WORLD WAR II IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

DECEMBER 1937• Japanese troops take the Chinese

capital of Nanking

• During the first few months of their occupation of the city, Japanese soldiers massacre more than 100,000 people and commit other atrocities

• This episode will become known as the “Rape of Nanking”

JULY 1940• Japanese troops invade French

Indochina

• The United States responds to Japanese aggression by suspending all oil exports to Japan

NOVEMBER 1941• Diplomacy between Japan and the

U.S. breaks down;

• President Roosevelt issues an ultimatum to Emperor Hirohito: remove all Japanese troops from China and Indochina

• A Japanese fleet including 6 aircraft carriers secretly leaves northern Japan and steams towards the U.S. colony of Hawai’i

THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR• The Japanese knew that they faced an enormous disadvantage in industrial

capability in a war with the United States

• They decided to risk everything on a surprise attack

• Goals of the surprise attack:

• 1) Devastate the American Pacific Fleet, buying the Japanese time to gain control of the Western Pacific

• 2) Demoralize the American people

• Dec. 7, 1941—Japan launched a massive aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i

• Results:

• 18 ships sunk or damaged; 350 airplanes destroyed or damaged; 3500 people killed or wounded

• Although the American battleship fleet was devastated by the attack, most of the U.S. aircraft carriers were at sea on a training mission and escaped damage

JAPANESE VICTORIES• Throughout the winter and spring of 1942, the

Japanese won a series of victories that gave them control of Southeast Asia, the East Indies, and the Western Pacific

• December 1941—Japan seizes American colonies and bases on Wake Island and Guam

• January 1942—Japan completes its conquest of the Philippines

• February 1942—Japan defeats an Allied fleet in the Battle of Java Sea

• This victory gives Japan control of the Dutch East Indies

• April 1942—American and Philippine prisoners undergo a 60-mile forced march through the Philippine jungles; the “Bataan Death March”

• Thousands of prisoners die of starvation and mistreatment during the march

TURNING POINTSMay-June, 1942

BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA• May 7-8, 1942

• American naval forces defeated the Japanese Southern Fleet, ending the threat of a Japanese invasion of Australia

• First naval battle in history in which the enemy ships never fired a shot at each other;

• The entire battle consisted of each side’s carrier-launched warplanes attacking the enemy ships

BATTLE OF MIDWAY• June 4-6, 1942

• The Japanese sought to capture the American military base on Midway Island, which would have put them within striking distance of Hawai’i

• Shortly before the battle, the Americans had broken the Japanese radio code—so they knew the attack was coming

• When the Japanese fleet approached Midway, there was an American fleet waiting for them

• The Americans sunk four Japanese aircraft carriers, crippling their offensive capability

• This was the turning point of the War in the Pacific

AMERICAN STRATEGY

• After turning the tide of the Pacific War at the Coral Sea and Midway, the Americans employed a 2-prong offensive against Japan:

• 1) The Army, led by General Douglas MacArthur would work its way from New Guinea to the Philippines in the south;

• 2) The Navy and Marines would advance across the central Pacific, using a strategy called “island hopping”

• Island Hopping: Attacking certain Japanese-help islands, but skipping (“hopping”) over others;

• Each island that was captured became a base for air attacks, and for launching further attacks

THE AMERICAN OFFENSIVE

COMBAT IN THE PACIFIC

• By most accounts, combat in the Pacific Theater was much more brutal than combat in Europe

• This was primarily due to three factors:

• 1) Geography: Almost every battle involved an amphibious landing

• 2) Climate: The islands on which much of the Pacific War was fought were composed mainly of tropic jungles

• 3) Culture: The Japanese soldiers fought with a determination and maniacal spirit that were not seen from the Germans

THE BATTLES OF IWO JIMA AND OKINAWA

• Iwo Jima

• February-March 1945

• Americans: 7000 dead, 17,000 wounded

• Japanese: Almost all of the 22,000 Japanese defenders were killed

• Okinawa

• April 1945

• Americans: 12,000 dead

• Japanese: 100,000 dead

• The Battle of Okinawa saw the first use of kamikaze pilots by the Japanese

• The closer the Americans got to the Japanese mainland, the harder the Japanese fought