Transcript Chapter 17 Section 3 Notes

Chapter 17 Section 3 Notes
Following Pearl Harbor
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Japan gained control of much territory in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
 More than Germany if land & sea are combined
U.S. retreats from the Philippines
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Occurs 4 months after Pearl Harbor
 Some Americans and Filipinos left behind
► Became POW’s
U.S. in Pacific led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur
 Says “I shall return”
THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH was a tragedy of epic proportions with 76,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war forcibly
transferred, on foot, by the Imperial Japanese Army to Bataan. Even as the American and Filipino troops repelled the
Japanese for several months, they were forced to retreat to wait for supplies and reinforcements. But the Japanese had cut off
all routes to the Philippines, preventing a rescue by U.S. Military and the troops were forced to surrender on April 4, 1942
Status of U.S. Navy in Pacific early on
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Not good

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Many ships destroyed or damaged at Pearl
Could have been worse
 Japan didn’t damage U.S. submarines or aircraft carriers
► Not
at Pearl during attacks
► this was important for U.S. retaliation
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Shipyards on West Coast expanded
 Start building lots of battleships
In the decade prior to 1940, America's shipyards
launched only 23 ships. In the five years after Pearl
Harbor American shipyards launched 4,600 ships.
The Japanese knew that if they were going to control the
Pacific, they needed to eliminate our ability to respond to
their movements effectively by destroying our aircraft
carriers. They were actually the main target of the attacks;
unfortunately for the Japanese, they were not there. On the
morning of December 7th, the carriers were out at sea.
The Plan in the Pacific
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Play Defense
 Prevent more land from being taken
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Recapture 1 island at a time
 “island hopping”
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Use planes to bomb Japanese cities
 Lower their spirits
 target military related areas
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After war with Germany and Italy ends
 Land invasion of Japan
1st step = Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo
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(April 1942)
1st successful air raid against Japanese – sneak attack (like Pearl Harbor)
 Raised our spirits, lowered theirs
 U.S. didn’t drop any more bombs on Japan for more than 2 years
2nd step = Protect Australia
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Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942)
 Fought entirely by planes and ships
 1st Allied Victory against Japanese
3rd step = Protect Hawaii
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The Battle of Midway (June 1942)
 Furthest Japanese advance towards Hawaii
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map p. 580
 U.S. knew the invasion was going to happen
► Had broken Japanese radio code
 U.S. forces led by Admiral Chester Nimitz
► Found Japanese fleet and launched attacks
 Sunk 5 major ships and 250 planes
U.S. goes on the Offensive
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keep in mind, conditions on Pacific Islands were very bad
 humid, hot, spiders, leeches, rats, bats, fire ants, scorpions
4th step = U.S. starts “island hopping”
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Guadalcanal was 1st (Aug. 1942 – Feb. 1943)
 Took 6 months for Allies to take the island
 1st Japanese defeat on land
It was a battle for a tiny island in the South Pacific no bigger than Delaware,
but it became a turning point in the Allied fight against Japan durning WWII
5th step = Take back the Philippines
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Battle of Leyte Gulf (Oct. 1944)

Largest naval battle of WWII (maybe ever!)
 Japan used its entire Navy to protect the Philippines
 Japanese eventually outnumbered
► Roughly 12,500 killed
 Less than 3,000 for Allies
► Lost
close to 30 major ships, 300 planes
 Many more severely damaged
 Allied losses roughly half of that
 Japanese navy crippled for rest of the war
Painting of the Battle of Leyte Gulf
Kamikaze Pilots introduced at Leyte Gulf
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Japan started a new tactic with its air force
Flew planes directly into Allied ships
 Sunk a dozen, damaged many more
The tradition of death instead of
defeat, capture, and perceived
shame was deeply entrenched in
Japanese military culture. It was
one of the primary traditions in
the samurai life and code: loyalty
and honor until death.
Painting of Kamikaze hitting U.S. Aircraft Carrier tower
6th step = Battle of Iwo Jima
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U.S. wanted the island for land based, heavy bombing runs on Japan
 map p. 580
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(Feb. & Mar. 1945)
Around 21,000 Japanese defended the island
 Only 200 survived
 Commit suicide rather than be prisoner
 Around 6,000 U.S. Marines died
7th step = Battle of Okinawa
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Closest the U.S. got to a land invasion of Japan
 1,900 Kamikaze attacks
► Sunk
30 ships, damaged 300
 Around 13,000 U.S. deaths
 Around 110,000 Japanese deaths
► Japanese
Generals committed suicide
(Apr. & June 1945)
8th Step = Invade Japan?
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Predictions start to roll in of what it would take for a land invasion
1.5 million deaths of Allied Forces was the estimate
 Japan had promised to fight to the last person (100 million people!)
 Truman not willing to make those types of sacrifices
 Also doesn’t want Soviet Union to get involved
The Plan
To Invade
Japan That
Never Happened
The Manhattan Project
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Began mid 1942
Purpose = Create an atomic bomb
 Originally supposed to be used against Germany
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Scientists led by J. Robert Oppenheimer
involved efforts of 150,000 American civilians
 99% of them didn’t know what they were doing
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1st test in New Mexico desert (mid July 1945)
 It worked, didn’t know of long term effects
2 Atomic Bombs dropped
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Hiroshima (Aug, 6th, 1945)
 Important Jap. military center
 Enola Gay (plane)
 Little Boy (atomic bomb)
► Every building in the city
collapsed in 1 minute
 Emperor Hirohito didn’t surrender
Nagasaki (Aug, 9th, 1945)
 Bockscar (plane)
 Fat Man (atomic bomb)
► Did less damage
 half of city destroyed
 due to topography
Consequences of the Bombs
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The 2 bombs instantly killed 110,000 people
The 2 bombs instantly injured 95,000 people
Within a year of their detonations, 90,000 more had died from radiation
Talks begin after 2nd bomb and Japan Surrenders (Sept. 2nd 1945)
Should the bombs have been dropped?
 You decide (p. 585)
The Yalta Conference
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Plans for the end of WWII before it happened
 Occurred in Russia
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FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (Big 3)
 Russia wanted Germany split up
 Churchill didn’t
 FDR acts as mediator
► Wants
Russia’s help against Japan
 Didn’t know if bomb would work yet
► Wants Russia in United Nations after war
(Feb. 1945)
The Yalta Compromise
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Germany temporarily split up into 4 zones
 Controlled by U.S., Russia, Britain, and France
 Would be united in the future
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Stalin promised “free” elections in all Soviet
– occupied countries in Eastern Europe
 Didn’t happen
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Russia would join war against Japan
 Did on Asian mainland for a week in August
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Russia agreed to hear plans for UN
Nuremberg War Trials
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German political, military, and industrial leaders faced charges of “crimes
against humanity” for Death Camps
 12 of 24 sentenced to death
 Others imprisoned
 Later – 200 more imprisoned
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Established important principle
 You are responsible for your own actions
 They couldn’t argue “Hitler told me to do it”
U.S. occupies Japan after WWII
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General MacArthur in charge
 War Trials held for leaders.
►7
put to death, 100’s more imprisoned
► Military not allowed to exist
 Introduced Capitalism & Democracy
► Freedoms,
Women’s Suffrage & E quality
 Constitution finalized in 1947
► called
MacArthur Constitution
► Most of it still in effect
 Large occupation ends in early 1950s
► Become
Allies
Gen. MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito
standing side by side in Japan.
Hirohito becomes a figurehead.
Japanese people elect a 2 house
legislature called the Diet.
The Diet elects a Prime Minister