The World at War

The Eastern Front and the War in the Pacific (1941–1942)

Imperial Japan and the War in the Pacific

Imperial Japan

•  Japan was a highly industrialized, democratic country

•  Great Depression led to economic problems

•  Nationalism linking fascism and the bushido code

Imperial Japan

•  Manchuria invaded in 1931

•  Japan invades China in 1937

•  Allied with Germany and Italy in 1938

•  Continues to invade much of the Pacific throughout WWII

•  Japanese occupation particularly brutal against the Chinese

•  Massacre of Nanking, 1937

–  300,000 killed

•  Treatment of prisoners of war brutal

Pearl Harbor and the Americans

Pearl Harbor

•  Pearl Harbor is an American base in Hawaii

•  Japan bombs American naval fleet on Dec 7, 1941

•  188 US aircraft were destroyed

•  8 US battleships damaged

•  2,403 Americans were killed

•  1,178 Americans were wounded

Declared War on December 7, 1941

“…a date which will live in infamy.”

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing — after they've tried everything else.”

– Winston Churchill

Canada at War Activity: Scrapbook Treasure Hunt