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The Pacific War Dates: July 7, 1937 August 14, 1945 Began with the Second Sino Japanese war, between China and Japan Concluded with Japan s surrender to the Allied powers Prelude to War Japan seeks to establish The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere a bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers Invasions of Manchuria and Korea follow Three political forces in Japan: Emperor Hirohito Civilian Government Military branches 2
Japan and China Operating without knowledge of the high command but possibly with knowledge of the Palace, officers of the Japanese Kwangtung Army staged the September 1931 Manchurian Incident by which it claimed the right to exact military retribution against China and established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Subsequent incidents led the Japanese army to invade parts of Northern China. Japan also occupied for a time Shanghai, and following a protest by the League of Nations, Japan withdrew from the League. 1932 3
Prewar Japan had few natural resources in creating an empire it hoped to gain natural resources to feed its industry and war machine such as iron, coal, lead, copper, oil, and rubber 4
ABCD Encirclement Policy This was the "ABCD encirclement" (American British Chinese Dutch) designed to deny Japan of the raw materials needed to continue its war in China. They stopped selling oil and steel to Japan Japan saw this as an act of aggression, as without these resources Japan's military machine would grind to a halt. 1937 C B D A ABCD Encirclement 5
1940 1941 Fleet Admiral Yamamoto The US fleet is a dagger pointed at our throat and must be destroyed. I can run wild for six months,after that, I have no expectation of success. - Yamamoto, during discussions on the planned Pearl Harbour Attack Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto 6
Attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7 1941 In the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor the United States 2,403 Americans were killed including 63 civilians. 19 U.S. Navy ships were destroyed or damaged including 8 battleships. Luckily, the U.S. carriers were not in the harbor at the time of the attack. In addition, 328 U.S. planes were destroyed or damaged. This event brought the U.S. into the war 7
So what did the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill think of the attack? I thought of a remark... that the United States is like a 'gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate.' Being saturated and satiated (filled) with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful. Great Britain would no longer be fighting the Germans and Japanese alone. Now, the US would be fighting on their side. 1941 Dec.7/8 8
Japan launched a surprise attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Initial aerial bombardment was followed by landings of ground troops both north and south of Manila. The defending Philippine and United States troops were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who had been recalled to active duty in the United States Army earlier in the year and was designated commander of the United States Armed Forces in the Asia Pacific region. The aircraft of his command were destroyed; the naval forces were ordered to leave; and because of the circumstances in the Pacific region, reinforcement and resupply of his ground forces were impossible. Under the pressure of superior numbers, the defending forces withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. Manila, declared an open city to prevent its destruction, was occupied by the Japanese on January 2, 1942. April 1942 The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of United States Philippine forces on the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May. Most of the 80,000 prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the infamous "Death March" to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 men, weakened by disease and malnutrition and treated harshly by their captors, died before reaching their destination. Quezon and Osmeña had accompanied the troops to Corregidor and later left for the United States, where they set up a government in exile. MacArthur was ordered to Australia, where he started to plan for a return to the Philippines. 9
Battle of Coral Sea May 7, 1942 Strategic Allied victory halted the Japanese advance on Australia First naval battle carried out entirely by aircraft. The enemy ships never even came into contact with each other 10
The Battle Of Midway June 4-7 1942 6 months after Pearl Harbour Yamamoto seeks to capture Midway atoll and thus confront and destroy the US Navy s carrier forces. Midway Order of Battle US forces: 3 carriers ~50 support ships 233 carrier aircraft 127 land-based aircraft Japanese forces: 4 carriers 7 battleships ~150 support ships 248 carrier aircraft 16 floatplanes 11
The first major carrier vs. carrier engagement Decided by cryptanalysis, tactics, radar, pilot skill, weather, and luck. 12
The Battle of Midway Scouts from the US fleet find the Japanese Fleet first A delayed scout means the Japanese fleet receives a warning of US carriers only minutes before the first US planes attack After losing many planes in ineffective strikes, US dive bombers manage to set three Japanese carriers on fire. A Japanese counterstrike does heavy damage to one US carrier Japanese battleships never see combat The Battle of Midway US forces: 3 carriers, 1 lost ~50 support ships, 1 destroyer lost 360 aircraft, 98 lost 307 dead Japanese forces: 4 carriers, 4 lost 7 battleships, 0 lost ~150 support ships, 1 cruiser lost 264 aircraft, 228 lost 3058 dead 13
Why was Midway such a critical victory? This battle was considered to be the turning point in the war in the Pacific. First, the fact that the U.S. Navy lost just one carrier at Midway meant that four carriers (Enterprise, Hornet, Saratoga, and Wasp) were available when the U.S. Navy went on the offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign that began the first week of August 1942. Second, the march of the Imperial Japanese Navy across the Pacific was halted at Midway and never restarted. After Midway, the Japanese would react to the Americans, and not the other way around. 14
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Guadalcanal 8/42 2/43 Who: US vs. Japan Where: Island near Australia one of Solomon Islands What: One of the most vicious campaigns It marked the beginning on the American Island hopping campaign to retake the Pacific Japanese put up a fierce resistance US has superior air and naval power Results: First time US land troops defeat Japanese Americans are able to secure the island 16
KAMIKAZE PILOTS ATTACK ALLIES In the Battle for the Philippines, 424 Kamikaze pilots sank 16 ships and damaged 80 more The Americans continued leapfrogging across the Pacific toward Japan Japanese countered by employing a new tactic Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks Pilots in small bomb laden planes would crash into Allied ships 17
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The Final Year The US retakes the Philippines in a long and costly campaign. Borneo, Iwo Jima, and the Okinawa fall, with heavy losses on both sides. The military leadership of Japan refuses to give up, in spite of the loss of the bulk of their forces and issues an edict ordering civilians on the main Japanese islands to construct bamboo spears and meet the invaders on the beaches. US Bombers produce a firestorm in Tokyo, killing 100,000 people in two days. The US, Britain, and China issue the Potsdam Declaration, demanding Japan s surrender. Iwo Jima February19, 1945 March 16,1945 Iwo Jima, which means sulfur island is about 660 miles south of Japan and approximately 8 square miles. Approximately 70,000 U.S. troops and 22,000 Japanese troops took part in the fighting Japanese defenders were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic soil. The battle was won inch-by-inch. In the almost one month of fighting more than 20,000 Japanese troops and 6,000 U.S. Marines were killed and an additional 20,000 U.S. Marines were wounded. This battle was the bloodiest in Marine Corps history 19
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Why Iwo Jima? Iwo Jima was strategically important as an air base for fighter escorts supporting the long range bombing missions against mainland Japan. Because of its distance between mainland Japan and U.S. bases in the Mariana Islands, the capture of Iwo Jima was necessary to provide an emergency landing strip for crippled B 29s returning from bombing runs. The seizure of Iwo Jima would allow for sea and air blockades and would provide the ability to conduct intensive air bombardment and to destroy the enemy s air and navel capabilities 21
The seizure of the island prepared the way for the last major battle in the Pacific Theater: the invasion of Okinawa The prime reason for taking Iwo Jima was the requirement for an emergency landing strip for the two planes that would deliver the atomic bomb. The thought of loosing these multi Million dollar weapons at sea weighted heavy on the minds of the war planners Strategic Bombing B-29 Superfortress bombers 22
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Okinawa The Battle of Okinawa was codenamed Operation Iceberg. The Ryukyu Island of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War The battle lasted for 82 days from early April to mid-june 1945. Okinawa is only 340 miles from mainland Japan The U.S. had 138, 000 troops in the initial assault force. During the battle they suffered 12,000 killed and more than 38,000 wounded Japan had 120,000 troops including 40,000 Okinawan conscripts. In the battle 110,000 were killed and 7,000 captured. 40,000 to 150,000 civilians were killed 24
INVADE JAPAN? After Okinawa, MacArthur predicted that a Normandy type amphibious invasion of Japan would result in 1,500,000 Allied deaths President Truman saw only one way to avoid an invasion of Japan... Okinawa The loss of life at Iwo Jima and Okinawa convinced Allied leaders that an invasion of Japan was not the best idea 25
ATOMIC BOMB DEVELOPED Japan had a huge army that would defend every inch of the Japanese mainland So Truman decided to use a powerful new weapon developed by scientists working on the Manhattan Project the Atomic Bomb U.S. DROPS TWO ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN Truman warned Japan in late July 1945 that without a immediate Japanese surrender, it faced prompt and utter destruction On August 6 (Hiroshima) and August 9 (Nagasaki) a B 29 bomber dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan The plane and crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan 26
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Hiroshima - 90,000 to 100,000 persons were killed immediately - 145,000 persons perish from the bombing by the end of 1945. Nagasaki Leveled Area: 6.7 million square meters Damaged Houses: 18,409 Casualties Killed------73,884 Injured-----74,909 Total------148,793 (Large numbers of people died in the following years from the effects of radioactive poisoning.) Nuclear Strikes Aug 6, 1945. Uranium bomb Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima, killing 140,000 Aug 9, 1945. Plutonium bomb Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki, killing 74,000 28
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Japan Surrenders Representatives of Japan s Foreign Ministry, Army and Navy appear to sign the surrender aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay 30
The Cost 2,000,000 Japanese Soldiers dead 300,000 Allied Soldiers dead 600,000-1,000,000 Japanese civilians dead 11,000 American civilians dead 60,000 Korean civilians dead Mass devastation of Japanese infrastructure Indigenous people of north and western Pacific islands devastated by disease, cultural contamination, collateral damage, and atrocities. The list continues In February 1945, as the Allies pushed toward victory in Europe, an ailing FDR met with Churchill and Stalin at the Black Sea resort of Yalta in the USSR A series of compromises were worked out concerning postwar Europe THE YALTA CONFERENCE (L to R) Churchill, FDR and Stalin at Yalta 31
YALTA AGREEMENTS 1) They agreed to divide Germany into 4 occupied zones after the war 2) Stalin agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe 3) Stalin agreed to help the U.S. in the war against Japan and to join the United Nations NUREMBERG WAR TRIALS Herman Goering, Hitler's right-hand man and chief architect of the German war effort, testifies at his trial. He was found guilty of war crimes but avoided execution by swallowing potassium cyanide. The discovery of Hitler s death camps led the Allies to put 24 surviving Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against humanity, crimes against the peace, and war crimes The trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany I was only following orders was not an acceptable defense as 12 of the 24 were sentenced to death and the others to life in prison 32
THE OCCUPATION OF JAPAN Japan was occupied by U.S. forces under the command of General MacArthur During the seven year occupation, MacArthur reshaped Japan s economy by introducing free market practices that led to a remarkable economic recovery Additionally, he introduced a liberal constitution that to this day is called the MacArthur Constitution SECTION 4: THE HOME FRONT The war provided a lift to the U.S. economy Jobs were abundant and despite rationing and shortages, people had money to spend By the end of the war, America was the world s dominant economic and military power 33
ECONOMIC GAINS Unemployment fell to only 1.2% by 1944 and wages rose 35% Farmers too benefited as production doubled and income tripled WOMEN MAKE GAINS Women enjoyed economic gains during the war, although many lost their jobs after the war Over 6 million women entered the work force for the first time Over 1/3 were in the defense industry 34
POPULATION SHIFTS The war triggered the greatest mass migration in American history More than a million newcomers poured into California between 1941-1944 African Americans again shifted from south to north GI BILL HELPS RETURNING VETS To help returning servicemen ease back into civilian life, Congress passed the Servicemen s Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights) The act provided education for 7.8 million vets 35
INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE AMERICANS When the war began, 120,000 Japanese Americans lived in the U.S. mostly on the West Coast After Pearl Harbor, many people were suspicious of possible spy activity by Japanese Americans In 1942, FDR ordered Japanese Americans into 10 relocation centers Japanese Americans felt the sting of discrimination during WWII Location of the 10 Internment camps 36
Jerome camp in Arkansas U.S. PAYS REPARATIONS TO JAPANESE Today the U.S. is home to more than 1,000,000 Japanese- Americans In the late 1980s, President Reagan signed into law a bill that provided $20,000 to every Japanese American sent to a relocation camp The checks were sent out in 1990 along with a note from President Bush saying, We can never fully right the wrongs of the past... we now recognize that serious wrongs were done to Japanese Americans during WWII. 37
Nearly 59 years after the end of World War II, the National World War II Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 29, 2004 to honor the 408,680 Americans who died in the conflict 38