World War II
Pacific Theater
Bataan Death March
• Douglas MacArthur stationed with forces in Manila,
Philippines
– Following attack at Pearl Harbor, MacArthur failed to
mobilize forces and Japan eventually drove US forces into
Bataan Peninsula, MacArthur ordered to Australia by FDR
• US forces surrendered to Japan in April, 1942 after months of
fighting in Bataan, forced to march to San Fernando
– Japanese thought surrendering was dishonorable, soldiers
faced death and beatings for food, water, and resting
• 6,000-11,000 die during march to Camp O’Donnell 16,000 more
die in prison
• MacArthur vows to “be back” to Philippines
Doolittle’s Raid
• James Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers to Tokyo,
Japan from USS Hornet
– Morale booster for Allies and avenged Pearl
Harbor attack, but virtually no significant damage
• Showed Japan that they were not out of US reach
– Showed importance of Island Hopping campaign
• Japan realized failure of sinking US carriers at Pearl
Harbor
Battles
• Battle of Coral Sea, May 1942
– After Doolittle Raid, Japanese sought to maintain
defensive barrier around Japan-needed to take
Australia
– Japanese continue Southern Operation into Solomon
Islands to divide Australians from US
• US knew where Japanese were going due to deciphering
Japanese codes, sent aircraft carriers to Coral Sea
– Five day battle marks first ever fought solely from
aircraft carriers and first Japanese loss in WWIIalthough costs US more
Battles
• Battle of Midway, June 1942
– Yamamoto tried to split US forces between North and
South after Coral Sea
• Japanese attack the Aleutian Islands, Alaska
• Admiral Chester Nimitz ignored attack because again the US
knew the Japanese codes
– Protected Midway Island instead because he knew that was the
main target.
– Japanese attacked Midway on June 4, 1942
• Winning until US torpedo bombers knocked out four
Japanese carriers
– Result: US now has more carriers than Japanese
Battles
• Battle of Guadalcanal, August, 1942-February,
1943
– Japanese moved to build an airfield on Guadalcanal
form which to attack Allied shipping/soldiers/Australia
• Americans moved into area due to Magic, the code
deciphering machine
• US took the airfield within one day, driving the Japanese out
would take 7 more months due to Tokyo Express-high speed
Japanese destroyers resupplying troops
– Result: US learned how to fight in the Jungle for
further Island engagements.
Key Figures
• Chester Nimitz- commanding Naval officer of the
Pacific
• Douglas MacArthur- Allied Commander-in-chief
in Pacific
• Navajo Code Talkers- after turning tide in Pacific
following Midway, US began to Island Hop
towards Japan, acquiring key islands until Japan is
reachable by bombers
– Axis could never break Navajo because they did not
know of the language
Battles
• Mariana Islands, June-Aug. 1944
• Saipan, Guam, and Tinian were less than 1,500 miles
from Japan
– Violated inner-ring of Japanese defenses and provided
bases for new B-29 bombers
• Attack began the same day as D-Day, US had perfected
amphibious operations, landing thousands of troops in
minutes
– Japanese were fanatical on interior islands, fighting until
the death of some 32,000 soldiers at Saipan, 18,000 at
Guam, and 9,000 at Tinian
• Japanese citizens committed suicide
Battles
• Battle of Philippines Sea, June 1944
• While fighting for Marianas, Nimitz
intercepted Japanese supply plans
– Ordered Navy fighter plans to intercept the
Japanese and the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,”
was underway
• Americans outnumbered Japanese planes and carriers,
sunk or shot down 400 planes and 3 carriers
– Result: Defeat is inevitable for Japanese but they
won’t surrender
Battles
• Battle of Leyte Gulf, October, 1944
• Largest Naval battle in history, Japanese lost
half of remaining carriers and 100s of planes
– Japanese introduce Kamikaze attacks
– MacArthur cleared to invade Philippines and
rescue his men.
• Battle of the Philippines, Jan-August 1945
– MacArthur driving through the Philippines
capturing Japanese. Japanese panic and kill POWs
Battles
• Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945
• Attacked by Nimitz because:
– Housed radar facility, warning Japanese of US aerial
attacks from Mariana Islands
– Runways there allowed B-29s to and from the
Marianas on way to Japan
– Soft volcanic sand allowed Japanese to dig in and
bunker themselves in tunnels underground
• Invasion was difficult
• Result: battle for 75 days, US suffers many
casualties but Japanese suffer more.
Flag Raising at Iwo Jima
• Joe Rosenthal photographed 5 Marines reraising US flag at Mount Suribachi-two days
after the invasion
– Original flag was taken down and kept as a
souvenir
• Fighting went on for another month, flame
throwing tunnel-to-tunnel
– US only took 500 POWs-all of them were too
injured to kill themselves
Battles
• Okinawa, April-June, 1945
• The largest of the Ryuku Islands, stood 350 miles from
Japan and was defended by 77,000 Japanese soldiers
– Last major battle of WWII began on Easter Sunday 1945,
consisted of largest amphibious assault in Pacific-possibly
WWII
– Japan’s goal: Kill as many US soldiers as possible-no
reinforcements or supplies coming for them
• Many Kamikaze and civilian suicide bombers against US
• Result: US wins because of technology and industrial
might.
Bombing Japan
• B-29 Superfortress had the range to cover 1,500
mile distances between Japan and Marianas
• Consistent success of raids wouldn’t come until
Spring of 1945, after Iwo Jima secured, napalm
invented
• Superfortress were protected by fighters like P-51
Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt
• 100,000s killed due to fire bombing, but Japanese
refused to surrender
The Manhattan Project
• Einstein-Szilard Letter, 1939
– Jewish scientists fled Nazi-Germany due to the
Nuremburg Laws
• Einstein and Szilard wrote letter to FDR, explaining
Germany’s plan for the bomb and its potential power
• FDR compelled to beat the Germans to the bomb
• Manhattan Project, 1942-1946
– General Leslie Groves, US Army Corps of Engineers,
and physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, organized
project that consisted of 600,000 people
– Secret project housed in Manhattan, NY
The Manhattan Project
• Intended to be used against Germans, wasn’t ready
until July, 1945 after it was tested in Alamogordo, New
Mexico
• Used against Japanese for three reasons
– Japan wouldn’t surrender according to Allied terms
– Impending invasion would be too costly
– Truman doesn’t want too much help from USSR
• USS Indianapolis delivers “Little Boy” to Tinian to be
dropped by the Enola Gay at Hiroshima, August 6th,
1945
• On August 9th, 1945, Bockscar drops “Fat Man” on
Nagasaki
Conferences for Peace
• Yalta Conference, February 1945- Stalin,
Churchill, and Truman meet to plan end of
WWII:
– Stalin declared war on Japan after Germany
surrenders-invaded Manchuria in August 1945
– Created the United Nations
– Germany divided into controlled areas
– Democratic governments are freed-USSR broke
agreement
Conferences for Peace
• Potsdam Conference, July 1945- Truman, Stalin,
and Attlee (UK), settled post-war Europe and
Pacific:
– Germany divided
– War Criminals would face tribunals
– Japan given ultimatum to surrender
• Potsdam Declaration:
–
–
–
–
Disarm
Be occupied
Face war crimes
Give up your taken territory during the war
War Trials
• Allies place German and Japanese officers on
trial for war crimes against humanity
– Trials were held in Tokyo and Nuremburg
– Many top officials were executed for their
involvement with the war