America Enters the War

Why it Matters In early December 1941, the U.S. had engaged in war-like activity but had yet to commit itself This would quickly change, and once again, U.S. involvement in the war would decide the struggle’s conclusion

Japan Attacks the United States The United States and Japan were WWI allies Prior to 1941- Conflict over power in Asia and the Pacific Japan resented U.S. presence in Guam and the Philippines and the U.S. support of China BUT Japan relied on trade with the U.S.

Trouble in the Pacific Roosevelt tried to stop Japanese expansion into Indo-China by placing an embargo on supplies to Japan such as oil, iron ore, fuel, steel, and rubber Japan signed the tripartite Pact in 1940 and the U.S. placed a more extensive embargo 1941- Hideki Tojo became Prime Minister- focused on military expansion

The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor- site of the United States Navy’s main Pacific base In an attempt to eradicate the U.S. naval and air presence in the Pacific, Tojo sent… 6 aircraft carriers 360 airplanes Battleships and cruisers Submarines In a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor On December 7, 1941

Results of the Attack Americans lost nearly 2,500 people and a significant amount of damaged battleships and aircraft The U.S. battleship fleet was out of commission for 6 months This allowed Japan to get necessary materials from their newly conquered territories

Results of the Attack Despite heavy losses, the most important ships, aircraft carriers, were out at sea at the time and survived the attack untouched Only 3 of the battleships left in Pearl Harbor were unusable Vice Admiral Nagumo proved too conservative Canceled a 3rd wave of bombers Refused to seek out aircraft carriers And turned back home when he feared a U.S. counter strike

America Declares War As news of Pearl Harbor spread across the nation Americans rallied together and anticipated a monumental change The attack ended any political divisions between isolationists and interventionists The U.S. declared war on Japan Japan, Italy, and Germany declared war on the U.S.

Mobilizing for war During the course of the war, more than 16 million Americans served in the military Americans from all ethnic and racial backgrounds joined the fight Mexican and Native Americans served in integrated units, African Americans did not

Mobilizing for War Women’s Army Corps (WAC)- provided clerical workers, truck drivers, instructors, and lab technicians for the U.S. army Women also joined the Army Nurse Corps and cared for the wounded in Europe and Japan

Mobilizing Industry Roosevelt knew that American production would play a key role in an Allied victory War Production Board- oversaw the conversion from peacetime production to wartime production The massive defense spending finally ended the Great Depression There was job for every worker This production gave the allies a crucial advantage Stalin toasted, “To American production, without which the war would have been lost.”

Japanese Forces take the Philippines General Douglas MacArthur-commander in the Pacific-struggled to hold the U.S. positions in the Philippines A massive land attack forced the U.S. back from Manila to Bataan MacArthur retreated to Australia while other Americans stayed behind

Japanese Forces take the Philippines The Allied soldiers held out until May 1942 when they surrendered The Japanese troops forced the remaining sick and malnourished POWs to march 55 miles to the Bataan Peninsula More than 7,000 Americans and Filipinos died on what became known as the Bataan Death March

Bataan Death March Map

Lifting American Morale Colonel James Doolittle led a bombing raid against Tokyo as a way for the U.S. to retaliate against Japan Minimal military gains, but bolstered American morale Battle of Coral Sea- marked a shift in momentum for the U.S. Forced Japan to call off attack in New Guinea