War in the Pacific

 1931 invasion of Manchuria with plans to take southeast Asia  1937 capture Nanking, embarking on deadly rampage killing 200,000 Chinese  1941 Japan intended to invade Dutch East Indies for its resources to build military  1941 Roosevelt announced a trade embargo against Japan to stop its military build up Japanese expansion until 1941

Pearl Harbor

 December 7, 1941, Sunday morning  183 Japanese aircraft  Sank or disabled 18 ships, including all battleships  Killed 2,400 Americans  Wounded 1,000 Attack on Pearl Harbor “a date that will live in infamy.”

USS Arizona and aerial photo taken by a Japanese pilot

 December 8, 1941 Congress declared war on Japan  December 11, 1941 Germany and Italy declared war on the US in support of Japan because of the pact of 1940  “Tripartite Pact” a defensive alliance 1940 Declaration of War

General Hideki Tojo  Japanese general, a militarist who seized control of government in October He has been considered most influential in attacking Pearl Harbor.

Emperor Hirohito  Royal Emperor of Japan

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto  Japan’s leading military strategist who urged quick action to take the South Pacific before America could act

 If Japan captured the Philippines early in the war, it would dominate the entire South Pacific, expanding its goal of a Japan-controlled Asia.  Japan assaulted the Philippines early in  American commander General Douglas MacArthur was forced to retreat to Australia.  He left behind part of his army who, along with Filipino soldiers, were captured Philippines

General Douglas MacArthur

 Began on April 9, 1942 when 70,000 Filipino and American troops surrendered to Japanese troops on the Bataan Peninsula.  General MacArthur left thousands of troops behind.  The 65-mile march to a concentration camp cost an unknown number of lives.  16,000 died in the camp The Bataan Death March

Bataan Death March

1.Recapture Philippine Islands and help China combat the Japanese 2.Island hopping, one by one to get close enough to attack Japan itself US strategy in the Pacific

 Battle of Midway, June 1942  Guadalcanal August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943  New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Tarawa  23 to 26 October 1944, Allies invaded Philippines, three-day Battle of Leyte Gulf, generally considered to be the largest naval battle of WWII, and perhaps in history; objective of allies was to deprive its Japan of vital oil supplies;  Iwo Jima, February 19 – March 26, 1945;  Okinawa; carried out organized kamikaze attacks; Islands

 Reversed the balance of naval power in the Pacific, and put Japanese at a disadvantage for the rest of the war  Japan lost four aircraft carriers, one cruiser, two destroyers  US lost one aircraft carrier and one destroyer  This battle turned the tide of the war toward the US  Japan never recovered its Naval power Midway, June 3-6, 1942

Battle of Midway flight deck of the USS Yorktown

USS Enterprise

Guadalcanal USS Wasp, hit by Japanese torpedo

 Objective: deny the Japanese the use of islands as bases because it threatened supply routes between the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand;  marked the transition by the Allies from defensive operations to the strategic offensive in that theater From defense to offense

Guadalcanal US Marines

US marine, Saipan

Leyte Gulf

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Iwo Jima, 1945  The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. The picture became the iconic image of the battle and has been heavily reproduced.

Iwo Jima

Hiroshima, rare photo taken after the atomic bomb had been dropped