1. World War II:
The Pacific Theater

2. Japanese Offensive

3. Japan seizes Manchuria
September 1931: Japanese army seizes Manchuria, China
League of Nations condemns the aggression (cannot enforce)
Result: Japan withdraws from League of Nations

4. Japan Invades China July 7, 1937: Japanese army attacks N. China
Conquer Beijing, Nanjing (capital), & most of north China

6. Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor

7. December 7, 1941: Japan attacks U.S. Navy Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

8. Tide of Japanese Victories
After bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan attacks and seizes more in 1941…………………
Guam, Marianas, Wake Island, Gilbert Islands, Samoan Islands, and
Caroline Islands

9. Singapore (Malaya) Surrenders [February, 1942]
The Dutch East Indies Seized [March, 1942]

10. The Philippine Islands Invaded
January 1942: Japan invades Philippines
April 1942: U.S. troops surrender the Philippines
“One day I shall
return again”
Closing Remarks after leaving the Philippines,
Douglas MacArthur

11. Bataan Death March
April 1942: 76,000 prisoners [12,000 Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat to POW camps in the Philippines.

12. An Australian Allied soldier being beheaded!
Dead Allied troops as result of the Bataan Death March
An Australian Allied soldier being beheaded!

13. A Liberated British POW
British POWs
A Liberated British POW

14. The Japanese Seize Burma
May 1942
The “Burma Road” seized and supply line to China cut off!

15. Farthest Extent of Japanese Conquests

16. Allied Offensive

17. Douglas MacArthur Who American General
Why Important Supreme Allied Commander in the PacificTheater

18. Allied Strategy in Pacific Theater
What  “Island-Hopping” (drive Japan off islands they have
conquered through a series of amphibious invasions)
Goal  Get close to Japan…Bomb Japan…Invade Japan

19. Battle of the Coral Sea (May 7-8, 1942)
What Japanese attempting to invade Australia; Naval & Air Battle
Outcome Allies stop Japanese invasion attack on Australia

20. Battle of Midway Island: (June 4-6, 1942)
What Japanese advancing across the Pacific; Air & Naval Battle
Outcome Allies stop Japanese advance; No further advances will
be made by Japanese (Turning Point of Pacific)

21. Japanese Kamikaze Planes:
Japanese Suicide Bombers

22. Battle of Guadalcanal: (August 1942 to February 1943)
What 1st Allied land invasion of Japanese held territory
Outcome 1st piece of territory Allies will take back from Japan

23. Battle of Saipan (June-July 1944)
What Allied invasion of Marianas Islands
Outcome Costly Allied victory; Allies now have an island close
enough to Japan to begin bombing raids on Japan

24. Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944)
What Allied invasion of the Philippine Islands
Outcome MacArthur and Allied forces will return and
retake the islands from the Japanese

25. Bombing of Tokyo (March-August 1945)
What Allies begin aerial bombing raids on Tokyo
(including using B-29 bombers, napalm-filled bombs)
Outcome Mainland Japan suffers devastation & casualties

26. Battle of Iwo Jima February 1945
U.S. Marines on
Mt. Surbachi
What Allies attack on Japanese territory within 660 mi. of Japan
Outcome Allies are almost close enough to launch an invasion
of Japan from

27. Battle of Okinawa (April-June 1945)
What Allied attack on Japanese territory within 330 mi. of Japan
Outcome Costliest battle of war for U.S.; Allies now control an
island to stage an invasion of Japan from

28. Options to End the War Option 1: Land Invasion
Pros: - less civilian loss of life
Cons: - massive amount of Allied casualties
- war will take longer to end
- requires largest invasion force ever
Option 2: Drop the Atomic Bomb
Pros: - less American casualties
- quicker end to the war
Cons:- catastrophic loss of civilian life

29. The Manhattan Project Los Alamos, New Mexico
Top Secret project to create an “atomic bomb” begun in 1939
Major General Lesley R. Groves
(General in charge)
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer
(lead scientist)
“I am become death, the shatterer of worlds!”

30. President Truman’s Decision

31. Drop the Atomic Bomb!
Little Boy
Fat Man

32. The Enola Gay
B-29 bomber which carried and dropped the Atomic Bomb

33. Hiroshima – August 6, 1945 70,000 killed immediately.
48,000 buildings. destroyed.
100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.
But………….

34. Japan does not surrender…

35. Nagasaki – August 9, 1945 This time…………. 40,000 killed immediately.
60,000 injured.
100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.
This time………….

36. Japan Surrenders

37. V-J Day September 2, 1945

38. V-J Day in Times Square, NYC

39. The War is Over…….
Occupation begins!