The Japanese Advance

• Hours after Pearl HarborJapanese warplanes attacked Clark Field, the main American air base in the Philippines

• Dec. 8 Wake Island and Dec. 10 Guam attacked

• Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commanding general and troops at Clark Field withdrew to Australia”I Shall Return”

Wake

• March 1942 Japanese troops overrun the British strongholds of Hong Kong, Singapore, and Burma

• Japan’s offensive pushed British and American forces aside and brought SE Asia under Japanese control

The Philippines Fall• By May 1942 the Japanese captured 76,000

Filipinos and Americans as POWS• Bataan Death Marchprisoners were forced

to march 70 miles to a railroad and shipped to an army camp– Prisoners treated brutally– 10,000 prisoners died during the 6-12 day journey

• Japan’s treatment of prisoners violated the Geneva ConventionPOWs treated well

The Bataan Death March

Open the following link, read the story, and answer the four questions

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1737.html

The War at Sea

• With the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan did not destroy the heart of the Pacific fleet: Lexington, Enterprise, and Saratoga

• April 1942American B-52s took off from aircraft carrier Hornet and flew 650 miles to Japan

• Lt. Colonel James Doolittle’s squadron dropped bombs on Tokyoshocked Japanese leadership and boosted Allied morale.

Battle of the Coral Sea• Japanese forces moved toward Australia• May 1942 American navy engaged superior

Japanese fleet in the Coral Sea

Five Day Battle Resulted in a Draw

• U.S. lost the Lexington and the Yorktown was damaged

• Japan lost two aircraft carriers and most of their airplanes

• RESULT: Prevented Japan from invading Australia

• First naval combat carried out entirely by aircraftcarriers were 70 miles apart

The Battle of Midway

• Midway was a vital island in protecting Hawaii• Began on June 4, 1942• Japanese bombers struck first, BUT American

warplanes counterattacked• Americans sank all 4 Japanese aircraft carriers• Japan lost 4 carriers, 250 planes and most of

their skilled pilotsTHE TURNING POINT IN THE PACIFIC!!

The Battle of Guadalcanal• Solomon Islands off the coast of

AustraliaJapanese air base being built to launch attack on Australia

• 11,000 marines landed on island2,200 Japanese fled into the jungle

• Lasted 5 months—Americans controlled waters

Island-hopping

• A strategy of selectively attacking enemy-held islands

• Oct. 1944 General MacArthur returned to the Philippines with 160,000 troops

Battle of Leyte Gulf

• 280 warships battled for 3 days• Heavy use of kamikazes or suicide planes• US Navy destroyed virtually entire Japanese

navy• Philippines liberated from Japan

Greatest naval battle in world history!!

Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Feb 1945 US marines invaded Iwo Jima, 700 miles from Japan

• April to June 1945—Battle of Okinawa, 350 miles from Japan– Allies victorious, but costliest engagement in the

Pacific– 50,000 American troops dead

The Manhattan Project

• In 1939 Albert Einstein escaped from Germany to the U.S.informed FDR of Germany’s atomic capability

• FDR created the Manhattan Project, a top secret project to develop an atomic bomb

• July 16, 1945world’s first atomic bomb exploded in New Mexico desert

The Decision to Drop the Bomb

• Ways to end the war:– Massive invasion of Japancost millions of Allied

casualties– Naval blockade of Japan– Demonstrate the power of the bomb

• Harry S. Truman became President in April 1945 after FDR’s death

• Truman decided to drop the bomb

Japan Surrenders• Aug. 6, 1945 the Enola Gay

dropped a single atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a city in southern Japan– 80,000 dead and city destroyed

• Aug. 9 a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki

• Aug. 15, Americans celebrated V-J Day (Victory in Japan)

• Formal surrender agreement signed on Sept. 2, 1945