Retaking the Pacific

Pearl Harbor + Philippines Wake Island Guam Midway Bataan Post Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor + Philippines Wake Island Guam Midway Bataan As Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, they also send forces to attack - The Philippines - Wake Island - Guam - Midway Island United States naval deterrent in the Pacific is crippled Bataan – U.S. naval forces (under General Douglas MacArthur) are trapped with no possibility of help. MacArthur escapes and warns tells his men “I shall return.”

Advance in the Pacific Colonies Fall = Burma Malaya Singapore Dutch East Indies Thailand Finish off U.S. … Colonies Fall – for the rest of 1941 and early 1942, Japan wipes out all European colonies in Asia

Surrender Bushido Death March Bataan Death Match Surrender – U.S. forces, facing starvation and limited supplies, surrender Bushido – Japanese cultural norm (one should die with honor above all else, surrendering = dishonorable) Death March – U.S. POWs forced to walk 60 miles in heat (beaten, tortured, and executed along the way), survivorsw to brutal POW camps

Allies Weakened Active Defense Early Strategy Weakened – Navies of Allies are damaged - U.S. needs time to rebuild it’s forces - it cannot take the offensive right away Active Defense = policy of holding on to what you have until you can rebuild (Samoa, Hawaii, Australia)

U.SS. Hornet Secret Mission One-Way Success? Raid on Tokyo U.S.S. Hornet – one of three aircraft carriers not at Pearl Harbor during attack Secret Mission – send B-52 bombers to attack Tokyo and Japanese cities One-Way – Not enough fuel for return trip (planes to crash land in China and Russia – most crews survive mission) Success? Did little damage to Japan, BUT improved U.S. morale and sent message that we were coming…

Map of the Doolittle raid on Japan in 1942.

The U.S.S. Hornet

Captain James Doolittle and the men who would fly the secret, one-way mission to bomb Tokyo.

Australia Active Defense Technology Rules Outcome Battle of the Coral Sea Australia Active Defense Technology Rules Outcome Australia – open to Japanese invasion Active Defense – U.S. sends ships to “actively defend” Technology Rules – no ships ever see each other; first time naval combat is done entirely by plane Outcome – heavy damage on both sides, but invasion of Australia is prevented

Air attacks in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Battle of Midway – Part I Strategic Isoruku Yamamoto Chester Nimitz Showdown! Advantage #1 Strategic – Midway maintains an airstrip and is the gateway to an invasion of Hawaii Isoruku Yamamoto – Pearl Harbor admiral sent to finish off the U.S. fleet Chester Nimitz – admiral sent to actively defend the U.S. (Hawaii) Showdown! – It’s the U.S. fleet versus the Japanese fleet Advantage #1 – U.S. breaks Japanese code and knows where Yamamoto is Photo = Airstrip on Midway Island

Battle of Midway – Part II Technology Rules! Advantage #2 Victory! Balance of power Technology Rules! – Again, all warfare is done by airplanes Advantage #2 – U.S. planes attack while Japanese are refueling planes Victory – massive losses in Japanese fleet (loses 4 aircraft carriers and LOTS of planes) Balance of Power – shifts to the U.S. = NO MORE OFFENSIVE JAPANESE OPERATIONS IN THE PACIFIC (NO MORE EXPANSION)

Photo of U.S. planes at the Battle of Midway

Japanese ship destroyed at the Battle of Midway.

Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) Why? Operation Shoestring Jungle Warfare Significance Island hopping Why? – Japanese territory with airstrip. Needed to solidify no air attacks on Australia. Operation Shoestring – Marine invasion of island Jungle warfare – hand-to-hand combat with Japanese willing to fight to the death (“bushido”) Significance – first Japanese territory taken by the U.S. Island Hopping – U.S. policy of attacking certain islands and skipping others on the way to Japan (“Pacific Hopscotch”)

The airstrip on Guadalcanal

U.S. Marine storming Guadalcanal.

Dead Japanese on Guadalcanal. Note: Japanese were NOT taken prisoner of war. They fought to the death (“bushido”).

Obligation Leyte island Japanese Response Kamikaze! Significance #1 Battle of Leyte Gulf Obligation Leyte island Japanese Response Kamikaze! Significance #1 Significance #2 Obligation – U.S. was going to skip the Philippines, but MacArthur feels he has obligation to take back (“I shall return”) Leyte Island – American invade with naval support in Leyte Gulf Japanese Response – Send what’s left of their fleet to stop us Kamikaze – first time suicide planes are used (symbolic of Japanese growing desperation) Significance #1 – Greatest naval battle in world history Significance #2 – Japanese fleet is destroyed (nothing to stop U.S. now on its way to Japan)

Japanese kamikaze.

Photo of a Japanese kamikaze attack at the Battle of Leyte Gulf

Disastrous effect of a Japanese kamikaze atttack.

MacArthur arriving back in the Philippines MacArthur arriving back in the Philippines. He tells his troops, “I have returned.”

Stepping Stone Deadly Fighting Banzai! Mt. Surabachi Signal Iwo Jima Stepping Stone – Island that is gateway to Japanese archipelago (first island with Japanese population) Deadly Fighting – after bombarding the island for 74 days, it still takes 110,000 troops to secure (similar to troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan today!) Banzai! – Japanese tactic where they rush to kill as many American as they can before being killed. Every Japanese soldier fights to the death (only 216 out of 25,000 taken POW). One in four U.S. soldiers killed. Half are wounded. Mount Surabachi – famous photo of Marines planting U.S. flag on Japanese soil Signal – U.S. now knows that an invasion of Japanese may cost millions of American lives

Famous Mount Surabachi Photo.

We arrive! Bloodiest Battle Question Okinawa We arrive! – Okinawa is only 350 miles from mainland Japan and is considered a true part of the island nation. It’s the last obstacle before a full-fledged invasion. Bloodiest Battle – 100,000 Japanese pledge to fight to the death. 180,000 U.S. troops invade (more than Afghanistan and Iraq!) – one third die. second largest invasion in history (to D-Day at Normandy) Question – How will we ever manage to fight our way to Tokyo (FDR insists on total surrender)?

Scientists flee Albert Einstein Enrico Fermi Manhattan Project Trinity The Atom Bomb – Part I Scientists flee Albert Einstein Enrico Fermi Manhattan Project Trinity Scientists flee – Many scientists flee Axis Italy and Germany for the U.S. (hired by U.S. government to help in war effort) Albert Einstein – warns us that Nazis are trying to develop a nuclear bomb. Note: He is denied clearance to work on U.S. project Enrico Fermi – successfully splits atom and makes a chain reaction in Chicago Manhattan Project – secret U.S. plan to build atomic bomb with chain reaction on massive scale Trinity – test explosion of first atomic weapon in July 1945 at Alamagordo, New Mexcio

Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi.

First moments of test explosion at Alamagordo, New Mexico.

Moments later during the test explosion at Alamagordo.

The Atom Bomb – Part II Difficult Decision Rationale Warning Enola Gay + Little Boy Destruction Bockscar + Fat Man VJ Day Difficult Decision – Truman decides to drop the bomb on Japan Rationale – more lives will be saved in the long-run Warning – Leaflets dropped on Hiroshima (leave or face total destruction – they are widely ignored) Enola Gay + Little Boy – Enola Gay drops bomb on Hiroshima on 8/6/45 Destruction - 80,000+ dead, thousands more in coming days from burns and radiation sickness Bockscar + Fat Man – Bockscar drops atomic bomb on 8/9/45 VJ Day – Japan surrenders unconditionally on August 15, 1945 Photo – The atomic explosion at Hiroshima

Crew of the Enola Gay before the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Destruction at Hiroshima.

Destruction at Nagasaki. Note: Warn students that the next slides contain graphic images of victims of the atomic attacks on Japan.

A child incinerated by the explosion.

A victim with massive third degree burns from the explosion.

Wounded vistims suffering from burns.

Final Tallies U.S. = 300,000 U.S.S.R. = 27 million Germany = 4 million Japan = 6 million China = 22 million Jews = 6 million TOTAL = 60 million Final totals of the massive death and destruction of World War II. It is the deadliest war in world history.