APUSH Lecture Ch. 26 The Pacific War

APUSH Lecture Ch. 26 The Pacific War

1. Part II: Pacific Front

2. Path to Pearl Harbor
1. 1921- Japanese forced to keep fewer
battleships/cruisers than British and
American forces. Does not however
mention carriers
2. 1937
(a) The Japanese begin the invasion of
mainland China; American government
responds by placing trade embargoes on
items with Japanese.
(b) The Pearl Buck novel The Good Earth
and later, the film version, humanized the
victims of Japanese aggression in China.
(c) Panay Incident: Despite American
sympathies, no desire to enter into war
with Japan. U.S.S. Panay sunk by
Japanese bombers as it was anchored in
the Yangtze river.

4. Path to Pearl Harbor
After the Panay incident there was still little interest
for war. In fact, the opposite occurred. Indiana
Rep. Louis Ludlow proposed a constitutional
amendment requiring a national referendum for a
declaration of war (except in case of invasion)
•Gallup poll showed bill had 73% approval by
public
•Failed in the House by a vote of 209 to 188
3. Nov. 26, 1941 - Cordell Hull sends message
demanding Japanese remove troops from China
and recognize Chiang Kai-shek as leader of China.
Hull’s message states US will relax boycott, only if
Japanese surrender Chinese territory (a humiliation
to Japanese)
4. Nov. 27, 1945 - Hideki Tojo gives the go ahead
with Operation Z

5. Planning for the Attack
Pearl Harbor
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto planned attack
- admired America (witnessed industrial
power)
- did not believe in success of a
Japanese-American war
- Yamamoto set up special groups of
fighters who would target specific ships
- a mock harbor was constructed for
practice in 1945
Hiding Operation Z
- Nagumo mandated radio silence of all
ships in weeks prior
- scout ship sails the same voyage in
October of ’41
- Nagumo sails Japanese fleet inside a
major ocean storm to hide the ships

9. Pearl Harbor - December 7th, 1941
The strike on Pearl Harbor
6 Japanese Carriers send 183 planes
on two bombing runs to Pearl
Harbor (7:49 AM)
American defenses were terrible
only 4 of 33 flak batteries were
operational
3/4 of the 780 anti-aircraft
weapons on the ships were
unmanned
By 8:12 the Arizona, Oklahoma,
Utah and California were
destroyed.
American losses...
8 battleships, 11 other warships, 188
military aircraft and 2,403 lives lost.

10. The Fall of the Philippines
Dec. 8, 1941 - Japanese coordinate
attack on Philippines with attack on
American base at Pearl Harbor
Massive air raids take place
from 2 Japanese carriers,
supported by another 30
destroyers
Forces of US Navy retreat in
the area (abandoning thousands
of US troops)
•Gen. Douglas MacArthur
commands 16,000 US troops, plus
12,000 Filipino soldiers
•MacArthur improperly defends the
flanks and his group is forced to
retreat further down the Bataan
Peninsula
•MacArthur is forced to leave but
claims “I shall return”

11. Bataan death march
•American and Filipino troops number 83,000
plus another 26,000 civilians are forced to
surrender on April 8, 1942
•POWs forced to march 50 miles uphill and
through jungle to reach prisoner camp.
•Over 25,000 die of wounds, disease or starvation

12. Battle of Coral Sea -
May 4-8, 1942
The Battle of the Coral Sea is the
first major sea battle where the main
combatant ships never see each
other.
The Battle of the Coral Sea
developed from US Navy counter-
moves to oppose the Japanese the
invasion of Port Moresby on the
southern coast of New Guinea.
The Battle of Coral Sea was a
strategic allied victory(stalemate):
•Port Moresby was saved.
•Weakened Japanese navy prior to
Midway battle
•In the first carrier-to-carrier
confrontation, the US Navy was
found to be an effective opponent
(built confidence)
Yorktown damaged, but repaired in
time for Midway

14. Midway - June 4-7 1942
The Doolittle Raid
April 18 - USS Hornet launches 16 B-25
bombers at Tokyo
-13 of 16 successfully bomb Japanese
targets and 71 of the 80 pilots survive
-Raid creates fear in Japanese high
command for Emperor Hirohito’s safety
- Yamamoto suggests extending Japanese
Pacific control further to the S. East
Decryption
Japanese became careless with signals
American cryptanalysts identify radio traffic
noting “Operation MI” which has AF as
the target.
Believing the location to be Midway Is a
message is sent from Midway claiming to
be short on fresh water.
Message is mentioned by Japanese as
originating from target AF (cover blown)

15. Midway - June 4-7
1942
The Fatal Five Minutes
American Navy overmatched by Japanese fleet at Midway 4 to 3
Land-based aircraft the one key advantage for US (B-29
bombers pose serious threat to Japanese carriers)
Japanese 1st bombing raid
concern over land based bombers leads to first attack by
Japanese on Midway Island naval bases
Japanese 2nd bombing raid
Still concerned - Admiral Nagumo decides to bomb Midway
Island again
While Japanese planes are away, Americans attack but are
largely unsuccessful. Most planes are shot down by Japanese
Zeros
Luck....? and the Fatal Strike
Because Japanese Zeros were engaged in fighting at sea level,
they failed to spot Enterprise’s bombing squadron
Lt.-Com Wade McClusky - leads a dive bombing raid
Within 5 minutes (10:25 and 10:30) three Japanese carriers were
destroyed

16. Midway - June 4-7 1942
Outcome
The outcome of the Battle of Midway is a
decisive American victory:
•The Japanese carrier force had been smashed,
losing all 4 of the fleet carriers present - 4 of
the 6 total available to Japan and 322 planes and
top pilots
•The Japanese naval air units, the best in the
world had been destroyed, mostly sunk with
their carriers. All the replacements produced
from here on were of a lesser quality. The
survivors had also been dealt a blow to their
morale - a proof that they were not invincible.
Japanese naval advantage was lost
permanently.
•1942-44 Japanese launch 6 fleet carriers to 17
American carriers (plus 86 smaller carriers)
•The “tide stick” of the war

20. 120

24. 124

25. 125

27. Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere pt.2

28. Guadalcanal Aug. 7 - Feb. 9, 1943
•After the Japanese are halted at
Midway, the allied powers begin a push
back towards the Japanese mainland.
•Guadalcanal (Aug. 7-Feb 9, 1943)
also known as Operation Watchtower is
the start of the allied offensive against
the Japanese.
•Tarawa - Nov. 1943 - the capture of
Tarawa and later the Marshall Islands
was necessary to establish a launch
point toward the Philippines islands.
•Tarawa - Japanese make a ‘death
charge’ resulting in 325 deaths.
Nimitz switches to a ‘wither on the
vine’ policy toward smaller island
fortifications.

30. On the second day of Guadalcanal we captured a
big Jap supply hut with all kinds of beer and
supplies ... But they also found a lot of pictures of
Marines that had been cut up and mutilated on
Wake Island. The next thing you know there are
Marines walking around with Jap ears stuck on their
belts with safety pins. They issued an order
reminding Marines that mutilation was a court-
martial offense ... You get into a nasty frame of mind
in combat. You see what's been done to you. You'd
find a dead Marine that the Japs had booby-trapped.
We found dead Japs that were booby-trapped. And
they mutilated the dead. We began to get down to
their level.

31. Island Hopping
campaign
Campaign starts in
1944 as a way to speed
up the Pacific War and
reduce casualties
Philippines are
liberated in Oct. of
1944
•American
submarine corp is
key component
Island Hopping - a
campaign used by the
allies in the Pacific to
reduce casualties and
speed up the war
towards Japan

32. Leyte Gulf -
Oct. 23-26,1944
•Japanese extremely outnumbered
with less skilled pilots
•Battle of Leyte Gulf destroys
remaining Japanese Navy
•US navy now unmatched in the
Pacific War
•For Douglas MacArthur it is his
moment of the war.

33. FDR’s Strategic Dilemma
Failure of Chiang Kai-shek to
stabilize China created unrest
on the part of the US
Soviet Union was finishing up
military offensives in Europe
and would now be shifting to
the pacific
1904-5 Russian loss to Japan
bothered Stalin
FDR weakens his stance in
dealing with Stalin to delay his
entry into the Pacific Front

34. Iwo Jima - Feb. 1945 - Okinawa - Apr. 1945
Iwo Jima - Feb 19, 1945
- 20,500 Japanese Killed
to 6,000 Americans
1/3 of all Marines who
fought on Iwo Jima died
Okinawa - March to June 1945 -
was the last defensive outpost
before mainland Japan. Most
soldiers fought to the death
66,000 Japanese died...only 17,000
wounded
U.S. 12,000 died and 39,000
wounded

35. Firebombing vs. Atomic Bomb

36. Before Hiroshima
•Firebombing - more deaths
and damage occurred because
of firebombing than the two
atomic bombs.
•Examples
–Dresden - killed 300,000 people
–Tokyo - killed 100,000 people
•Most of the deaths in
firebombing were innocent
civilians of no military
importance.

38. Dresden

39. Dresden

40. Dresden

41. Dresden

42. The Start of the Nuclear Age

43. Should the U.S. have used atomic weapons on Japan?
Reasons For Reasons Against
•Japan would have surrendered by
Nov 1945
•Inflated casualty estimates
•Did not give Japan significant
warning
•Why 2?
•Forever change nature of warfare
•Bombs were untested on people
and destruction was relatively
unknown.
•Killed civilians—women and
children
•Radiation poisoning, birth defects and
contamination would have negative
effects on the population.
•To end the war quickly
•US officials estimated conquest of Japan’s
empire would last an additional 18
months to 2 years.
•To avoid invasion of Japan—save
American lives
•US officials estimated Allied casualties at
1/2 to 1 1/2 million, in addition to huge
Japanese losses if there was an
invasion of Japan.
•Japanese refused to surrender. It was
estimated an invasion similar to D-Day
was needed to bring the war to an end.
•To intimidate the Soviet Union
•Justifying $2 billion spent on the
Manhattan project
•Racism
•Japan was asked to surrender
before the bombs

44. Manhattan Project - 1939-1946
Robert Oppenheimer and General
Leslie Groves in charge
The program accelerated into
production starting in 1942; 3 bombs
are built:
Trinity Test in Los Alamos, NM -
bomb named “the Gadget”
- 1st test, July 16, 1945...and it worked
Much debate on whether or not the U.S.
should use such as weapon
Dr. Robert Oppenheimer
Major General

Lesley R. Groves

45. Robert Oppenheimer: the Manhattan Project































“ Now I am become
Death, the destroyer of
worlds”

46. Tragedy of the USS
Indianapolis
USS Indianapolis top secret
mission to deliver the Atomic
Bomb
Was hit by two torpedoes from a
Japanese sub on July 30, 1945
Of the 1,196 aboard, about 900
made it into the water in the
twelve minutes before she sank.
Shark attacks began with
sunrise of the first day and
continued until the men were
physically removed from the
water, almost five days later.
Only 317 survived.

47. Start of the Atomic
Age
•FDR Dies: April 12, 1945
•Leaves President Truman
in the midst of a crisis.
•Potsdam Conference - July
26, 1945 - President
Truman issued an
ultimatum of
unconditional surrender to
the Japanese or face “utter
destruction”

48. Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
August 6, 1945
Paul Tebitts in B-29
bomber “Enola Gay”
drops the first bomb “little
boy”
70,000 instantly killed in
Hiroshima
Most Buildings within 1.5
mile radius were destroyed
August 9, 1945
2nd bomb is dropped “Fat
Man”
85,000 killed in Nagasaki

57. 157

59. 159

62. Surrender ceremonies on the USS Missouri

63. Japanese
Surrender
on the USS
Missouri
Sept 2, 1945

64. Hiroshima, Aug 6 à Nagasaki, Aug 9

Sep 2, 1945 à unconditional surrender

65. 300,000 dead, over 800K
wounded
$320 billion cost
National debt rose from
$50 Billion in 1941 to
$250 billion by 1945
End of Depression
Joined United Nations
Only major power
without significant
physical damage
RESULTS OF THE
SECOND WORLD
WAR

66. 7 Future American Presidents Views of the World Were Formed by
Service in WWII