2. 1942-1945

3. I. Japanese Advancement II. US Strategy III. End of the War

4.  Battle of Midway  Manhattan Project

5.  By the spring of 1942 the Japanese controlled a huge empire with a diameter of about 5,000 miles, a population of 450 million, and a self- supporting economy.

6.  The Japanese plan was to control the eastern Pacific so they could deprive the US of military bases and cut its access to Australia and New Zealand.

8.  Took place early June 1942  The mission of the Japanese fleet was to lure what was left of the US Pacific Fleet into combat, destroy it, and occupy Midway.  All 4 Japanese carriers were sunk. The US lost 1 carrier but it had 4 remaining and 13 under construction.

9.  At Midway Japan lost air and naval superiority in the Pacific.  In May and August of 1943 the army retook the Aleutian Islands.

10.  In August 1942 American forces launched the first ground offensive in the Pacific Theater when marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

11.  Because of disputes between the army and navy a 2 pronged attack was aimed at the Japanese Islands.  The army went south and the navy went north.  US submarines sank more than 1,300 Japanese ships, including 8 aircraft carriers.

12.  Half of Japan’s merchant fleet was destroyed by the beginning of 1945.  In November 1944 B-29 bombers began the long-range bombing of the Japanese homeland.  A bombing of Tokyo in March 1945 killed over 100,000 people.

13.  It was thought that an invasion and occupation of the Japanese homeland could cost as many as 1 million Allied casualties.  By the end of the Okinawa campaign there had been 2,550 kamikaze suicide missions of which 475 had secured hits or damaging near misses.  The Japanese held back over 5,000 planes to meet the forthcoming invasion of the home islands.

14.  At Yalta, Stalin had promised that he would come into the war against Japan 3 months after the defeat of Germany.  FDR and Churchill promised Stalin Chinese territories in return.  Yalta was an attempt to ensure that the USSR came into the war at the most advantageous time for the US and to limit its expansion.

15.  Died on April 12, 1945 at Warm Springs, Georgia from a stroke.

16.  It started in June 1942  On July 16, 1945 the first atomic bomb was detonated in New Mexico.

17.  August 6 an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima killing 87,500 people in less than 5 minutes.  August 9 an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing 39,000 people.

18.  Atomic bomb was viewed simply as more cost- effective and efficient way of ending the war  It was seen as a way to intimidate the Soviet Union and ending the war before the Soviet Union could gain too much territory in Asia.

19.  Between the 2 atomic raids the USSR declared war on Japan, easily occupying Manchuria and Korea  On August 15 the Japanese Emperor announced the Japanese surrender.

20.  60 million dead and millions more permanently maimed.  US had 295,000 killed and an additional 110,400 wounded.  China, Japan and the USSR were devastated

21.  Europe’s wealth and influence was destroyed.  Cold War