foner ch 21 pt 2 WWII: Pacific Theater major battles & atomic bomb

Why does the US not attack Japan at the beginning of WW2?

Dmg to naval fleets after Pearl Harbor and fear it'd be harder to defeat Germany & liberate GB if GB fell (FR fallen already by then)

Coral Sea (WWII)

May 7-8, 1942: US air force stop Japanese invasion of Australia ; new type of naval battle (emphasis on fighting in the air > sea ships, more aircraft carriers) ; stops Japanese expansion of control in east Asia

what have the Japanese been doing during ww2?

conquests of taking control of various East & South-East countries in Asia - planned to spread further east to Hawaii and south to Australia

Battle at Midway

On June 4-7, 1942, the U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet @ Midway, Hawaii ; US major advantage b/c decoded Japanese code --> Japanese suffered heavy loses of 4 of best aircraft carriers ; stops Japanese expansion east

Island Hopping

US military strategy used during WWII involving selectively capturing specific & strategically important islands to get in range of attacking Japan's main lands, bypassing heavily fortified islands

In the pacific theater, who led the army? who led the naval fleet? (ex. island hopping)

Douglas Macarthur led the army, Chester Nimitz led the naval fleet (in picture)

Battle at Leyte Gulf

Oct 23-26, 1944: largest WWII naval battle in history b/w US & Japan. Successfully liberated the Philippines & cut off Japanese access to the gulf's oil. - AKA 2nd Battle of the Philippines (1st US lost in 1941-42)

Bataan Death March (1942)

after the Battle of the Philippines 1941-42, the Japanese forced ~60,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war to march 100 miles with little food and water, most died or were killed on the way ---> Violates Geneva Convention --> intensified anti-Japanese sentiment in US (may have affected FDR's Executive Order 9066 & Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb)

Geneva Convention

international agreement/standards for humane treatment of prisoners of war, wounded soldiers, and civilians; established in 1929

Election of 1944

(Dem) FDR wins his 4th term vs. (Rep) Thomas Dewey; VP: Harry Truman

Battle of Iwa Jima

Feb-Mar 1945: costly but major victory for the US over Japan @ heavily fortified island of Iwa Jima; big moral boost for US (famous ww2 photo of rising US flag) (Took 100k+ US troops nearly a month to defeat the 25k Japanese soldiers)

Battle of Okinawa

Mar-Jun 1945: major Allied victory on the island of Okinawa, the first Japanese homeland island; now in range of attacking Japan's main lands ---> Bombing raids of Tokyo 1945

Why did Truman decide to use the atomic bomb?

Japan's "fight to the death" war attitude & wouldn't stop fighting unless the bomb was dropped, wanted unconditional surrender (but Japanese wanted emperor still alive), believed it would save lives -- (some believe b/c political move (others would use it or to scare other countries)

Manhattan Project

code name for the secret US project set up in 1942 by FDR to develop atomic bombs for use in WWII; led by J. Robert Oppenheimer

Conference of Yalta

1945 meeting b/w FDR, Churchill, & Stalin to discuss post-war world. Created new world peace organization "United Nations"; FDR sought Soviet military help against Japan (before having made bomb); Stalin agrees in return of some of Germany's occupation zones, promising "free & fair elections" (no bias for communism) ---> considered start of Cold war b/c Stalin breaks promise & communism spreads (irritating the US)

V-E Day

May 8, 1945; victory in Europe Day when the Germans surrendered & Berlin fell

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control, respond what to do about Nazi's genocidal actions --> Nuremburg Trials, and to issue a warning to the Japanese that if they refused to unconditionally surrender, they would be destroyed (bomb).

Nuremburg Trials (1945)

series of trials conducted by newly created International Military Tribunal in which former high-ranked Nazi officials were charged with crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes

when & where was the 1st atomic bomb dropped? (wwii)

August 6th, 1945: "Little Boy" by US plane "Enola Gay" on Hiroshima (Uranium bomb)

when & where was the 2nd atomic bomb dropped? (wwii)

August 9th, 1945: "Fat Man" on Nagasaki (Plutonium bomb)

Japanese surrender (ww2)

After US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan announces their surrender August 15th, 1945 ---> Formally sign surrender on Sep 2nd, 1945, ending the war

Trinity Test (July 16, 1945)

first atomic bomb test/detonation in Alamogordo, New Mexico