Transcript The End of the War in the Pacific

1942-1945
I.
II.
III.
Japanese Advancement
US Strategy
End of the War
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Battle of Midway
Manhattan Project
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By the spring of 1942
the Japanese
controlled a huge
empire with a
diameter of about
5,000 miles, a
population of 450
million, and a selfsupporting economy.
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The Japanese plan was to control the eastern
Pacific so they could deprive the US of military
bases and cut its access to Australia and New
Zealand.
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Took place early June 1942
The mission of the Japanese fleet was to lure
what was left of the US Pacific Fleet into
combat, destroy it, and occupy Midway.
All 4 Japanese carriers were sunk. The US lost 1
carrier but it had 4 remaining and 13 under
construction.
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At Midway Japan lost air and naval superiority
in the Pacific.
In May and August of 1943 the army retook the
Aleutian Islands.
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In August 1942 American forces launched the
first ground offensive in the Pacific Theater
when marines landed on Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands.
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Because of disputes between the army and
navy a 2 pronged attack was aimed at the
Japanese Islands.
The army went south and the navy went north.
US submarines sank more than 1,300 Japanese
ships, including 8 aircraft carriers.
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Half of Japan’s merchant fleet was destroyed
by the beginning of 1945.
In November 1944 B-29 bombers began the
long-range bombing of the Japanese homeland.
A bombing of Tokyo in March 1945 killed over
100,000 people.
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It was thought that an invasion and occupation of
the Japanese homeland could cost as many as 1
million Allied casualties.
By the end of the Okinawa campaign there had
been 2,550 kamikaze suicide missions of which
475 had secured hits or damaging near misses.
The Japanese held back over 5,000 planes to meet
the forthcoming invasion of the home islands.
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At Yalta, Stalin had promised that he would
come into the war against Japan 3 months after
the defeat of Germany.
FDR and Churchill promised Stalin Chinese
territories in return.
Yalta was an attempt to ensure that the USSR
came into the war at the most advantageous
time for the US and to limit its expansion.
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Died on April 12, 1945 at Warm Springs,
Georgia from a stroke.
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It started in June 1942
On July 16, 1945 the first atomic bomb was
detonated in New Mexico.
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August 6 an atomic
bomb was dropped
on Hiroshima
killing 87,500
people in less than 5
minutes.
August 9 an atomic
bomb was dropped
on Nagasaki killing
39,000 people.
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Atomic bomb was viewed simply as more costeffective and efficient way of ending the war
It was seen as a way to intimidate the Soviet
Union and ending the war before the Soviet
Union could gain too much territory in Asia.
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Between the 2 atomic raids the USSR declared
war on Japan, easily occupying Manchuria and
Korea
On August 15 the Japanese Emperor
announced the Japanese surrender.
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60 million dead and
millions more
permanently maimed.
US had 295,000 killed
and an additional
110,400 wounded.
China, Japan and the
USSR were devastated
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Europe’s wealth and influence was destroyed.
Cold War