WORLD WAR II

The War in the Pacific

The War in the Pacific Japan was an Axis power, but not involved

in the War in Europe. By 1941, it was prepared to invade the US

and European colonies in Southeast Asia which were rich in resources.

On December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (in Hawaii) to continue on a war conquest in the Pacific

Then they bombed the Philippines. These bombings stunned the Americans,

and the next day on Dec 8, 1941 the US government declared war on Japan.

Japan’s Allies, Germany and Italy, then declared War on the US.

The Japanese Offensive (Pearl Harbour)

Militarism in Japan In the 1920’s Japan was stuck between its

traditional heritage and the desire to modernize

Radicals wanted a complete rejection of Western ways and wanted a militaristic government based on National Socialism (Nazis in Germany)

Japan’s military was very strong and had lots of advantages over the civilian government. Example: military had the organization and

weapons to impose its will

The Japanese Offensive (Pearl Harbour)

Japanese Imperialist Expansion As new leaders came to power in China in 1928,

Japan felt that its imperialistic interests were threatened

Japan’s need to acquire new territories was strong This was because the Depression ,and a growing

population, led to a greater need for raw materials There were more and more clashes between the

Japanese military and the civil government This tension led to the Japanese army taking

actions not authorized by the government

The Japanese Offensive (Pearl Harbour)

Events leading up to Pearl Harbour In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria without the consent of

its own government There was inner turmoil in Japan:

PM was assassinated, which was followed by lots of fighting within the Japanese army

After France fell in June 1940, the Japanese quickly occupied most of French Indo-China

American president Roosevelt responded by freezing Japanese assets in US banks

Roosevelt also refused to sell Japan any more oil or scrap metal (two products Japan needed to supply its war industry)

Cut off from major supplies, Japanese military thought war with the US was the only solution

The Japanese Offensive (Pearl Harbour)

Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941, Japanese launched their surprise

attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbour The attack was intended to give the Japan navy

control of the Pacific in preparation for future attacks On December 8, President Roosevelt gave his famous

“Day of Infamy” speech and the US and Britain declared war on Japan As a result, Hitler declared war on the US to show

support for the Japanese Then the US declared war on Germany

The US joining the Allies side gave Britain a new ally that could help them defeat Fascism in Europe

Japanese Aggression in the Pacific

The Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour were quickly followed by devastating attacks on many parts of the Far Eastern Pacific

Canadians in Hong Kong As a result of the American declaration of war on

Japan, Canada declared war against Japan as well Canadians were sent to fight the Japanese in the

British colony of Hong Kong This was the first time Canadians saw active

action in WWII

Japanese Aggression in the Pacific

Canadians at Hong Kong Canadians were forced to surrender after

17 days of fighting, when their supplies and ammunition ran out

Overall, 500 Canadian soldiers were wounded, and 290 soldiers were killed

Those soldiers that were captured were put into Japanese Prisoner of War (POW) camps and were threatened very harshly

In total 267 Canadian POW’s died in Japanese camps

War in the pacific

The Turning Point

Turning the Tide in the Pacific

After the US declared war on Japan, the Americans knew it would be a long war, so they prepared their economy and military forces

US could not fight back immediately with full force, so Japan went on a very vast war conquest

While Canadians and Allies did participate in the Pacific, the Americans were the main force

There were 4 main battles.1. The Battle of Midway2. Island Hopping3. Battle of Leyte Gulf4. Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Turning the Tide in the Pacific 1. The Battle of Midway, June 1942

Midway island is northwest of Hawaii This battle was the turning point in the Pacific As the Japanese were planning on capturing

these islands, the Americans intercepted the Japanese fleet and easily defeated them

This was a turning point because this ended the Japanese streak of victories

The Americans also sank the best Japanese aircraft carriers, allowing the Americans to take control of the waters in the Pacific

After Midway, the Japanese were on the defensive

Turning the Tide in the Pacific 2. Island Hopping

Instead of attacking and re-capturing every island taken by the Japanese, the Americans selected important islands about 400miles apart

By taking several islands, the Americans were able to move their base of attack closer and closer to Japan

Americans ignored islands in between because they could easily cut off supply to these islands

Turning the Tide in the Pacific

3. Battle of Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is in the Philippines In this battle the Americans took most of the

Japanese fleet Americans sank half of the Japanese ships

(including 4 more aircraft carriers) It was during this battle that the

Japanese introduced kamikaze suicides Kamikaze pilots would load their

planes with explosives, and try to crash them into American ships

Turning the Tide in the Pacific 4. Iwo Jima and Okinawa

By the spring of 1945, American forces had captured Iwo Jima and Okinawa (2 islands south of Japanese homeland)

It was here that the Americans were going to launch their final phase of war

However, other events intervened

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific In March 1945, Americans began a

regular bombing of Tokyo

It was believed that this would cause them to surrender

The bombing did cause a great loss of lives and huge property damage.

But Japan would not surrender

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific The Manhattan Project

Since March of 1943, the US had funded a very secret, very expensive project to determine if it was possible to create an atomic bomb (nuclear weapon )

In 1945, US president Harry S. Truman learned that the atomic bomb test at Los Alamos, New Mexico had been successful He now had another option for ending the war in the

Pacific This secret project cost two billion dollars and

employed 120,000 people After the test is Los Alamos, the Americans had only 2

bombs that were ready to use in the summer of 1945 A spherical plutonium bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” A sausage shaped uranium bomb known as “Little Boy”

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific Truman’s Decision

June 1, 1945, the US Secretary of War recommended that the bombs should be dropped without warning, and should be dropped on Japanese military targets in an urban setting

3 distinguished scientists disagreed They wanted to give the Japanese a demonstration

in an isolated area of what could happen And to use the bomb only as a last resort

Truman rejected their views and decided to have a bomb dropped in a populated area

His thought was that this would shorten the war and save many American lives

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific Hiroshima, August 6 1945

American military planners told Truman that he could expect from 1 to 1.5 million more American casualties and another 12 – 18 months of fighting to take the islands of Japan using standard warfare

Because of this Truman decided to use the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima

“Little Boy” was dropped on the industrial city of 340,000 people

The explosion at Ground Zero created temperatures of 540,000 degrees Fahrenheit

Beyond this zone, a firestorm gutted the rest of the city, destroying 60,000 of 92,000 buildings

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific

Hiroshima, August 6 1945 The death count was 78,000, but an

additional 60,000 people died later of atomic bomb related injuries or diseases

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific

Nagasaki, August 9, 1945 Since Japan did not surrender immediately,

Truman ordered the next atomic bomb be dropped on the city of Nagasaki

“Fat Man” was dropped on a city of 250,000 and the death toll was over 35,000 people

A total of approximately 170,000 people died as a result of the 2 atomic bombs

The Final Stages of the War in Europe:

Germany SurrendersIn March of 1945, Allied forces attacked

Germany. The Allies were attacking Germany from the

West, and the Soviet Union was attacking Germany from the East.

Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945. Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, committed

suicide in a bunker in Berlin. As the Allies pressed closer to Germany, they

began to discover the extent of the Holocaust.

The Final Stages of War in the Pacific Peace, August 14, 1945 V-J Day

(Victory in Japan) On August 14, 1945, the Japanese government

sued for peace and the Second World War was over

Is the Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Ever Justified?

Read the counterpoints section on pages 150-151 in your textbook.

Answer questions 1-4: “Analyzing the issue”