Chapter 18, Section 4 and 5

The War in the Pacific

The Social Impact of the War

The Japanese Advance 1941 - 42

December 7 – Pearl Harbor.

December 8 – Wake Island

December 10 – Guam December 7 – March

1942 – Philippines. Hitting any US target

Japanese Advance 1942

Japan hoped the US would withdraw and leave the easy access to the natural resources of southeast Asia.

Japanese Advance

March, 1942 – English holdings of Singapore and Hong Kong seized.

Dutch lost East Indies, Malaya, and Burma.

Allied Generals of the Pacific

General Douglas MacArthur

“I shall return.” “Old soldiers never

die, they just fade away.”

1880 – 1964 Soldier life

The Philippines Fall

March 1942 General MacArthur withdrew his and Philippine troops to Bataan to try to defend themselves and hope for a Navy rescue.

The Philippines Fall

March 1942 – MacArthur gets out

April 1942 facing starvation and more attacks – US / Philippine defenders surrender – EXCEPT

The Philippines fall

The Battle of Corregidor– 2000 US soldiers and

nurses withdrew to a fort and survived another month before surrendering.

The Philippines Fall: The Bataan Death March

76,000 Filipinos and Americans taken prisoner.

Forced march of weak, sick prisoners through jungle heat.– 60 miles in 10 – 12

days.

The Bataan Death March

Prisoners denied water, rest.

Beaten, tortured and executed along the way.

10,000 died. 15,000 died in POW

camps

The Geneva Convention: Treatment of prisoners in war

1929: Prisoners of war shall at all times be humanely treated and protected, particularly against acts of violence.– Japan forgot that!

The War at Sea

Remember what three ships weren’t at Pearl Harbor???– Aircraft Carriers

• Saratoga

• Lexington

• Enterprise

War at Sea: Aircraft Carriers

April 1942 – Doolittle’s Raid on Tokyo.OBJECTIVE: Psychological victory

May 1942 – Battle of Coral Sea.OBJECTIVE: Stop the Japanese from invading Australia

Battle of Coral Sea

5-day battle US lost the Lexington and

badly damaged the Yorktown.

Lost half our planes About the same losses for

the Japanese. Ended in a draw – but the

Japanese didn’t invade Australia.                                                                                       

Importance of the Battle of Coral Sea

It was carried out entirely by aircraft.

The enemy ships never even saw one another.

Allied Victories Turn the Tide

Battle of Midway Battle of Guadacanal

Battle of Midway

Yamamoto wanted to try to lure the Americans to Midway Island to destroy what was left of the fleet.

Battle of Midway

June 1942 Battle fought entirely

in the air – like Coral Sea.

Disabled the Yorktown – then sunk by a Japanese sub.

Japan lost 4 carriers and 250 planes

Battle of Guadacanal

After Midway the Allies were on the offensive.

Jungle warfare – Snipers– Booby-traps

11,000 marines v. 2,200 Japanese.

5 month battle

Allied Policy: Island-Hopping

General MacArthur, Admiral William Halsey, Admiral Nimitz

By 1944, Allies able to use B-29 bombers to drop bombs over Japanese cities.

The Philippines Campaign

Battle of Leyte was the start in 1944.

Hard fought battle– 160,000 Americans

– 80,000 Japanese

– Only 1,000 Japanese taken prisoner.

– First time KAMIKAZES used

The Philippines Campaign

100,000 Filipino civilians were killed.

Not until June 1945 was the Philippines under US control.– ONE exception

• 1974

Iwo Jima

The closer to Japan the more bloody the battles.

74 days American bombers hit Japanese fortifications.

110,000 American troops v. 25,000 Japanese

Iwo Jima

Three days of combat and US forces had only taken 700 yeards of ground.

Battle went for a month.

Only 216 Japanese prisoners taken.

Iwo Jima

25,000 Americans died at Iwo Jima

27 Medals of Honor were awarded for “uncommon valor”

Battle of Okinawa

The last obstacle before invading Japan.

April – June 1945. 100,000 Japanese pledged

to fight to the death.– 2,000 kamikaze attacks

against American ships.

– Countless Banzai charges.

Battle of Okinawa

Only 7,200 Japanese surrendered.

50,000 Americans killed.– Costliest battle of the

war.

The Manhattan Project

What would happen when the US went to invade Japan itself????

The Manhattan Project

1939: Albert Einstein wrote FDR suggested creating an atomic bomb.

Project named “Manhattan Project”

The Manhattan Project

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Enrico Fermi Work at the University

of Chicago and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

The Decision to Drop the Bomb

Invading Japan would likely cost millions of Allied casualties.

Naval blockade might starve Japan, along with continued bombing.

Do a demonstration of the bomb for the Japanese?

Soften the demand for an unconditional surrender?

The decision to drop the bomb

FDR suddenly dies. President Harry

Truman was maybe not aware of the power of the bomb.

“You should do your weeping at Pearl Harbor”

The Decision to Drop the Bomb

August 6, 1945 – – The Enola Gay

dropped the first bomb over Hiroshima.

– 80,000 killed in an instant

• Intense heat• Radiation• Fire and wind• 90% of the city

destroyed.

The second bomb

August 9, 1945 - Nagasaki

Japan surrenders

CONDITIONAL surrender August 14, 1945.– The emperor remained.

– V-J Day.

– Surrender signed September 2, 1945 aboard the Missouri

Section 5

The Social Impact of War

Social Impact of War: African Americans

Jim Crow laws kept many African Americans from defense contract jobs.

Unofficial segregation in the North affected employment, education, housing

African Americans: Economic Discrimination

Despite desperate need for defense workers – most factories only wanted white workers.

A Phillip Randolph started to change that!

A. Phillip Randolph

1889 – 1979 Union Organizer for

African Americans Fought for Civil Rights

for African Americans Organized a march on

Washington that made FDR do something radical.

FDR: Executive Order 8802

For the first time, government acted against discrimination based on race, creed, color or national origin in employment.

Wasn’t that powerful – but it was a start.

Discrimination in WWII

2 million African Americans did get defense contract jobs.

But still confined to live in ghettos.– 50% of housing for African

Americans was substandard.

– 14% of white American homes were substandard

Race Riots in WWII

Detroit: 1943– 34 killed

– “I’d rather see Hitler and Hirohito win than work next to a negro.”

• Defense plant worker in 1943 Detroit

NYC: 1943

Soldiers and Segregation

African Americans and whites risked their lives in war.

But at home and war, racism and discrimination did not really change.

Soldiers and Segregation

Segregation of troops– African American units

that could only be commanded by black officers.

– Questions if black officers could give orders to white soldiers.

Soldiers and Segregation

“You know we don’t serve coloreds here,” the man repeated … We ignored him, and just stood there inside the door staring at what we had come to see – German prisoners of war who were having lunch at the counter … We continued to stare. This was really happening. It was no jive talk. The people of Salina, Kansas would serve these enemy soldiers and turn away black American Gis.” – Lloyd Brown, African American GI 1942.

Soldiers and Segregation

Lena Horne – jazz singer / actress.

Refused to perform when German POWs were seated ahead of African American soldiers.

Double V and CORE

The first V stood for victory against the Axis, the second for winning equality at home.

CORE – Congress of Racial Equality (1942)– Paved the way for the

Civil Rights movement a decade later

Mexican Americans

WWII did give opportunities for employment many Mexican Americans had not had in 1940.

Mexican Americans: The Bracero Program

Shortage of farm laborers in WWII.

Agreement with Mexico to bring braceros to work in the US.– 200,000 came

– REALLY overcrowded the barrios

Mexican Americans: The Zoot Suit Riots

A look favored by many Mexican American young men in Los Angeles.

Thought “un-American” by many.– Particularly by men in

uniform!– Looked for zoot suiters

to attack

The Zoot Suit Riots

1943, street fighting grew into riots.

Mexican Americans were often blamed and arrested instead of the GI s.

Military did do more to restrict GI’s to bases.

Native Americans

23,000 Native Americans left the reservations to work or be GI’s.

Push was to leave behind their culture and adapt to white culture.

Most did not go back to the reservations after the war.

Cultural transition brought a sense of “losing their roots”

Japanese Americans

1941: 127,000 Japanese Americans in the US.– .1% of the population

– most lived on the west coast and Hawaii

– 2/3 were born in the US

Japanese Americans

Intense prejudice against Japanese Americans

Early war hysteria convinced Japanese Americans were all spies and saboteurs

Japanese Internment

FDR’s Executive Order 9066 in February 1942

Military zones were created in the US– Foreign born Germans and

Italians were told to move out of the zones.

– Canceled after a few months

Japanese Internment

War Relocation Authority was to move out everyone of Japanese ancestry – citizens and noncitizens.

Sent to Internment camps

Japanese Internment Camps

Often took people without giving a chance to take care of their homes, businesses, and valuables.

Didn’t know where they were going – so didn’t know how to pack.

Japanese Internment Camps

Barbed wire enclosed, guarded “relocation camps”

Wooden barracks with cots, blankets and a light bulb.

Common toilets, showers and dining room.

Legal Challenges to the Internment Camps

Korematsu v. US (1944)– Ruled the internment

was ‘constitutional’ and necessary

Legal Challenges to Internment

1945: Japanese Americans were allowed to leave.– Some were able to

resume their lives.

– Many had lost everything.

Legal Challenges to Internment

1988: Congress passed a law awarding every surviving Japanese American internee a tax free payment of $20,000.

Japanese Americans in the Military

US military wouldn’t allow Japanese Americans to serve until 1943.

17,000 NISEI volunteered to serve in Europe.

Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat team won more medals for bravery than any other unit in the US.

Working Women

WWII women were able to fill the usually men-only and higher paying factory jobs.

1944 women made up 35% of the workforce.

Rosie the Riveter posters.

Benefits and Problems of Employment

Economic independence for women– Paid off Depression

debts.

– Nest-eggs for future Patriotism Self-confidence

booster

Benefits and Problems of Employment

African-American women fought to be in the factory jobs too.

1940: 6.8% of African American women were in factory jobs.

1944: 18%

Problems of Employment

Prejudice from men and society about working in “men only” jobs.

Less pay than what men made.

Employers ignored federal law “Equal work = equal pay.”

Problems of Employment

What to do with the children?– Lack of day care

facilities.– Women relied on

neighbors / family.– Workdays were more

than 8 hour days. – Household

responsibilities too.

After the War

Most women were not happy to give up their jobs after the war.

But social pressures to give the jobs back to returning GI’s was too much for most.

After the War in Japan

After the War: Japan

Most military and government officials committed hari kari at the defeat of Japan.

Hirohito

Ruled as a Constitutional Monarch.

Said he had been a puppet for the militarists / fascists.

Died 1989 Some think he should’ve

been tried as a war criminal.

New evidence to show he was an active planner in the war.

Japanese Royal Family Today

The Japanese War Crime Trials

1946 – 1948 20,000 civilians and

military put on trial for specific crimes to Crimes Against Humanity.

900 executions

Tojo Executed in 1948

often considered responsible for the murder of more than 10 million civilians in China, Korea, Philippines, Indochina, and in the other Pacific island nations, as well as the murder of tens of thousands of Allied POWs and for the approval of government-sanctioned biological experiments on POWs and Chinese civilians

Yamamoto

Killed in an American ambush in 1943.

First time the US used assassination. – Specific target assassination

had not been used before.

– US did not admit to this until 1960s.

– “We killed Yamamoto.”

Issues of WWII still confront Japan today

Questions about how WWII is taught in Japanese schools.

From an 11th Grade History Book

“When the Japanese liberated Manchuria, there was unpleasantness.”

The Prime Minister of Japan

Regularly visits the shrines to the war dead – including the war criminals.

Continuing issues with survivors

Comfort Women reparation– 200,000 women taken

to “comfort stations” to service Japanese soldiers.

– Often raped 20 – 40 times a day.

– Most murdered after the war to hide the crimes.

Continuing Issues With Survivors

After – effects of the atom bombs.– Healthwise

– Socially

– Does Pearl Harbor = Hiroshima / Nagasaki?