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A slide presentation for History 12 students in B.C. Canada.
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J. Marshall, 2007
1. Why would Japan attack the USA?
a) Low opinion of USA
• Drunks
• Lazy
• Lack fighting spirit
b. Influential military command
• The public thought the
politicians were weak.
• The military had
brought Japan glory.
c. Japan was expanding in the Far East
• USA exerting economic pressure (ie Manchuria).
• Oil stoppage.• Roosevelt’s demand for Japan to leave
mainland Asia (fall, 1941).• Had to limit U.S. reach in the Pacific - oil
and rubber in Borneo and Malaya.
d. USA unprepared for war BUT…
• Pearl carriers out to sea?
• Pearl oil moved underground?
• Pearl radar - B17s inbound?
• Washington coder crackers - time zone snafu in warning?
• SHIPS/PLANES REPLACABLE - CARRIERS ARE NOT!
But…
Admiral Yamamoto
warned of waking the
SLEEPING GIANT.
2. Why was Japan initially so successful?
a) USA/UK unprepared
• Japan had lots of recent war experience
Mukden, 1931
b) No soldiers fought like the Japanese
Bushido code• Ferocity• Live off land• Strict obedience
For example…
• Atrocities
• Kamikazi
• The Bushido code also linked surrender to dishonour.
c) Initially local populations welcomed the Japanese
“liberators.”
• From whom were they
liberating Asians?
Asia for the Asians
d) The British were stressed and the U.S. forces were
mostly in N.America =
TIME FOR JAPAN
3. Why did Japan ultimately lose?
a) American public support
This
Declassified memo (dated May 3, 1942) to FDR re:
Doolittle Raid
b) Massive economic/military power of USA
• Once mobilized that is!
• Factories were safe across the Pacific.
• Images of Pearl + propaganda galvanized the nation behind the President.
• Now the economic might could go far beyond Lend-Lease…
c) Japan had only 10% of U.S. economy
• Japan had few resources (oil/iron).
• Difficult to replace capital ships.
• After Leyte Gulf the Imperial Navy ceased to exist!
c) cont. Japan needed food
• Japan had only 3% of U.S. agricultural capacity.
• Had trouble feeding its people.• Thus: since raw materials rare, factories
not the prime targets (they are dying by themselves - TARGET CITIES.
• For every 40 factory bombs, 100 land on cities.
d) U.S. subs sank 55% of Japanese shipping
e) Island Hopping
• Attack main islands and isolate minor ones - “left to wither on the vine.”
• Thus limit U.S. casualties (remember Bushido code).
• On the Asian mainland the British and Commonwealth fought…
The famed Chindits - early special forces often behind enemy lines.
Part of the Forgotten Army
f) In addition to…
• U.S. leadership
U.S. victories: Success Breeds Success
• Iwo Jima
and, U.S. might..
The planners still feared an assault on the “home islands”
g) Intelligence warned of 1 million + casualties
• This would be unacceptable to the U.S. public.
• The Manhatten Project was the answer.
• Why would the U.S. use the bomb against Japan but rely on traditional munitions for Germany?
Hiroshima, August 6
Nagasaki, August 9
4. The Surrender
Ultimately:
• Historians agree it really was a foregone conclusion - the USA was just too strong economically with too much military potential.
• It is a testament to the ferocity and commitment of the Japanese fighters that the war took as long as it did.
• Easier geography also would have sped the inevitable conclusion.
end