World War II War in the Pacific Japanese Military FlagJapan’s National Flag

Japan Goes to War Just like Germany & Italy, Japan was unhappy with their situation Lack of raw materials Lack of markets for industries Lack of space for growing population Suffering from Great Depression of 1930’s In 1931 Japan went to war, in 1941 they attacked Pearl Harbor

Fall of the Philippines 1941 – Japan attacks the Philippines* 1/2 of U.S. forces lost during air attack U.S & Philippine troops retreated to Bataan Peninsula - held out 4 months U.S. General Macarthur ordered to leave his army & escape to Australia April 1942 – forces retreated to the island of Corregidor in Manila Bay Lack of food & ammunition - 72K U.S troops surrendered *(The U.S. occupied the Philippines since the Spanish-American War in 1898)

Bataan Death March  Prisoners from Corregidor divided into groups to 1000  Marched 60 miles north to a prison camp  6-12 day march - 10K U.S. soldiers died  News of this did not reach the American public until 1945

The Battle of Midway  Japanese goal – destroy remaining U.S fleet  June 4, fought entirely by air  U.S. planes discovered Japanese fleet of carriers reloading & refueling planes – Japanese were unable to launch an air defense  U.S sunk 3 of the 4 Japanese carriers & destroyed 250 planes  Heavy blow to the Japanese fleet prevented any further offensives in the Pacific

Battle of Guadalcanal  1st land battle btw. Japanese & U.S  August K marines landed  2200 Japanese fled into the jungle  First taste of jungle warfare  U.S faced booby traps, ambushes, snipers  February remaining Japanese escaped undetected

Island Hopping  1943 to 1944 – Two-prong allied advance  MacArthur & Adm. Halsey leapfrogged through Solomon Islands towards Philippines (skipping some islands)  Admiral Nimitz moved west across the Gilbert, Marshall & Marianna Islands  Air bases used to bomb future targets - Guam, Iwo Jima & Okinawa  By the end of 1944, the U.S was bombing Japanese cities.

The Philippine Campaign  Oct. 1944, 160K U.S. troops invaded island of Leyte  Japanese lost 80K troops  Battle for Manila killed 100K Filipino civilians  Allies secured the Philippines, June 1945  Largest naval battle in history unfolded off the coast  280 ships including every warship Japan had left  Navy virtually destroyed  Japanese use Kamikazes (suicide planes)

The Battle of Iwo Jima  Japan occupied the 14 square mile volcanic island with rocky slopes  700 miles from Japan – U.S could begin bombing Japan  25K Japanese, heavily fortified with concrete bunkers, honeycomb network of tunnels  Nov days of aerial & & naval artillery with 110k troops  March marines dead  Only 216 Japanese captured

The Battle of Okinawa  April - June bloodiest battle  350 miles from Japan - Last obstacle for an invasion of Japan  Allies launched attack the size of Normandy  U.S. used 1300 ships & 180K troops vs. 100K Japanese  Japanese used Kamikazes & Banzai tactics  After 3 months - 50K U.S casualties, 7200 prisoners

The Manhattan Project  Albert Einstein contacted FDR & explained possibility of making a nuclear weapon.  Germany was attempting to build one of these new weapons too  FDR created the Manhattan project  1942 Enrico Fermi created 1st controlled nuclear reaction  Fermi’s work was field tested on July 16, 1945 in the desert of New Mexico

Hiroshima, 8 months after

Japan Surrenders  3 options other than the Atom bomb  Land invasion, naval blockade, conventional bombing  Aug. 6, Hiroshima  140K killed instantly, 1000s more from burns & radiation  Aug. 9 – Nagasaki, similar results  Japan surrendered Aug. 14th, 1945

The End