Pacific War (Lecture)

ID Terms

Battle of Midway

June 1942

U.S. stopped Japanese movement into Indian Ocean

Naval Battle in the Pacific Ocean

Leapfrogging

Allies hop around fortified islands with air power/submarines, cut off supplies and isolate Japanese troops

island-hopping

New war strategy with tech advances (Planes, subs) yet doesn’t speed up war

Hiroshima

August 6th 1945

Reason war ended

Extreme civilian targeting, only 10% of military fatalities

70,000

Nagasaki

August 9th 1945

Reason war ended

Extreme civilian targeting, only 10% of military fatalities

74,000 killed

Invasion of Manchuria

1931 Japanese Military invades Manchuria in Northeast China under pretext

Beginning of WWII from Japanese perspective

Set up puppet state

Undeclared war with China

Nanking Massacre

Lasted 6 weeks 1937-1938

Japanese Army kills civilians in undefended Nanjing

Dehumanization major part of Japanese expansion in China

Extreme case of civilian targeting in WWII

Pacific 1939-1945

Japanese army takes Chinese-owned Manchuria without government support—> Naval Officer assassinates Prime Minister of Japan as military defects from the government for not supporting them—> Japan turns into a militarist state —> Failed coup

U.S. cuts off all oil to Japan to try and halt their war. Japan wants to build a block against European forces and colonization. Forced it on other countries e.g., China, Korea, Philippines, etc. Used these countries for raw materials for war. Japan spreads propaganda to free Asian countries from European colonies. But Japanese colonies do the same with equal or worse brutality. Disconnect between government message and military action. Racism as Japan believes they’re the superior Asian country

Why Japan wants to fight U.S.

  1. War not going well

  2. Authoritarian regime and ideological beliefs

  3. Great Depression failure of Western order

  4. WWI showed defects of the West

  5. Access to raw materials through colonialism

Pearl Harbor attacked Dec 7th, 1941 —> Dec 8th, U.S. and Britains delcare war —> Dec. 10 Japan attacks Philippines and Guam —→ Dec. 11th Guam —→ Dec 16th Borneo —> Dec 18th British Hong Kong —> Jan 30th British and Southeast Asia withdraw to Singapore —> Feb 15th British surrenders Singapore —> Battle of Midway

Island hopping —> defensive action on Japan still strong; costly on the U.S.; U.S. moves away from colonialism and towards bases; long retaking of lost territory; Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa; proved to U.S how difficult it’d be to take on Japanese home island on land —> August 6th and 9th first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki —> Japan surrenders soon after