World War II – Part 3 - War in the Pacific

Battle Of The Pacific

Tensions Rise During the Great Depression Japan was hungry for resources. Poor and cut off from the United States, Japan decided to invade China. Because of the invasion of China, the Japanese were kicked out of the League of Nations and their source of oil and iron ore from western powers was cut off. Japan decided to attack the U.S. on December 7th 1941.

Briefing The Battle for the Pacific was one of the bloodiest theatres of war during World War II. Hundreds of thousands of Allied and Japanese soldiers died. Frightening new technologies came out of the Battle for the Pacific (ex. bombers that could fly miles above their targets, and the bombs they carried could level cities). Japan was reduced to a cinder, and the Allied victory was solidified.

Pearl Harbour The attack on Pearl Harbour was not necessarily an attempt to invade the United States, but rather an attempt to pressure the US and their Allies to open up the trade routes needed oil. This oil was needed to hold their ground in China and the rest of the South Pacific. Although this attack was not necessarily unprovoked, it certainly caught the United States off guard. Warnings of the attack were ignored and as a result 2402 United States citizens were killed. Now the American populous were no longer opposed to the war. America shortly thereafter joined the battle of the Pacific. Germany and Italy then declared war on the U.S. pulling them into a two theatre war.

Kamakazi Japanese fighter pilots swore to give their life to their Emperor. When faced with death, rather then crash into the ocean, they would fly directly into the deck of the enemy carriers. This took out the hit and miss aspect of bombing, and the accuracy was completely up to the competence of the pilot.

Iwo Jima Longest most furious aerial bombardment of any island battles. More marines sent to Iwo than any other battle. 110, 000 people and 880 ships Japanese buried under ground with pill boxes and elaborate cave system. They were untouched. Japanese flanked the landing area with block houses and pill boxes. Japanese machine guns zeroed in on the beaches Every American was in range of Japanese guns Liquid, napalm, and hand grenades were effective against underground Japanese

Firebombing of Japan During the allied invasion of the South Pacific, there were many advances in aviation technologies. The new B-29 bomber could fly miles above their target, taking out the element of anti-aircraft guns. Large air raids took place over Japanese cities, and as a result hundreds of thousands died. On a single day in March of 1945, a firebombing raid on Tokyo killed over 100, 000 people.

Atomic Bombings The Little Boy And The Fat Man http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/10/28/science/28manhattanproject.html On August 6,1945 the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in the first nuclear attack in history. Three days later Nagasaki was also bombed in the last ever nuclear attack. More than 240 000 people died as a direct result. The Little Boy And The Fat Man

Twice Bombed – Twice Survived Tsutomu Yamaguchi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi

The End of WWII Aug 15, 1945

Total Cost of WWII 60 million dead (20 military, 40 civilian) Including: Russia (23+ million), China (17+ million), and Germany (8 million) 10 million dead from concentration camps Including: 6 million Jews 17% Axis, 83% Allies 62% Civilian, 38% Military Canada: 1.1 million served 54 000 wounded, 45 000 killed

THE END