jpg
• “divine wind”
• Used in Battle of Leyte
Gulf, Philippines
• 424 kamikaze pilots sunk
16 ships, damaged 80
• Similar suicidal resistance
shown by Japanese army
on Iwo Jima, Okinawa
• Okinawa: 1900 kamikaze
attacks sink 30 ships,
damage 300, kill 5,000
sailors
http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/images/OppenheimeBlackboardLarge.jpg
http://www.cfo.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/images/TrinityLarge.jpg
Manhattan Project
•
•
•
•
Secret project to develop atomic bomb
Racing Germans and Soviets
Began in 1942
Scientists organized by
J. Robert Oppenheimer (above right)
• many scientists are refugees from fascist
countries
• Bombs use plutonium and uranium 235
• First bomb, “Trinity,” tested July 16,
1945 near Alamogordo, NM –
beginning of atomic age
HARRY TRUMAN
• TRUMAN REPLACES
FDR
• VET OF WWI
• MISSOURI
• HIGH SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• COMES TO POLITICS
AFTER FAILING AT
BUSINESS
To Bomb or Not to Bomb
(pp. 751-752)
• PRO
• CON
Island bases in
Marianas and on
Iwo Jima provided
strategic staging
areas for the
bombing of Japan
and dropping of
the bomb.
http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/manhattan/potsdam_decision.htm
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
YALTA: February 1945
•Last meeting of the Big Three
•Stalin joins fight against Japan
•USSR gets Manchuria, Kuril, Sakhalin
•Founding of the United Nations, based on Atlantic Charter
What is it?
Pact? Agreement? Sell-out?
Is it Versailles?
Is it Munich?
Or…?
New World Order (?)
• Nuremburg Trials: 1945
– Trial of Nazi and German Military Leaders
– Foundations of International Human Rights
• New Crimes:
– Crimes against Humanity
– Crimes against Geneva Convention
• Division of Germany among “Big Four”
– US, UK, USSR, and France
– East and West Germany
• Military Administration of Germany and Japan
– Gen. MacArthur runs Japan, writes democratic
constitution
Potential Essay Topics: TWO
paragraphs minimum
1. Compare and Contrast the strategies of the war in the
Pacific and the war in Europe. Discuss the priorities of
the allies, the generals and commanders, and the major
battles.
2. Identify the arguments for and against dropping the
atomic bomb. Identify who had ultimate responsibility for
the decision. Discuss the merits of each side of the
argument and take a stand. Support your position with
details and facts from the text.
3. Discuss the arguments for and against interning Japanese
Americans during WWII. Was it justified?
4. Compare and contrast communism and fascism. Then
identify two dictators who came to power in the 1930’s.
Compare and contrast their rise to power and their
ultimate fate.