World War II:
The Pacific Theater
Japanese Offensive
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
Japan Invades China
- July 7, 1937: Japanese army attacks N. China
- Conquer Beijing, Nanjing (capital), & most of north China
Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor
December 7, 1941: Japan
attacks U.S. Navy Base at
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
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
Singapore (Malaya) Surrenders
[February, 1942]
The Dutch East Indies Seized
[March, 1942]
The Philippine Islands Invaded
January 1942: Japan
invades Philippines
April 1942: U.S.
troops surrender the
Philippines
Bataan Death March
April 1942: 76,000 prisoners [12,000
Americans] Marched 60 miles in the blazing heat
to POW camps in the Philippines.
Dead Allied troops as
result of the Bataan
Death March
An Australian
Allied soldier
being beheaded!
British POWs
A
Liberated
British
POW
The Japanese Seize Burma
May 1942
The “Burma Road”
seized and supply
line to China cut
off!
Farthest Extent
of Japanese Conquests
Allied Offensive
Douglas MacArthur
Who American General
Why Important Supreme Allied Commander in the PacificTheater
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
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
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)
Japanese Kamikaze Planes:
Japanese Suicide Bombers
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
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
Battle of Leyte Gulf
(October 1944)
Leyte Gulf
What Allied invasion of the Philippine Islands
Outcome MacArthur and Allied forces will return and
retake the islands from the Japanese
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
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
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
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
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!”
President Truman’s Decision
Drop the Atomic Bomb!
Little Boy
Fat Man
The Enola Gay
B-29 bomber which carried and dropped the Atomic Bomb
Hiroshima – August 6, 1945
© 70,000 killed
immediately.
© 48,000 buildings.
destroyed.
© 100,000s died of
radiation poisoning &
cancer later.
But………….
Japan does not surrender…
Nagasaki – August 9, 1945
© 40,000 killed
immediately.
© 60,000 injured.
© 100,000s died of
radiation poisoning
& cancer later.
This time………….
Japan Surrenders
V-J Day September 2, 1945
V-J Day in Times Square, NYC
The War is Over…….
Occupation begins!