Transcript The Pacific Theater

The Pacific Theater
1941 – 1945
Japan vs. United States
Building Tensions
• 1940 Japan takes French Indo China and begins to
cut China off from the outside world.
• U.S. cuts off all oil exports to the Japanese
• Sept. 27th, 1940 Japan allies with Germany
(Tripartite Pact)
• U.S. President freezes all Japanese assets and
moves General Douglas MacArthur to the
Philippines.
• U.S. and japan are heading for War
French Indo China
Pearl Harbor
• Nov. 26th 1941 Japanese Carrier fleet sets out on a
5000 mile journey to Hawaii to crush the
American Pacific Fleet.
• Goal is to deliver a knock out blow by a surprise
attack. This would allow Japan to invade
Southeast Asia.
• Dec. 7th 1941 350 Japanese plains would strike
while the Americans were still sleeping in their
beds.
Damage
• 19 ships disabled including the sinking of
two battle ships the USS Arizona and USS
Oklahoma.
• 150 air planes destroyed
• 2400 American dead.
Bad News for Japan
• They never sunk any Aircraft Carriers like
the USS Enterprise.
• They only destroyed ships and not the
Harbor.
• They left the fuel reserves untouched.
• Dec. 8th 1941 America Declares war.
• Dec. 11th Germany and Italy declare war on
America.
Japanese Invasion
• Japan captures American bases at Guam,
Wake Island, Gilbert Islands, Hong Kong
(British), Singapore, and Java.
• Dec. 27th MacArthur is forced to give up the
Philippines. He vows he will return.
• Japan Sets their sights on New Guinea and
then Australia.
The Coral Sea
• Japan is caught moving troops to Southern New
Guinea.
• The Americans surprise them and sinking one
Aircraft carrier and disable another.
• Unfortunately the U.S. lose two Aircraft carriers
the Yorktown and Lexington.(so the Japanese
think.)
• The positive is that the U.S. stops the invasion.
Midway June 1942
• Americans decode Japans invasion plans for the
US airbase at Midway.
• Admiral Nimitz scrambles 3 carriers: Enterprise,
Hornet, and Yorktown (She got fixed)
• American bombers catch the Japanese carriers
with all their planes on the decks fully loaded with
torpedoes and fuel.
• Japanese lose four carriers and the US would lose
the Yorktown.
• The Importance = America controls the Seas
The Island Campaign
• Goal is to use islands as stepping stones to
get to Japan. Get close enough and you can
use your bombers.
• America would take: Guadalcanal 1942,
New Guinea 1943, Marinas 1944,
Philippines 1944.
• 1945 the bloodiest fights for Iwo Jima (20
000 cas.) and Okinawa (50 000 cas.)
The Bomb
• President Roosevelt dies in April 1945.
• Harry Truman takes over and he learns of a
new weapon that could end the war in
weeks.
• Aug. 6th 1945 the Hiroshima
• Aug. 9th Nagasaki
• Aug 14th the Emperor announces Japan’s
surrender.
World War Two Ends
Sept. 2, 1945
Douglas MacArthur accepts the
Japanese official surrender