World War Two Asia and the Pacific

Causes Japanese need for an empire The need for raw materials They wanted the prestige of an empire and to show European countries that they were not inferior The need for raw materials Japan needed raw materials to fuel its industry The need for a market Japan wanted an empire so that they would have a permanent market for exports

The Sino-Japanese War Japan conquered Manchuria in 1931 They looked to exploit divisions in China by invading them in 1937 at the Marco Polo Bridge Incident Japan gained ground quickly in China due to superior technology, tactics, and training By the end of 1937, most of northern China was captured by Japan

The Rape of Nanking In December 1937, the Japanese captured the Chinese capital of Nanking (Nanjing) Japan figured the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek would surrender, but they did not In an attempt to force a peace agreement, Japan allowed its soldiers to rape, mutilate and murder 100,000-300,000 people in Nanjing This incident hardened Chinese resolve to fight the Japanese

Continuing Expansion After getting bogged down in China, Japan started to look at the European empires in South-East Asia Japan was awarded Indochina by Germany after France surrendered in 1940 Japan first looked to invade the Far-East USSR, but was defeated and signed a non-aggression pact In response, the USA cut off oil supply to Japan, which was 80% of their supply The American intention was to dissuade Japanese aggression but it made them desperate

Pearl Harbor In order to get at resource rich South-East Asia, the Japanese figured they would have to disable the American navy On December 7th 1941 Japan launched a successful attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 7/8 American battleships were destroyed or disabled and 200 planes were destroyed Germany and Italy declared war on the USA The USA was now officially part of the Allies

Taking South-East Asia On December 8th the Japanese engaged in a series of rapid and effective strikes against: British: Hong Kong, Burma and Malaya Thailand USA: Philippines Holland: Dutch East Indies

The Battle of Hong Kong Anxious about defending the small colony, Britain asked Canada to send troops to Hong Kong in 1940 to defend it in case of a war against Japan Canada sent almost 2,000 troops Japan invaded Hong Kong on December 8th 1941 They quickly broke the British defenses The Island officially surrendered on December 25th 1941 The Japanese raped the nurses and bayoneted the wounded in the British hospital Nearly half of the 555 Canadian deaths were in POW camps

Empire of the Rising Sun By mid 1942, Japan controlled 6,000 square miles Germany controlled 4,000 square miles Their empire stretched half way across the Pacific

Racial Warfare The Japanese believed they were the racial superior to other Asians and other races They treated other races very poorly In China, they killed civilians indiscriminately (at a cost of around 20 million lives) They used Koreans as “comfort women” They did not treat Jews any worse than other Europeans They degenerated the Asian and Pacific war into a racial war

In Canada and the USA, racism was turned back on the Japanese The Japanese saw surrender as worse than death and therefore they treated Allied prisoners very poorly POWs were made to do slave labour until they died At the end of the war, only 45 Chinese POWs remained alive In Canada and the USA, racism was turned back on the Japanese They were made to be “little men” or monkey-like The Japanese were interned in camps

Island Hopping Slowly, the USA and the allies retook the Islands in the Pacific after winning the Battle of Midway by sinking 4 Japanese aircraft carriers The Japanese fought to the last man on Islands such as Okinawa and Iwo Jima, causing massive American casualties as well Japan resorted to suicide Kamikaze tactics

Casualties China: 3.8 million soldiers killed, 17+ million civilians killed United Kingdom 52,000 killed (12,000 in captivity): Indian Empire: 86,838 killed USA: 106,207 killed, 248,316 wounded and missing Philippines: 57,000 killed Australia: 17,501 killed Soviet Union: 12,031 killed and missing, 24,425 wounded and sick Japan:1,740,955 military deaths 393,000 civilian deaths