World War II: Pacific Theater & Aftermath

kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who loaded their planes with explosives and crashed them into American ships.

V-J Day

"Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945

Hiroshima

City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II.

Midway

A famous battle which was turning point where American naval forces defeated Japanese naval forces.

Manhattan Project

Code name for the secret United States project set up in 1942 to develop atomic bombs for use in World War II

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

Nuremberg Trials

A series of court proceedings held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for aggression, violations of the rules of war, and crimes against humanity.

Internment camp

Detention centers where more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were relocated during World War II by order of the President.

Iwo Jima

One of the Bloodiest battles in the war, a fight to the death for Japanese soldiers, as the Americans were coming closer to Japan

Little Boy

Name of the bomb that exploded over Hiroshima

island hopping

WWII strategy of conquering only certain Pacific islands that were important to the Allied advance toward Japan. The US took control of numerous Pacific islands to get close enough to Japan to attack.