1. WWII: Pacific Theatre

2. Japanese Weapons Nambu pistol was standard firearm
Hand Grenades were common for all soldiers

3. Pacific Theater Locations Hawaii Australia Philippines Pacific Islands
Japan

4. Battles in the Pacific Pearl Harbor Guadalcanal Battle of Midway
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
Hiroshima & Nagasaki

5. Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Japanese sneak attack destroys much of the US fleet.
Japanese airplanes destroyed 19 ships, smashed American planes on the ground, and killed more than 2,400 people.
Direct cause of America’s entry into the war.
“A date which will live in infamy”
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

6. Battle of Midway-Turning point for Americans, from here on out America does not stop advancing towards Japan
Iwo Jima & Okinawa-An important island to “step” closer to Tokyo, very heavy U.S. casualties
Hiroshima & Nagasaki-The 2 Japanese cities who fall victim to the Atomic Bombs in 1945-These bombs end the war

7. War in the Pacific
The goal was to recapture some of the Japanese held islands.
This island hopping campaign was successful moving American forces closer to Japan itself.
The Americans built airbases on conquered islands to help defeat Japan.
By 1944, American ships blockaded Japan, while American airplanes bombed Japanese cities and industries

8. War in the Pacific
A major turning point took place in May and June 1942, when American ships damaged two Japanese fleets at the battle of Coral Sea and Midway Islands
After the Battle of Midway, the United States Marines, under the command of General Douglas McArthur, landed at Guadalcanal.

9. Guadalcanal-Some of the worst fighting of the Pacific as Japan struggles to build a bomber airport on the island while the U.S. attacks, U.S. wins but loses more men and ships

11. Defeat of Japan
After winning the war in Europe, the Allies focused on defeated on defeating Japan. The road to victory would be long and costly.

13. Invasion versus the Bomb
Many Americans estimated that an invasion of Japan would result in one million or more American casualties.
The Japanese would rather die than surrender.
Japanese pilots, known as Kamikaze pilots, would crash their planes loaded with explosives into American warships.

14. Scientists had different plans
Scientists had different plans. Since the early 1900s, scientists were working on creating the atomic bomb.
In July 1945, at Alamogordo, New Mexico, the Allies successfully tested the first atomic bomb.
The decision was made to drop the bomb

15. President Truman issued a warning to Japan at a meeting in Potsdam, Germany.
The warning was surrender of face utter and complete destruction
The Japanese ignored the warning.

16. Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945 an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.
The bomb destroyed 4 square miles and instantly killed more than 70,000 people.
In the months to follow, many more Japanese died from radiation.
After Hiroshima, Truman warned the Japanese again.
He said that if they did not surrender they could expect a “Rain of ruin from the air like had never been seen before.”

19. Nagasaki On August 8th, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.
The Japanese did not respond, so the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on August 9th, the next day, on the city of Nagasaki, killing more than 40,000 people.
Finally on August 10th, Emperor Hirohito agreed to surrender.

21. The End of the War
On September 2, 1945, the formal peace treaty was signed on the American battleship the Missouri.

22. The War had Ended!!!!!

23. An ongoing controversy
The dropping of the atomic bomb brought a quick end to World War II.
However, there is much controversy over whether the United States should have used the bomb or not.

24. Why did Truman use the bomb?
He was convinced that Japan would not surrender without an invasion that would have cost an enormous amount of lives.
Truman wanted to impress the Soviets with American power.

25. War Tactics- Focus is on control of water and islands
America
Island Hopping-the process of controlling one island at a time until you reach Japan
Long distance bombing raids by smaller bombers
Japan
Quick battleships and early control of all islands in the Pacific
Kamikaze raids- suicide pilots who crash into U.S. ships