the war ends in the pacific
TRANSCRIPT
THE WAR ENDS IN THE PACIFICUNIT 8: WWII
EARLY JAPANESE SUCCESS
Japan invades SE Asia after Pearl Harbor
Bataan Death March: American and Filipino prisoners forced to march 65 miles; 11,000 die
1942, Doolittle Raid
U.S. launches risky air strike on Tokyo to boost American morale, drain Japanese morale
Seen as revenge for Pearl Harbor
“The Japanese people had been told they were invulnerable ... An attack on the Japanese
homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt
about the reliability of their leaders. There was a second, and equally important,
psychological reason for this attack ... Americans badly needed a morale boost.”
A TURNING POINT
Battle of Midway
U.S. stop Japanese invasion of Midway (U.S. base that guards Hawaii)
due to advance in code breaking
Japanese Navy permanently damaged; U.S. now on offensive
Japanese: Four fleet carriers sunk; one heavy cruiser sunk; 322 aircraft
destroyed; 5,000 sailors killed
U.S.: 147 aircraft destroyed; 300 sailors killed
THE ROAD TO TOKYO
U.S. begins island hopping strategy—ignore heavily defended
enemy positions; concentrate all resources on important islands
to form a path to Japanese mainland
Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle = success for U.S., but heavy casualties (26,000 killed or
wounded) and Iwo Jima not as useful as hoped for
U.S. CLOSES IN
1944, U.S. now close enough to launch B-29
bombing raids of Japanese mainland
Operation Meetinghouse: 100,000 Japanese
civilians killed by U.S. firebombs; 1,000,000 homeless
WAR’S END
Manhattan Project
U.S. successfully develops 2 atomic bombs; President Truman ordered their use on Japan
Little Boy dropped on Hiroshima—August 6, 1945
Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki three days later
USSR declared war on Japan, invaded Manchuria on same day
Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945
Most likely due to fear of USSR, not the a-bomb
WWII officially over
AFTER THE WAR
Tokyo Trial: Leaders of Japan put on trial for war crimes
Tojo convicted and executed by hanging in 1948
“It is natural that I should bear entire responsibility for the war in general, and, needless to say, I am
prepared to do so. Consequently, now that the war has been lost, it is presumably necessary that I
be judged so that the circumstances of the time can be clarified and the future peace of the world
be assured. Therefore, with respect to my trial, it is my intention to speak frankly, according to my
recollection, even though when the vanquished stands before the victor, who has over him the
power of life and death, he may be apt to toady and flatter. I mean to pay considerable attention to
this in my actions, and say to the end that what is true is true and what is false is false. To shade
one's words in flattery to the point of untruthfulness would falsify the trial and do incalculable
harm to the nation, and great care must be taken to avoid this.”
U.S. OCCUPATION
Allied forces under General MacArthur occupied Japan from 1945-1952
Goal = rebuild and reorganize Japan
Banned from maintaining armed forces
Gov’t assistance provided to civilians (very similar to FDR’s New Deal)
New Japanese constitution drafted by U.S.; modeled after Bill of Rights and other liberal European
constitutions
Education system reworked; modeled after U.S.
Large emphasis on economic growth
Why help rebuild?
Treaty of Versailles and WWII taught a lesson about danger of punishing losers of a war too harshly
U.S. OCCUPATION
Emperor Hirohito allowed to remain in power, but forced to
issue statement proclaiming himself human
In Japan, the emperor = the divine spirit of Japan itself; the living and
physical embodiment of Japan
“An absolute and unconditional defeat of Japan is the essential ingredient for a lasting
peace in the Orient. Only through complete military disaster and the resulting chaos can
the Japanese people be disillusioned from their fanatical indoctrination that they are the
superior people, destined to be overlords in Asia. Only stinging defeat and colossal losses
will prove to the people that the military machine is not invincible and that their fanatical
leadership has taken them the way to disaster . . . There must be no weakness in the
peace terms. However, to dethrone or hang the Emperor would cause tremendous and
violent reaction from all Japanese . . . Hanging the Emperor would be comparable to the
crucifixion of Christ to us. All would fight and die like ants. The position of the militarists
would be strengthened immeasurably. An independent Japanese army responsible only to
the Emperor is a permanent menace to peace. But the mystic hold the Emperor has on
the people . . . properly directed need not be dangerous. The Emperor can be made a
force for good and peace provided the military clique [around him] . . . is destroyed.”
--U.S. Brigadier-General Bonner Fellers, advisor to General Douglas MacArthur