Japan Strikes the Pacific

US aids its allies US remained “isolationists” at the beginning of the war Americans did NOT support going to Europe US had passed Neutrality Acts to prevent involvement in European affairs Lend-Lease Act- president could lend or lease supplies to any country vital to the US Atlantic Charter- Roosevelt and Churchill secretly met and agreed to have free trade among nations

Reasons for Japanese Anger Towards the U.S. July 1940: Roosevelt began limiting what Japan could buy from the U.S. September: Ended sales of scrap iron and steel Japanese leader was Admiral Yamamoto Hoped that this would stop Japan’s expansion Japan took control of French Indochina Roosevelt’s Response: froze Japanese financial assets, cut off all oil supplements Problem: Japan desperately needs raw materials

Pearl Harbor November 27,1941: U.S. knew Japanese aircraft carriers were moving in the Pacific Expected an attack, just didn’t know when 6 aircraft carriers and 20 other ships were on the move Target: Pearl Harbor, naval base in Hawaii, home of U.S. Pacific Fleet

“A date which will live in infamy” 7:00am Dec. 7, 1941 Radar operator picked up blip on screen and reported planes were headed toward the island Operator said, “Don’t worry about it,” thought they were American planes 8:00am 180 Japanese planes attacked using bombs and machine-gun fire 9:45 attack was over 2,400 are killed, 1,200 wounded, 200 warplanes destroyed, 18 warships sunk, Japan lost only 29 planes

U.S.S. Arizona

U.S. Declares War December 8,1941: Congress passed war resolution December 11,1941: Germany and Italy declare war on U.S.

Life on Allied Home Fronts

In the US, factories produced the weapons and equipment for war. The government rationed goods Scrap metal drives Government sold war stamps and bonds to finance the war

Prejudice against Japanese arose in the US, post- Pearl Harbor Internment camps relocated thousands of Japanese descent (falsely labeled as enemies) to military locations

Allies strike back Colonel Doolittle raid- bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities Did little damage but boosted morale Battle of Coral Sea US with Australian support vs. Japan Used aircraft to attack each others ships Ended in a draw

Battle of Midway Midway island was home to US airfield Admiral Nimitz- commander of US fleet US was outnumbered 4-1 but defeated the Japanese fleet Turning point of the war in the Pacific

Battle of Guadalcanal General MacArthur- commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific Japanese were building an airbase on the island of Guadalcanal US caught the Japanese off guard Japanese abandoned the island

Victory in the Pacific

Iwo Jima and Okinawa were captured by US/Allied forces After being advised that an invasion of Japan would cost 500,000 US lives, President Truman decided to use the atomic bomb to bring the war to the quickest end.

Fat Man Aug 6, 1945- The US dropped an A-bomb on Hiroshima killing 73,000

Little Boy On Aug 9, 1945- the US dropped an A-bomb on Nagasaki, killing 37,500 Thousands more died later of radiation

Victory in Japan (VJ Day)- August 14, 1945 General MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender