1. April 22, 2015 Wednesday LT: I will analyze primary sources and use discussion to understand the historical background to US involvement in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

2. Warm-up What do you know about World War II?

3. Warm-up, Part II Draw and label a triangle map of the world, include the oceans and continents.

4. Europe 1937-39 Germany, led by Hitler, kept invading more countries. France and Britain tried to appease Hitler by giving land. Diplomacy was Failing –Sept 1940: Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact (Axis Powers)

5. U.S. Neutrality Biased? –1940: WWI destroyers given to Britain –1941: Lend-Lease Act --> U.S. became the “Arsenal of Democracy” –1941: U.S. attempted to stop Japan’s invasion of China Sent ultimatum (warning) Issued a scrap metal and oil embargo

6. The European Theater –By Aug. 1941: Indo-China fell to Japan U.S. began a full trade embargo against Japan Japan responded by: –Sending a negotiator to Washington D.C. –Preparing for an attack on the U.S. (decoded message)

7. Imperial Japan Japan saw the US and others as a threat to its influence in Asia and in 1940 the Japanese began developing plans to destroy the US Navy in Hawaii On Dec 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor In May 1940, the main part of the US fleet was transferred to Pearl Harbor from the west coast

8. Pearl Harbor Dec 7, 1941 –“a date which will live in infamy” Americans taken completely by surprise The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities

9. Tactical Damage Eight battleships were damaged, with five sunk Three light cruisers, three destroyers, three smaller vessels, and 188 aircraft were destroyed 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed 1,178 wounded –1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona were killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions.

10. Broader Results In spite of the tactical success, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an operational and strategic failure for the Japanese –The attack failed to destroy the American aircraft carriers, fleet repair facilities, or fuel reserves –The “sneak attack” created American support for entry into the war

11. Plan to Invade Japan US planned to invade Japan with eleven Army and Marine divisions (650,000 troops) Casualty estimates for the operation were as high as 1,400,000 Truman decided to use the atomic bomb to avoid such losses Operation Cornet, the plan to take Tokyo

12. The Atomic Bomb In the early 1940s, America had started an atomic weapons development program code named the “Manhattan Project” A successful test was conducted at Alamogordo in New Mexico in July 1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves at the Trinity Site soon after the test

13. Hiroshima and Nagasaki Hiroshima Aug 6, 1945 –90,000 killed On Aug 8, the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria the next day Nagasaki Aug 9, 1945 –35,000 killed Okinawa had been much more costly than Hiroshima and Nagasaki Captain Paul Tibbets piloted the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima

14. Hiroshima, vicinity of ground zero

15. Surrender Japan surrenders Sept 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri

16. Discuss in your groups What caused World War II? Why was the U.S. successful in the Pacific? Do you think it was necessary for the United States to drop the atomic bombs on Japan? Explain your position.

17. Exit Ticket What effects do you think events in the Pacific had on Washington State?