Chapter 27, Section 5: The End of the War Main Idea: In the Pacific, the Japanese continued to resist American advances until two atomic bombs were dropped on their home islands.

A. War in the Pacific 2 main goals of the US in the Pacific: regain the Philippines & invade Japan. Island Hopping Island Hopping – capturing some Japanese-held islands & going around others to use them as steppingstones to control the Pacific & advance on Japan. 1. American ships shell an island, 2. Troops land under heavy gunfire, 3. Troops engage in hand-to-hand combat, suffering heavy losses. Navajo “code-talkers” were used to send radio messages from ship to ship & island to island in secrecy (Japan never learns). MacArthur “returns” to the Philippines, & Americans capture Iwo Jima & Okinawa.Okinawa Japanese kamikaze pilots intentionally crashed loaded planes into US ships (USS Emmons), rather than surrender (suicide).USS Emmons

Allied Counter- Offensive: “Island- Hopping ”

Japanese Kamikaze Planes: The Scourge of the South Pacific Kamikaze Pilots Suicide Bombers

Pacific Theater of Operations Gen. MacArthur “Returns” to the Philippines! [1944]

Attacking the Home Islands By April 1945, American forces were close enough to Japan to launch an attack on the homeland. To prepare, American bombers pounded Japanese factories & cities, while our ships bombarded the coastlines. Japanese civilians suffered heavily, but the Japanese government still refused to surrender (Bushido). The US planned to invade Japan in autumn 1945, but they expected very high casualties based on the number of men lost in previous island battles. Estimates ranged from 250,000 to a million more if we invaded Japan.

B. The Surrender of Japanof Japan Potsdam Declaration – Allies warned Japan to surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction,” meaning the newly developed atomic bomb (Manhattan Project). Japan ignored the warning, mostly because they didn’t realize what we had. On August 6, 1945 the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, destroying most of the city & killing over 70,000 instantly. Japan still didn’t surrender. Hiroshima On August 9 th, the US dropped a 2 nd bomb on Nagasaki, killing over 40,000 more instantly. Many more from both cities will die later from the effects of radiation. Japan surrendered on August 14 th (V-J Day). The formal ceremony (9/2/45) took place on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. War is over!

Little Boy Fat Man Enola Gay Crew

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945  70,000 killed immediately.  48,000 buildings. destroyed.  100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945  40,000 killed immediately.  60,000 injured.  100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

V-J Day (September 2, 1945)

C. The Deadliest War in History Death Toll - Historians estimate the total number of deaths for WWII to be between 30 & 60 million people worldwide. Much of Europe & Asia was destroyed by bombers (houses, roads, bridges, RRs, factories, farms …). By the end of the war, millions were left homeless & out of work. After the war, Americans were horrified to learn of the brutal mistreatment of POWs. The Bataan Death March - After capturing the Philippines in 1942, the Japanese forced about 75,000 American & Filipino prisoners to march 65 miles with little food or water. 10,000 of them died or were killed along the way.

WW II Casualties Each symbol indicates 100,000 dead in the appropriate theater of operations EuropeAsia

The U.S. & the U.S.S.R. Emerged as the Two Superpowers Japanese War Crimes Trials Bio-Chemical Experiments General Hideki Tojo

The Holocaust In the final months of the war in Europe, Allied forces “discovered” the Nazi death camps in Eastern Europe. Over 12 million victims (Jews, Poles, Slavs, Gypsies, POWs, etc.) were starved, tortured & slaughtered at concentration camps such as Auschwitz & Dachau. Gas chambers, crematoria, & other atrocities were found. Half of the victims were Jews (6 million). The Jewish population of Europe shrank from 9 to 3 million during the war. Throughout the war, the Nazis sent “undesirables” to these extermination camps as they conquered various nations, hoping to rid Europe of these groups of people. War Crimes Trials After the war, Nazi leaders were put on trial for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials in Germany. 12 were sentenced to death & thousands were imprisoned. Many others, however, escaped to different parts of the world. Elie Wiesel, a Jew, spent the rest of his life hunting down escaped Nazis.

Horrors of the Holocaust Exposed Entrance to Auschwitz: Work Makes You Free Crematoria at Majdanek

Mass Graves at Bergen- Belsen

The Nuremberg War Trials: Crimes Against Humanity