Victory in asia Chapter 18 section 4

Pacific offensives After successfully conquering Guadalcanal the U.S. went on offensive

Island hopping strategy Air and sea power were keys to victory in Pacific U.S. adopted strategy of island hopping—seize only strategic Japanese held islands Cut of Japanese garrisons from supplies and reinforcements Airstrips built to support next invasion Offensive began in November of 1943 with capture of Makin Island in Gilbert Islands

tarawa Heavily fortified by 4,500 Japanese 1000 Marines dead, 2000 wounded in 76 hours

saipan Captured Marshall Islands and bombed Truk—Japanese Naval headquarters June 1944 Invasion force of 535 ships with 127,000 soldiers—2/3 were Marines 32,000 Japanese defended island U.S. suffered 16,000 casualties—3400 dead

guam Just as tough as Saipan Provided airstrips to attack Japanese Mainland

Recapturing the philippines Fall of 1944 Allies invade at Leyte Gulf Japan’s navy counterattacks and is defeated—loses 4 carriers and 2 battleships Japan’s navy is not a serious threat again February 1945 U.S. troops enter Manila

Victory in the pacific B-29 bombers attack Tokyo March 1945 firestorm destroys much of city— civilians become demoralized

Iwo jima February 1945 Marines land on beaches Battle lasts several weeks Several thousand marines and 20,000 Japanese die Mount Suribachi—Flag raising—Joe Rosenthal wins Pulitzer Prize in Photography

okinawa April 1, 1945—largest landing force in Pacific— only 350 miles from Japan Japanese retreat to southern end of island—U.S. captures airfield without firing a shot 5 days later the Japanese attack with 700 planes 350 Kamikaze’s “Divine Wind”—suicide bombers— sank 4 ships Bloodiest battle of Pacific—Japanese fought to the death 49,000 American casualties 100,000 Japanese killed

Change in leadership FDR dies of cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945—Harry S. Truman takes over Truman has to decide whether to use A-bomb or invade Japan

Manhattan project Super secret program that developed the atomic bomb since 1942 Albert Einstein wrote a letter in 1933 detailing the need to develop the bomb before the Germans did 1942 Lesley Groves takes control of project Enrico Fermi creates first atomic chain reaction in lab under Stagg Field in Chicago

Manhattan… Built research facilities Los Alamos, New Mexico Oak Ridge, Tennessee Hanford, Washington J. Robert Oppenheimer built first actual a- bomb First successful test on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico

Potsdam conference Truman met with Allies at Potsdam the next day—gave notice of new weapon July 26, 1945 Allies demand unconditional surrender of Japan—they refuse Truman authorizes use of Atomic bomb Reasons for authorization: Casualty estimates of 1 million U.S. troops if we invaded Japan Would end war quickly Demonstrate power to intimidate Soviet Union

Atomic age August 6, 1945 Enola Gay—Colonel Paul Tibbets as pilot drops bomb on Hiroshima Kills 75,000 Japanese August 9, 1945 dropped 2nd bomb on Nagasaki August 8th USSR declares war on Japan August 15th Japan surrenders September 2, 1945 officially surrenders on U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay

Costs of world war 2 Most devastating war in world history Cities destroyed millions homeless 30 million civilians dead Cost $1 trillion dollars