1. WWII: Pacific Theater

2. “Island-hopping”
US forces elected to focus on capturing only certain strategic islands in the Pacific – ones that would allow US bombers to get within striking range of Japan and create a safe route for troop and supply movement

3. Pacific Battles Tarawa (Nov. 1943) Kwajalein (Feb. 1944)
Saipan, Tinian, & Guam (Jun. – Aug. 1944)
US Marines took heavy losses unseating Japanese defenders, but US B-29 bombers could reach Japan once these islands were secured

4. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
April 1942, Bataan
Douglas MacArthur
The Allies held out for four months against invading Japanese forces before abandoning the peninsula
General Douglas MacArthur vowed to return to the Philippines when forced to evacuate in 1942
Led US effort to retake the Philippines and proclaimed “I have returned” when he finally landed in Oct. 1944

5. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
June 1942, Midway
Chester W. Nimitz
Americans turned back a Japanese invasion force headed for Hawaii (naval battle)

6. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
August 1942, Guadalcanal
MacArthur
Americans dealt Japan its first defeat on land. Eventually 31,000 of the 36,000 Japanese on the island were killed

7. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
October 1944, Leyte Gulf
MacArthur
Americans retook the Philippines and dealt a devastating blow to the Japanese navy

8. Kamikaze Attacks
The Battle of Leyte Gulf marked the first coordinated use of suicide attacks by Japanese pilots known as kamikaze (“divine wind”)
Japanese high command was now resorting to desperate tactics as Japan ran out of experienced pilots and the industrial capacity to continue making new weaponry

9. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
March 1945,
Iwo Jima
MacArthur
First Japanese “home-island” captured by the US
20,700 of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island were killed; about 6800 of the 60,000 US Marines who landed on Iwo Jima were killed
Badly damaged Japanese morale; placed Japan within easy bombing range for US bombers

10. Firebombing of Japan
Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the use of napalm (jellied gasoline) bombs on Japanese cities because his bombers were having trouble hitting their targets
The napalm was designed to start massive fires, which would ensure the destruction of the desired military targets, but would also lead to heavy losses of civilian life
Mar. 9, 1945: firebombing of Tokyo killed over 80,000; by the war’s end, 67 Japanese cities had been destroyed using napalm

11. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
June 1945, Okinawa
MacArthur
The Allies took the island from Japan
Most brutal battle of the Pacific war: about 125,000 Japanese killed and 12,500 Americans
Nearly 700,000 men fought in this battle (550,000 Americans)
Okinawa was needed to set up a base of operations for an invasion of Japan itself

12. Major Events of World War II
The Science of War
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
July 1945, Los Alamos
J. Robert Oppenheimer
The first atomic bomb was built, successfully completing Manhattan Project
US effort to build a new type of weapon that would unleash tremendous destructive energy by splitting uranium atoms – an “atomic bomb”
Led by Gen. Leslie Groves and researcher J. Robert Oppenheimer, the team produced 3 bombs
1 bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, leaving just 2 bombs for military use
Bombs were code-named “Fat Man” and “Little Boy”

13. A Question of Morality: To Drop the Bomb
Factors in U.S. Decision-Making:
American military casualties
By July 1945 over 1 million casualties
American POWs were dying in Japanese war camps
Japanese announced they would execute downed pilots
Americans wanted a quick finish to the war
The policy of unconditional surrender
U.S. wanted to assure the Soviets we would not negotiate with the Nazis
Reinforced FDR’s message about the struggle between good and evil
Did not want a repeat of the aftermath of WWI
Emerging problems with the Soviet Union
Soviets were locking horns over the fate of Eastern Europe (Poland & Germany)
Truman feared Soviet involvement in Asia would lead to a land grab to expand communist influence
The destructive power of the atomic bomb
The preservation of American values
U.S. did not choose to fight but were attacked
Japanese fought in a brutal and uncivilized manner
Did the ends the U.S. pursued for four years of war justify the means at their disposal
The possibility of Japanese surrender
The U.S. had successfully blockaded the Japanese mainland and the people faced starvation
The Japanese secretly approached the Soviets to act as a third-party to negotiate peace (Soviets did not declare war on Japan until August 1945)

15. Major Events of World War II
The Science of War
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
August 1945, Hiroshima & Nagasaki
Harry S Truman
Japan was warned that unless they surrendered immediately and without conditions, they faced “prompt and utter destruction”
When the Japanese did not reply, orders were given to destroy the industrial city of Hiroshima. August 6, 1945: The B-29 Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on the city, destroying 76,000 buildings and killing over 120,000 people
When the Japanese still did not surrender, the B-29 Bock’s Car dropped “Fat Man” on the port of Nagasaki, killing over 50,000 on August 9, 1945
On the same day, the Soviets declared war on Japan and began to prepare to enter the war in the Pacific

19. Major Events of World War II
The War in the Pacific
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
September 1945, Tokyo Bay
Hirohito, MacArthur
Japan formally surrendered (V-J Day)
Faced with destruction on an unforeseen scale (and unaware that the US had no more atomic bombs to use), Emperor Hirohito ordered his government to surrender unconditionally
Fighting stopped August 15, 1945 (“V-J Day”)
Formal surrender took place on September 2, 1945
As part of the terms of surrender, Japan was occupied by U.S. forces until Apr. 1952

21. Major Events of World War II
Planning and Rebuilding for Peace
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
February 1945, Yalta
FDR, Churchill and Stalin
Allied leaders made decisions about the post war world (Germany divided into four zones; USSR joined war against Japan);
Hold free elections in Poland
United Nations Created

22. Major Events of World War II
Planning and Rebuilding for Peace
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
April 1945, San Francisco
United Nations (UN) established

23. Major Events of World War II
Planning and Rebuilding for Peace
Date and Place
Leaders Involved
What Happened?
, Nuremberg
U.S. Justice Robert Jackson
At the Nuremberg trials, Nazi leaders were tried for wartime crimes