World War II The Pacific Theater 1. Between which what dates did the Pacific War take place? 2. What event between Japan and China did it begin with? 3. What does it end with? 4. What was the Great East Co-Prosperity Sphere it hoped to create? 5. What countries did it invade to do this? 6. What three political forces were there in Japan? 7. What did the officers of the Kwangtung Army do in September 1931? 8. Did they have authorization to do this? 9. What did they establish in Manchuria? 10. What was the result of subsequent incidents? 11. How did Japan react to protest by the League of Nations? 12. Looking at the Prewar Map what natural resources were available in the area around Japan? 13. What was the ABCD Encirclement Policy and what was it intended to do? 14. What did Japan see this as? 15. What did Yamamoto say he could do for six months? 16. Did he think he can win? 1
17. Since he had misgivings about war with America, what did Yamamoto insist on? 18. How many sailors died on the USS Arizona? 19. Why was it important that the American Carriers were not in Pearl Harbor? 20. How many American were killed in the Pearl Harbor Attack? 21. What is the significances of the Pearl Harbor attack? 22. How did Churchill feel about the attack on America? 23. Where did Japan launch a surprise attack on December 8, 1941? 24. Who was in command of the Americans in the Philippines? 25. Under pressure of the Japanese were did the defending force withdraw to? 26. What happened in April 1942? 27. How many of the 80,000 prisoners died on the Death March? 28. Where was MacArthur ordered to go? 29. Why is the Battle of Coral Sea an important event? 30. Did the Naval ships confront each other directly? 31. What did Yamamoto hope to do at Midway? 32. How many carriers did each side have? 33. How many land based airplanes did the US have in the battle? 2
34. What was Midway the first of? 35. What factors helped determine the battle? 36. Who was the first to spot their enemy? 37. How many carriers did the US manage to set on fire? 38. Did the US escape without any damage? 39. How many carriers did each side loose? 40. What war the American strategy in the Pacific? 41. What was it like fighting in the Pacific? Provide multiple examples 42. What did the Battle of Guadalcanal mark the beginning of? 43. What did it mark the first time US troops were able to do? 44. What new tactic did the Japanese use to combat the American Island Hopping strategy and inflict huge damage on allied ships? 45. What islands did the Americans take? 46. What edict did the Japanese government issue to citizens? 47. How many Japanese were killed in the firestorms created by the US bombing of Tokyo? 48. What did the Potsdam Declaration issued by the US, Britain, and China demand? 49. When did the Battle of Iwo Jima take place? 3
50. What does Iwo Jima mean? 51. Approximately how many Americans and Japanese took part in the battle? 52. How many Japanese and American Marines were killed? 53. How many marines were wounded? 54. In Marine Corps history what is this considered to be? 55. What happened to the people that raise the flag over Mount Suribachi? 56. Why was Iwo Jima strategically important? 57. What was the capture of Iwo Jima important for crippled B29 returning from bombing runs? 58. What would the seizure of Iwo Jima allow for? 59. What did the island prepare the way for? 60. Why was Iwo Jima important to the Atomic Bomb program? 61. What was the code name of the Battle of Okinawa? 62. How long did the battle last for? 63. How many Americans were involved in the initial assault? 64. How many Americans were killed in the battle and how many were wounded? 65. How many Japanese troops and Okinawans were involved in the battle? 66. How many of them died? 4
67. How many civilians were killed? 68. How many Americans were expected to be killed in the invasion of Japan? 69. What did President Truman decide to use against the Japanese? 70. What did Truman warn the Japanese in late July 1945? 71. Why do you think Truman had to explain the atomic bomb to the Americans? 72. How people were killed immediately by the Hiroshima bombing? 73. How many perished by the end of the 1945? 74. How many were killed in the Nagasaki bombing? 75. On what ship did the Japanese formally surrender? 76. In the war how many Japanese soldiers died? 77. How many allied soldiers died? 78. How many Japanese civilians died? 79. How did this war affect the indigenous people of north and western pacific islands? 80. What happened in February 1945? 81. What things did the Allies agree on at the Yalta Conference? 82. How many of the Nazis at the Nuremburg trials were sentenced to death? 83. Who was in charge of the occupation of Japan? 5
84. In the seven years of occupation what was MacArthur able to do? 85. What did he introduce? 86. What did the War do for the American economy? 87. By the end of the war what was the America? 88. How did the war effect unemployment? 89. During the war how many women entered the work force? 90. How many newcomers came to California? 91. Where did the Africans Americans shift from? 92. What did the Servicemen s Readjustment Act (GI Bill of Rights) do? 93. When the war began how many Japanese Americans lived in the United States? 94. In 1942 where did FDR order Japanese Americans to go? 95. In the late 1980s what did President Reagan sign a law to provide? 96. What happened in 1990? 97. When was the National World War II Memorial dedicated? 98. How many Americans died in the war? 6