Transcript Chapter 25

Chapter 25
Section 4: The War in the
Pacific
• Dec.
hours after Pearl, attacked
Clark Island, the main American base
in the Phillippines
• Dec. 8th Japanese forces attacked
American bases on Wake Island
• Dec. 10th- Attacked Guam
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• MacArthur was the commanding
General (at Clark Island)
–Failed to prepare & the Japanese
destroyed about ½ of the planes
lined up in rows on the ground
• Days later landed on Luzon
–MacArthur withdrew most of his
troops southward & set up defenses
–No hope for a rescue, FDR ordered
MacArthur to go to Australia
–Made a promise to his army “I shall
return”
The Japanese Advance 1941-1942
• Hoped the US would withdraw,
leaving east access to natural
resources of southeast Asia
• Oil & rubber would give Japan
economic freedom
• Japan attacked a number of other
Allied colonies in Dec 1941
• By March they seized Hong Kong,
Singapore, the Dutch East Indies,
Malaya, & invaded Burma
The Phillippines Fall
• Most of Bataan’s defenders
surrendered in April 1942
–11,000 Americans & Filipinos
surrenders on May 6
• Captured 76,000 as P.O.W’s
• Faced grueling tropical heat, forced to
march 60 miles to a railroad junction
to board a train that took them to
within 8 miles of an army camp
–They walked the rest of the way
• Many were denied water & rest, many
were beaten & tortured
• At least 10,000 died
• Many were executed by the guards
when they grew too weak
–Bataan Death March
Defending China & Burma
• China joined the Allies on Dec. 1941
• US already set military advisors &
Lend-Lease arms & equipment
• China’s Nationalist leader Chiang
Hai-Shek asked American Gen.
Joseph Stilwell to serve as his chief of
staff
• Led the Chinese armies defending
Burma
• The “Flying Tigers” fared poorly
against the Japanese
• Lost control of the Burma Road
The War at Sea
• Goal at Pearl Harbor was to destroy
the 3 aircraft carriers that formed the
heart of the Pacific Fleet- failed
–The Lexington & the Enterprise had
been at sea
–The Saratoga was undergoing
repairs in CA
• April 1942- American B-52 medium
bombers took off from the Hornet on
their own secret mission
–Led by Lt. Col. James Doolittle
–Planes flew to Japan to carry out a
counterattack
• Dropped bombs on Tokyo & other
cities before crash landing in China
• Most pilots survived
• Caused little physical damage, but
shocked Japan’s leadership & boosted
American morale
• Japanese force continued to advance
across the Pacific
• The fall of the Dutch East Indies
opened the way to Australia
• May 1942- Battle of the Coral Sea
–Aircraft launched from carriers
bombed & strafed enemy ships
more than 70 miles
–5 day battle cost both sides more
than ½ of their planes
–Prevented the Japanese from
invading Australia
• First naval combat carried out entirely
by aircraft
–Enemy ships never came within
sight of one another
Allied Victories Turn the Tide
• Summer of 1941 Soviet Union
resisted German attacks
• Allies prepared to invade north Africa
• 2 critical battles took place in the
Pacific
The Battle of Midway
• Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku hoped to
destroy what remained of the US Pacific
Fleet by luring it into battle near Midway
Island (1,100 miles northwest of Hawaii)
• Opened June 4, 1942 with a wave of
Japanese bomber attacks on the island &
an unsuccessful American strike on the
Japanese fleet
• Fought entirely from the air
• First American planes tried to fend off
Japanese carriers
• Then Americans carriers intervened,
surprised the Japanese as they were
refueling, fuel hoses caught fire
–Sank 3 of the 4 carriers & finished the
4th later that day
• Japanese planes were able to sink the
Yorktown
• After Midway, Japan was unable to
launch any more offensive operations
in the Pacific
The Battle of Guadalcanal
• Allies goal was now to capture
Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands,
where the Japanese were building an
airfield to threaten nearby Allied
bases
• 11,000 marines landed in August 1942
• 2,200 Japanese fled into the jungle
• American Navy took control of the
waters in November, limiting
Japanese troop landings
Struggle for the Islands
• Island hopping- by capturing only a
few crucial islands, the US effectively
cut off the bypassed islands from
supplies & reinforcements
Island hopping in the Pacific
• 1943-44 Allies pushed north from
Australia & west across the central
Pacific
• Forces under Gen. MacArthur &
Adm. William Halsey leap-frogged
through the Solomon Islands
• Adm. Nimitz hopped around the
Gilbert Islands, seizing Tanawa, then
used it to launch bombing raids on
Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands
• Feb. 1944, these attacks crippled
Japanese air power, allowing Nimitz
to seize Kwajalein & Eniwetok
• Captured parts of Mariana
Islands in June
–For the first time, Japan was
within reach of long range US
bombers
The Philippines Campaign
• Mid Oct- 160,000 US troops invaded
the Philippines island of Leyte
• Greatest naval battle in world history
developed off the coast
–Battle of Leyte Gulf (3 day battle)
• 280 warships
• First time kamikazes were used
• American force virtually destroyed
the Japanese navy & emerged
victorious
• Not until June 1945 did the Allies
control the Philippines
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
• One of the bloodiest battles took place
at Iwo Jima, less than 600 miles from
Japan
• The natural terrain protected more
than 600 Japanese guns
• Nov. 1944 US bombers began to
pound Iwo Jima
• For 74 days, US planes & warships
poured nearly 7,000 tons of bombs
down
• Mid Feb.- Marines stormed the
beaches
–After 3 days, they advanced only
700 yards
• Eventually 110,000 Americans took
part in the campaign
• Needed at least a month to secure the
island
• Only 219 Japanese were taken
prisoner
• US suffered 25,000 casualties
Battle of Okinawa
• Fought from April to June 1945
• Approximately 350 miles from Japan
• Last obstacle to the Allied invasion of
the home land
• Allies gathered 1,300 warships &
180,000 combat troops to drive the
enemy from Okinawa
• Japanese pilots flew from 2,000
kamikaze attacks against the fleet
–As American soldiers came ashore,
defenders made desperate banzai
attacks (attacks in which the soldiers
tried to kill as many as possible until
they themselves were killed)
–June- Japanese resistance finally
ended after almost 3 months
The Manhattan Project
• Aug. 1939- FDR received a note from
Albert Einstein suggesting that a
powerful new type of bomb could be
built by the Germans
–FDR organized the top secret
Manhattan Project to develop an
atomic bomb
• To make the bomb, scientists had to
discover how to create a chain reaction,
where particles released from the
splitting of one atom would cause
another atom to break apart, & so on
–In theory, the energy released by the
splitting of so many atoms would
produce a massive explosion
• 1942- Enrico Fermi produced the first
controlled chain reaction in a lab at
the University of Chicago
• July 16, 1945- first bomb was tested
in New Mexico
The Decision to Drop the Bomb
• Alternatives to ending the war
–Massive invasion of Japan
–Naval blockade to starve Japan &
bombing
–Demonstration of the atomic bomb
on a deserted island to pressure
Japan to surrender
–Softening of Allied demands for an
unconditional surrender
• Interim Committee met Spring 1945
to debate these ideas
• Couldn’t recommend any alternatives
• Final decision rested with Truman
Japan Surrendered
• Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped
a single atomic bomb on Hiroshima
–Annihilated the city’s center & its
residents in an instant
–80,000 died & at least 80,000 more
were injured by fire, radiation
sickness, & force of the explosion
• Aug.
a second bomb was dropped
on Nagasaki
• Aug. 14th- Japan surrendered
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• Aug. 15 - US celebrated V-J day
• Formal surrender agreement was
signed on Sept. 2nd aboard the USS
Missouri in Tokyo Bay
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