1. Victory in asia
Chapter 18 section 4

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

3. 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 with capture of Makin Island in Gilbert Islands

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

5. 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

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

7. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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