Pacific Theater

Bataan Death March After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Japan attacked American airfields in the Philippines and landed their troops in the islands The commander of the Americans and Filipinos defending the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur, retreated to the Bataan Peninsula He surrendered 75,000 men

Bataan Death March The surrendered troops were forced to march to the prison camp 65 miles away Thousands died along the way Starvation Disease Murder

Doolittle Raid In response to the attack on Pearl Harbor, James Doolittle organized a bombing mission in Tokyo, Japan called the Doolittle Raid

Doolittle Raid Had two major goals: 1) Boost American morale after Pearl Harbor Expose the Japanese vulnerability to attack

Turning Point in the War Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific This stopped the Japanese advance into the Pacific

Battle of Midway Between June 4-7, 1942, is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign the United States navy decisively defeated an Imperial Japan Navy The attack inflicted permanent damage on the Japanese Navy

Consequences of the Battle of Midway The consequence of the Battle of Midway for the Japanese were huge. At a stroke, they lost 4 vital aircraft carriers that were considered to be vital for the Pacific campaign Whereas the Americans could replace the ‘Yorktown,’ the Japanese would have found it very difficult to replace one carrier, let alone four

Island Hopping General Douglas MacArthur’s troops used Island Hopping to capture lightly-defended islands throughout the Pacific, one by one, until they “HOPPED” their way towards Japan This would get the U.S. within striking distance of Japan

MacArthur Returns Oct. of 1944 Philippines In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, The U.S. retook the Philippines. First time the Japanese used kamikaze attacks. Douglas MacArthur returns and liberates the Allied POWs

Iwo Jima and Okinawa The U.S. fought Japan on numerous islands including Okinawa and Iwo Jima These islands were used to launch aerial assaults on Japan This was the first time an invaders flag flew over Japanese territory

Japan Refuses to Surrender By 1945, the Japanese were pushed back to Japan with no way to win the war They refused to give up and kamikaze soldiers made an invasion extremely dangerous

Truman Becomes President President Roosevelt died a month before the defeat of Germany. Vice President Harry S. Truman became president. Although Germany surrendered a few weeks later, Truman needed to make many difficult decisions regarding the war as the battle with Japan intensified

Einstein to the Manhattan Project In 1939, while working at Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein was notified that German scientist achieved atomic fusion by splitting heavy uranium with a neutron bombardment. Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard tried to catch FDR’s attention, but he wasn’t successful Einstein signed his name to the letter

Manhattan Project FDR set up committee to study if it would work! In 1941, America started the program to build the bomb: The Manhattan Project Robert J. Oppenheimer led the team at the New Mexico laboratory July 16, 1945, detonated the world’s first atomic bomb

Truman’s Decision Truman was forced to consider all options A) Invade Japan with allied troops. This would result in high deaths on both sides and an unknown timeline B) Drop an atomic bomb out in the Pacific away from people to show Japan our military strength C) Drop the bomb without warning to “shock” Japan into surrendering

Atomic Bombing August 6, 1945 August 9, 1945 Hiroshima 80,000-120,000 die August 9, 1945 Nagasaki 70,000 die Thousands more effected by radiation

V-J Day On the same day as the bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, the Soviets invaded Japan Emperor Hirohito ordered his government to surrender V-J day was August 15, 1945

Changes in Japan Emperor loses power and becomes figure head Japan becomes a democracy. Model their constitution after the United States Bill of Rights guarntees freedoms, women have the right to vote Constitution says Japan cannot attack another country In 1951, peace treaty with Japan signed; U.S. occupation ends US and Japan become allies