25.3 The War in the Pacific
Objectives: 1. To identify key turning points in the war in the Pacific
2. Explain the developments and debates concerning the use of the atom bomb.
3. Describe the challenges faced by the Allies in building a just and lasting postwar peace.
Allies Stem the Japanese Tide Japan is expanding at a rapid
pace
Gen. Douglas McArthur is pushed out of the Philippines “I shall return”
April 1942, Doolittle air raids Tokyo and other cities
Japanese realize they aren’t invincible
Allied finally stop the Japanese advance at Battle of Coral Sea
Battle of Midway June 1942, Admiral Chester
Nimitz found out that 110 Japanese ships were moving toward Midway, then Hawaii
Americans surprised the Japanese and scored a HUGE victory
322 planes, four AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, and a cruiser destroyed
Americans “avenged Pearl Harbor”
Island Hopping
What is it?Why did America do it?
Americans gain in pacific Americans score a
victory at Guadalcanal
Then they regain the Philippines after Battle of Leyte Gulf “People of the
Philippines: I have returned”
Japanese test out their Kamikaze method
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
Iwo Jima and Okinawa Iwo Jima
6,000 marines killed 20,500 Japanese killed
Okinawa 1,900 Kamikaze attacks 7,600 Americans killed 110,000 Japanese killed
Americans did not want to invade Japan….why not??
The Manhattan Project Best kept secret of the war
Creation of an atomic bomb
Truman didn’t even know about it!
J. Robert Oppenheimer lead the research in New Mexico
Tested in N. Mexico, could see flash from 180 miles away!
Hiroshima and nagasaki Should they use the bomb? Drop it on an empty island?
Reasons to use it: 1. Nothing less than
dropping it on a city would convince them
2. The test might be a dud 3. Might shoot down the
delivery plane or move American POWs to the island
USA warned Japanese of “prompt and utter destruction”.
August 6 – dropped on Hiroshima
August 9 – dropped on Nagasaki
Approximately 200,000 people killed from the blasts
“I cannot bear to see my innocent people suffer nay longer” - Emperor Hirohito
Sept. 2 – Japanese surrender aboard the Missouri
nagasaki“ They say temperatures of 7,000 degrees centigrade hit me…Nobody there looked like human beings…Humans had lost the ability to speak. People couldn’t scream, “It hurts!” even when they were on fire. People with their legs wrenched off. Without heads. Or with faces burned and swollen out of shape. The scene I saw was a living hell.”
- Yamaoko Michiko
Yalta Conference Feb. 1945
Big 3 meet in Yalta, USSR
USSR joins fight against Japan, promises free elections
Discuss ideas for a new international peacekeeping body
New World Order (?) Nuremburg Trials: 1945
Trial of Nazi and German Military Leaders
Foundations of International Human Rights
Division of Germany among “Big Four” US, UK, USSR, and France East and West Germany
Military Administration of Germany and Japan Gen. MacArthur runs Japan,
writes democratic constitution
TERMS Douglas MacArthur Chester Nimitz Kamikaze Manhattan Project J. Robert
Oppenheimer Hiroshima Nagasaki Yalta Conference United Nations (U.N.) Nuremberg Trials
Objectives: 1. To identify key turning
points in the war in the Pacific
2. Explain the developments and debates concerning the use of the atom bomb.
3. Describe the challenges faced by the Allies in building a just and lasting postwar peace.
