Allies Stem Japanese Tide
• Priority was to defeat
Nazis, but US did not
wait to move against
Japan
• US submarines still
existing
• US aircraft carriers
were at sea during
attack on Pearl
Harbor
Japanese Advances
• 1st 6 months after
Pearl Harborconquered empire
that dwarfed Hitler’s
• Conquered most of
South Pacific-as far
west as Aleutians-part
of Alaska
Japanese Advances
• Philippines-80,000
Americans
commanded by
General Douglas
MacArthur-held out
against 200,000
Japanese for 4
months
Japanese Advances
• 14,000 killed, another
48,000 wounded
• MacArthur eventually had
to abandon Philippines- “I
shall return”
• Japanese military dazzled
by their success
• Now had 150 million new
subjects spread over 1/7th
of the globe
US Retaliation
• 4/18/42-16 bombers
led by James Doolittle
take off of USS
Hornet
• Bombed Tokyo
military targets
• Boosted American
morale, caused
concern among the
Japanese
US Retaliation
• May 1942- US and
Australian forces
intercept Japanese
fleet targeting
Australia-Battle of the
Coral Sea
• New Warfare-all
fighting done with
carrier-based planesopposing ships never
saw each other
US Retaliation
• Allies lost more ships
than Japanese
• Japanese fleet too
short of fuel to
continue to Australia1st time Japanese had
been stopped
• Moral victory for the
US
Battle of Midway
• June 1942- Chester
Nimitz-commander of
American forces in
Pacific- learned
Japanese invasion
force heading for
Midway then on to
Pearl Harbor
• 110 Japanese ships
– Largest assemblage of
naval power in history
Battle of Midway
• US outnumbered 4 to
1-prepared a surprise
for Japanese at
Midway
• Americans ordered to
inflict maximum
damage on the
enemy
Battle of Midway
• Japanese lose 4
aircraft carriers, a
cruiser, 322 planes
• Americans avenged
Pearl Harbor
Island Hopping
• Lots of distance
between island on in
the Pacific
• Japanese troops dug
in on hundreds of
islands
• Taking each island
would be long and
costly
Island Hopping
• Americans
“leapfrogged”
Japanese strongholds
• Seized less-fortified
islands, built airfields,
used airpower to cut
Japanese supply lines
• Starved out Japanese
strong points
Island Hopping
• 1st land offensive of
Japanese warGuadalcanal in
Solomon Islands
• 19,000 marines
• 6 months laterJapanese leave
• 1st Japanese defeat
on land
Island Hopping
• October 1944178,000 Allied troops
& 738 ships converge
on Leyte Island in the
Philippines
• Japanese throw entire
fleet into the battle
• Japanese introduce
kamikaze-suicide
plane
Island Hopping
• In the Philippines424 kamikazes-sunk
16 US ships and
damaged another 80
• Leyte Gulf a disaster
for Japan
–
–
–
–
Lost 3 battleships
4 aircraft carriers
13 cruisers
400 planes
Island Hopping
• Americans next
turned to Iwo Jima
• US could use this a s
abase to attack Japan
• Most heavily
defended spot on
earth
• 20,700 Japanese dug
into Iwo Jima
– 6,000 marines died
taking Iwo Jima
Island Hopping
• 200 Japanese
survived
• Last obstacle was
Okinawa
By the way…
• April 12, 1945-FDR dies
• Harry Truman becomes president
Okinawa
• Japan’s last defensive
outpost
• Unleashed 1,900
kamikazes
• Sunk 30 allied ships
• Killed 5,000 US
sailors
Okinawa
• Fighting ends June 22,
1945
• More than 7,600
Americans died
• 110,000 Japanese die
• If Okinawa was defended
this fiercely, what would
an invasion of Japan be
like?
• Churchill predicted
1million American lives
and 500,000 British
Manhattan Project
• Manhattan Projectproject to develop the
atomic bomb
• Most ambitious scientific
project in history
• Best kept secret of he
war
• More than 600,000
Americans were involved
in the project-few actually
knew the purpose
Manhattan Project
• Work on atomic bomb
began in 1942
• Group of scientists
under direction of J.
Robert Oppenheimer
worked in a secret
laboratory to build the
actual bomb
Manhattan Project
• Many concerns
surrounding atomic
bomb
– Would it even work?
– If it did, would it be
very strong?
– Would it set fire to the
atmosphere?
– Would it destroy the
earth?
Manhattan Project
• July 16, 1945-1st
atomic bomb
detonated in New
Mexico
• Blinding flash visible
from 180 miles away
• Bomb more powerful
than anticipated
To Bomb or not to Bomb
• Many scientists said it
would be immoral to drop
the bomb without fair
warning
• Others wanted to give the
Japanese a
demonstration of the
bomb
• Problems with a test
explosion:
– Nothing less than dropping
a bomb on a city would
convince Japanese to
surrender
– The test might be a dud
– Japanese might shoot
down delivery plan
– May move American
prisoners to the test area
To Bomb or not to Bomb
• Decision was made to
drop the bomb without
warning
• Why?
– Save American lives
– Weapon needed to be
used to justify cost of
building it
– Give Americans advantage
over the Soviet Union in
shaping the post war world
To Bomb or not to Bomb
• US warns Japan that
it faced “prompt and
utter destruction”
unless it surrendered
• Japan refused
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• August 6, 1945
– Enola Gay released
atomic bomb code
named Little Boy over
Hiroshima
• an important Japanese
military center
• 43 seconds later, the
city collapsed to dust
• Japanese leaders still
hesitated to surrender
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• August 9, 1945- a
second atomic bombFat Man- was
dropped on Nagasaki
• Leveled half the city
• By the end of 1945200,000 people had
died due to the atomic
bombs
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• September 2, 1945Japanese formally
surrender on board
the USS Missouri
Preparing for Peace
• Yalta ConferenceFebruary 1945
• Attended by FDR,
Stalin and Churchill
• Created the United
Nations-and
international
peacekeeping body
Preparing for Peace
• Also at Yalta-Stalin
promises to enter the
war against Japan
• In exchange for:
– Kuril and Sakhlin
Islands
• Stalin also promised
to allow free elections
in Poland and other
Soviet occupied
nations
Preparing for Peace
• July 1945- Potsdam
Conferendce
• Attended by Truman,
Stalin, and Atlee (new
British PM)
• Created plan to
disarm Germany &
eliminate Nazis
Nuremberg Trials
• 22 Nazi officers and
govmt. Officials put
on trial
• 12 sentenced to
death
• For the 1st time in
history, a nation’s
leaders had been
legally held
responsible for their
actions during war
Occupation of Japan
• Occupied by US
forces
• Under command of
Douglas MacArthur
• Tojo arrested and
sentenced to death
• More than 1,100
Japanese put on trial
Occupation of Japan
• Occupation lasted 6
years
• MacArthur installed a
democratic
government
• Japanese constitution
still known as the
Macarthur
Constitution