Transcript Slide 1
Chapter 25(3) The Battle of Midway -Turning point in the Pacific. -Americans turn back a Japanese invasion force headed for Hawaii. -America goes on the offensive. -Beginning of US “Island Hopping”. Guadalcanal -Japan’s first defeat on land. Personal Voice Ralph G. martin (War correspondent) “Hell was red furry spiders as big as your fist, giant lizards as long as your leg, leeches falling from trees to suck blood, armies of white ants with a bite of fire, scurrying scorpions inflaming any flesh they touched, enormous rats and bats everywhere, and rivers with waiting crocodiles. Hell was the sour, foul smell of the squishy jungle, humidity that rotted a body within hours, …stinking wet heat of dripping rain forests that sapped the strength of any man.” -The GI War Leyte Island (Philippines) -Japan introduces new tactic, kamikaze, or suicide plane. -Battle lasted only 3 days -Last time Japanese navy will play a major role in the defense of Japan -424 kamikaze pilots *destroy 16 ships *damage 80 -Japan lost *3 battleships *4 aircraft carriers *13 cruisers *500 planes Rarely seen photo of the “First” flag raising at Iwo Jima. “Second” flag raised, larger and more dramatic Iwo Jima “an ugly, smelly glob of cold lava squatting in a surly ocean.” Author-William Manchester -Thought to be the most heavily defended spot on earth -Critical to the U.S. as a base from which heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan. -20,000 Japanese troops entrenched in tunnels and caves/only 200 survived -70,000 marines converged on the tiny island/6,000 died Okinawa -Last land battle before the island of Japan. -Even fiercer opposition than Iwo Jima -Japanese: 110,000 died/Americans: 7,600 die July 1945, Los Alamos, NM The Manhattan Project (building of the atomic bomb) -American Scientist-J. Robert Oppenheimer. -600,000 Americans were involved in the project Personal Voice -J. Robert Oppenheimer(Describing the first bomb test in New Mexico.) “A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.” August 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki -Aug. 6th- Atomic bomb “Little Boy” over Hiroshima -Aug. 9th- Atomic bomb “Fat Man” over Nagasaki -200,000 die A Personal Voice -Yamaoka Michiko “They say temperatures of 7,000 degrees centigrade hit me….Nobody there looked like human beings….Humans had lost the ability to speak. People couldn’t scream, ‘It hurts!’ even when they were on fire….People with their legs wrenched off. Without heads. Or with faces burned and swollen out of shape. The scene I saw was a living hell.” -quoted in Japan at War: An Oral History Tokyo Bay -Hirohito/Japan formally surrender to General Douglas MacArthur. -Surrender ceremonies take place aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri. Back in Europe: Feb 1945, in Yalta… Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin at the Yalta Conference. Allied leaders made important decisions about the postwar world. Three Different Approaches to the postwar world and Germany Stalin: Favored a harsh approach. Wanted Germany divided into occupation zones controlled by Allied military forces so Germany could never again threaten the Soviet Union. Churchill: Strongly disagreed with Stalin and his harsh approach. Roosevelt: Acted as the mediator. Was willing to go along with Stalin for two reasons: 1. Hoped Soviet Union would join the Allied forces against Japan 2. Wanted Stalin’s support for a United Nations San Francisco (USA) April 1945 United Nations established. Nuremberg, Germany 1945-1949 -The Nuremberg Trials: Nazi leaders are tried for “crimes against humanity.” -Established the principle that individuals are responsible for their own actions even in times of war. War Criminals on Trial, 1945-1949 1. Crimes Against the Peace – Planning and waging an aggressive war 2. War Crimes – Acts against the customs of warfare, such as the killing of hostages and prisoners, the plundering of private property, and the destruction of towns and cities 3. Crimes against Humanity – The murder, extermination, deportation, or enslavement of civilians. How did MacArthur reshape Japan’s economy? -Introducing free-market practices How did MacArthur help transform Japan’s government? -New Constitution *Woman’s suffrage *Free Elections/democratic government *The guarantee of basic freedoms