Chapter 31 Section 4
Toward Victory

Setting the Scene
General Douglas MacArthur stood at the dock on
Corregidor in March 1942. A boat waited to evacuate him from the fortified island in the
Philippines. Although the United States Army and
Filipino defense forces had battled to keep the
Japanese out of the island chain, they had not been successful. Thousands of Allied civilian men, women, and children were being held in prison camps throughout the islands, and American and
Filipino soldiers were under attack on the Bataan peninsula. After reaching Australia, MacArthur pledged his determination to free the Philippines with the words "I shall return.”
Allied troops found that the war in Southeast Asia and the Pacific was very different from that in
Europe. Most battles were fought at sea, on tiny islands, or in deep jungles.

I. War in the Pacific
By May 1942, the Japanese controlled much of SE Asia, many Pacific islands, and the
Philippines

I. War in the Pacific
Hundreds of American and Filipino soldiers were killed during the Bataan Death March

I. War in the Pacific
In May and June 1942, the US stopped the
Japanese advance at the battles of the Coral
Sea and Midway Island

I. War in the Pacific
August 1942 - US Marines and Soldiers landed at Guadalcanal and began the "islandhopping" campaign

I. War in the Pacific
By 1944, Admiral Nimitz’s navy was blockading Japan; bombers pounded
Japanese cities and industries

I. War in the Pacific
October 1944 - MacArthur began to retake the
Philippines; the British were winning in the jungles of Burma and Malaya
MacArthur returns to the
Philippines
British in Burma

II. The Nazis Defeated
Allied bombers hammered Germany with roundthe-clock bombing raids
Dresden, Germany

II. The Nazis Defeated
December 1944 - Allied armies advanced into
Belgium; Germany launched a massive counterattack – the Battle of the Bulge

II. The Nazis Defeated
March 1945 - the Allies crossed the Rhine
River into Germany; Soviet troops closed in on Berlin
Crossing the Rhine River near
Worms, Germany
Red Army in Berlin

II. The Nazis Defeated
Late April - American and Soviet soldiers linked up at the Elbe River

II. The Nazis Defeated
As Soviet troops entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. Germany surrendered on
May 7, 1945 – V-E Day
A soldier raises the Soviet flag over the Reichstag in Berlin

III. Defeat of Japan
Most of the Japanese navy and air force had been destroyed, yet the Japanese still had a two- million man army

III. Defeat of Japan
Officials estimated that an invasion of Japan would cost over a million casualties - scientists offered another way to end the war
Provision Order of Battle for Invasion of Japan
(August 1945)

III. Defeat of Japan
July 1945 - Allied scientists successfully tested the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo,
New Mexico
On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb, equivalent to eighteen thousand tons of TNT, was detonated at the Trinity Site

III. Defeat of Japan
President Harry Truman warned the Japanese to surrender or face destruction, but they ignored the deadline
The "Potsdam Declaration" described Japan's present perilous condition and ended with an ultimatum: Japan must immediately agree to unconditionally surrender, or face "prompt and utter destruction".

III. Defeat of Japan
August 6,1945 - the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing more than
70,000 people
Crew of the Enola Gay
Hiroshima after the atomic bomb

III. Defeat of Japan
August 8 th - the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria - Japan still did not surrender

III. Defeat of Japan
August 9 th - the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing more than 40,000 people
Atomic “Mushroom cloud” Aftermath of Nagasaki bombing

III. Defeat of Japan
Emperor Hirohito forced the government to surrender - the peace treaty was signed aboard the battleship Missouri on September
2, 1945

An Ongoing Controversy
Dropping the atomic bomb brought a quick end to the war. It also unleashed terrifying destruction.
Ever since, people have debated whether the
United States should have used the bomb. Why did Truman use the bomb? First, he was convinced that Japan would not surrender without an invasion that would result in an enormous loss of both American and Japanese lives. Truman also may have hoped that the bomb would impress the Soviet Union with American power. At any rate, the Japanese surrendered shortly after the bombs were dropped, and World
War II was ended.