World War II

Pacific Theater

Bataan Death March

• Douglas MacArthur stationed with forces in Manila, Philippines– Following attack at Pearl Harbor, MacArthur failed to

mobilize forces and Japan eventually drove US forces into Bataan Peninsula, MacArthur ordered to Australia by FDR• US forces surrendered to Japan in April, 1942 after months of

fighting in Bataan, forced to march to San Fernando

– Japanese thought surrendering was dishonorable, soldiers faced death and beatings for food, water, and resting• 6,000-11,000 die during march to Camp O’Donnell 16,000 more

die in prison• MacArthur vows to “be back” to Philippines

Doolittle’s Raid

• James Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers to Tokyo, Japan from USS Hornet– Morale booster for Allies and avenged Pearl

Harbor attack, but virtually no significant damage• Showed Japan that they were not out of US reach

– Showed importance of Island Hopping campaign• Japan realized failure of sinking US carriers at Pearl

Harbor

Battles

• Battle of Coral Sea, May 1942– After Doolittle Raid, Japanese sought to maintain

defensive barrier around Japan-needed to take Australia

– Japanese continue Southern Operation into Solomon Islands to divide Australians from US• US knew where Japanese were going due to deciphering

Japanese codes, sent aircraft carriers to Coral Sea

– Five day battle marks first ever fought solely from aircraft carriers and first Japanese loss in WWII-although costs US more

Battles

• Battle of Midway, June 1942– Yamamoto tried to split US forces between North and

South after Coral Sea• Japanese attack the Aleutian Islands, Alaska• Admiral Chester Nimitz ignored attack because again the US

knew the Japanese codes– Protected Midway Island instead because he knew that was the main

target.

– Japanese attacked Midway on June 4, 1942• Winning until US torpedo bombers knocked out four

Japanese carriers

– Result: US now has more carriers than Japanese

Battles

• Battle of Guadalcanal, August, 1942-February, 1943– Japanese moved to build an airfield on Guadalcanal

form which to attack Allied shipping/soldiers/Australia• Americans moved into area due to Magic, the code

deciphering machine• US took the airfield within one day, driving the Japanese out

would take 7 more months due to Tokyo Express-high speed Japanese destroyers resupplying troops

– Result: US learned how to fight in the Jungle for further Island engagements.

Key Figures

• Chester Nimitz- commanding Naval officer of the Pacific

• Douglas MacArthur- Allied Commander-in-chief in Pacific

• Navajo Code Talkers- after turning tide in Pacific following Midway, US began to Island Hop towards Japan, acquiring key islands until Japan is reachable by bombers– Axis could never break Navajo because they did not

know of the language

Battles

• Mariana Islands, June-Aug. 1944• Saipan, Guam, and Tinian were less than 1,500 miles from

Japan– Violated inner-ring of Japanese defenses and provided bases for

new B-29 bombers• Attack began the same day as D-Day, US had perfected

amphibious operations, landing thousands of troops in minutes– Japanese were fanatical on interior islands, fighting until the

death of some 32,000 soldiers at Saipan, 18,000 at Guam, and 9,000 at Tinian• Japanese citizens committed suicide

Battles

• Battle of Philippines Sea, June 1944• While fighting for Marianas, Nimitz

intercepted Japanese supply plans– Ordered Navy fighter plans to intercept the

Japanese and the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot,” was underway• Americans outnumbered Japanese planes and carriers,

sunk or shot down 400 planes and 3 carriers

– Result: Defeat is inevitable for Japanese but they won’t surrender

Battles

• Battle of Leyte Gulf, October, 1944• Largest Naval battle in history, Japanese lost

half of remaining carriers and 100s of planes– Japanese introduce Kamikaze attacks – MacArthur cleared to invade Philippines and

rescue his men.• Battle of the Philippines, Jan-August 1945– MacArthur driving through the Philippines

capturing Japanese. Japanese panic and kill POWs

Battles

• Iwo Jima, February-March, 1945• Attacked by Nimitz because:– Housed radar facility, warning Japanese of US aerial attacks

from Mariana Islands– Runways there allowed B-29s to and from the Marianas on

way to Japan– Soft volcanic sand allowed Japanese to dig in and bunker

themselves in tunnels underground • Invasion was difficult• Result: battle for 75 days, US suffers many casualties

but Japanese suffer more.

Flag Raising at Iwo Jima

• Joe Rosenthal photographed 5 Marines re-raising US flag at Mount Suribachi-two days after the invasion– Original flag was taken down and kept as a

souvenir• Fighting went on for another month, flame

throwing tunnel-to-tunnel– US only took 500 POWs-all of them were too

injured to kill themselves

Battles

• Okinawa, April-June, 1945• The largest of the Ryuku Islands, stood 350 miles from

Japan and was defended by 77,000 Japanese soldiers– Last major battle of WWII began on Easter Sunday 1945,

consisted of largest amphibious assault in Pacific-possibly WWII

– Japan’s goal: Kill as many US soldiers as possible-no reinforcements or supplies coming for them• Many Kamikaze and civilian suicide bombers against US

• Result: US wins because of technology and industrial might.

Bombing Japan

• B-29 Superfortress had the range to cover 1,500 mile distances between Japan and Marianas

• Consistent success of raids wouldn’t come until Spring of 1945, after Iwo Jima secured, napalm invented

• Superfortress were protected by fighters like P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt

• 100,000s killed due to fire bombing, but Japanese refused to surrender

The Manhattan Project

• Einstein-Szilard Letter, 1939– Jewish scientists fled Nazi-Germany due to the

Nuremburg Laws• Einstein and Szilard wrote letter to FDR, explaining Germany’s

plan for the bomb and its potential power• FDR compelled to beat the Germans to the bomb

• Manhattan Project, 1942-1946– General Leslie Groves, US Army Corps of Engineers, and

physicist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, organized project that consisted of 600,000 people

– Secret project housed in Manhattan, NY

The Manhattan Project

• Intended to be used against Germans, wasn’t ready until July, 1945 after it was tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico

• Used against Japanese for three reasons– Japan wouldn’t surrender according to Allied terms– Impending invasion would be too costly– Truman doesn’t want too much help from USSR

• USS Indianapolis delivers “Little Boy” to Tinian to be dropped by the Enola Gay at Hiroshima, August 6th, 1945

• On August 9th, 1945, Bockscar drops “Fat Man” on Nagasaki

Conferences for Peace

• Yalta Conference, February 1945- Stalin, Churchill, and Truman meet to plan end of WWII:– Stalin declared war on Japan after Germany

surrenders-invaded Manchuria in August 1945– Created the United Nations– Germany divided into controlled areas– Democratic governments are freed-USSR broke

agreement

Conferences for Peace

• Potsdam Conference, July 1945- Truman, Stalin, and Attlee (UK), settled post-war Europe and Pacific:– Germany divided– War Criminals would face tribunals– Japan given ultimatum to surrender

• Potsdam Declaration:– Disarm– Be occupied– Face war crimes– Give up your taken territory during the war

War Trials

• Allies place German and Japanese officers on trial for war crimes against humanity– Trials were held in Tokyo and Nuremburg– Many top officials were executed for their

involvement with the war