The War in the Pacific

Japan and the United States

Japanese Internment, 1942

Relocation & internment 110,000 Japanese Americans Pacific coast "War Relocation Camps,"

Executive Order 9066: Ability to designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," Used to target all people of Japanese ancestry

Korematsu v. United States : 1944, the US Supreme Court Case maintained legality of interment Grounds: need to protect against espionage outweighed 

individual rights

Japan, Propaganda, & Dehumanizing

The Savagery of the Pacific

Life Magazine, May 22 1944

“Arizona war worker writes her Navy boyfriend a thank-you note for the Japanese skull he sent

her. This skull of a Japanese soldier bears the

inscription: ‘Here is a good Jap -- a dead one!’”

Midway Island: June 4-7, 1942 The turning point in the Pacific

Halts Japanese expansion in the Pacific. Japanese plan

lure American ships into battle & permanently destroy the American war effort

Intercepted battle plans Admiral Chester Nimitz

Midway & Island Hopping Turning Point BUT

not an immediate turn around for either nation. Japan maintained its superiority US still building up navy

Island Hopping Campaign Avoid head on onslaught Attack strategically important islands

Poorly defended but allow slow crawl towards Japan

Bataan Death March Phillipines lost in 1942 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of

war marched 60 miles Death count:

Impossible to determine…estimates6,000- 18,000

“I came out of Bataan and I shall return“ Douglass MacArthur

US loses the Philippines but Douglas MacArthur promises a return…

Battle of Guadalcanal, 1942-43 First major offensive launched against Japan Allies overwhelmed the outnumbered Japanese

defenders First significant strategic victory for Allies Shifts the momentum of the Pacific

Japanese had continued moving south in the Pacific. Guadalcanal stops this

The Status Quo: 1944 Mid-1944 Japan controlled six million

square miles Victory meant controlling the seas.

Leyte Gulf: October, 1944 Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, 400 planes and

16 additional surface ships. Neutralizes Japanese Navy

US began bombarding outlying islands of Japan.

B-29 bombers – long range bombers attack Japan

“I have returned” -Douglas MacArthur

Iwo Jima (February-March, 1945) First American attack on the Japanese home

islands. Thus imperial soldiers defended their positions

tenaciously. Americans made use of naval and air support Japan fortified Iwo Jima

5,000 pillboxes and fortified caves 13,000 yards of tunnels. A key area of defense was Mt.Suribachi

Iwo Jima, Feb-March, 1945 Japan & US fought savagely

Japan had 21,000 men but only 1,000 taken prisoner, Americans 6,821 killed and nearly than 20,000 wounded.

Iwo Jima was 900 miles from Japan Allows US to bomb Japan, thereby reducing fuel

consumption & flying time Raising the Flag

Iwo Jima had one of the most famous images of the war Flag being raised on Mt. Suribachi

Campaign on Tokyo March, 1945 – B29 Bombers attacked Tokyo

Tokyo mostly constructed of wood US dropped more than 2,000 tons of incendiary

bombs Firestorm

More than 100,000 Tokyo residents were killed Japanese defenders on Okinawa aware of

what happened in Tokyo

Okinawa: The Last Battle, April 1945

April 1, 1945 1,300 US ships/50,000 men to invade 120,000 Japanese did not contest the landing.

Kamikazes Sunk more than 20 US ships 1,000 kamikaze pilots died during battle

Fighting ferocious. 110,000 Japanese defenders were killed. Civilians suffered losses between 70,000 and 160,000. United States lost 6,938 killed and 38 ships sunk.

Midway

Guadalcanal

Leyte Gulf

Iwo Jima

Okinawa

Potsdam Conference, July-August 1945

Participants Met to discuss how to punish

Nazi Germany Also… ATOMIC WEAPONS:

Truman informed both Churchill and Stalin of the A-Bomb

Potsdam Declaration Message to Japan, threatening total

destruction Told Japanese government to

submit to unconditional surrender

Winston Churchill -Harry Truman -Joseph Stalin

Manhattan Project

J. Robert Oppenheimer Gen. Leslie Groves

Operation Olympic Invasion of Japan?

Estimates 500,000 American soldiers killed Possible 1,000,000 casualties

Or…Atomic Bomb

Hiroshima & Nagasaki Why these cities?

largely untouched by previous bombing

Would allow assessment of weapon’s power

Hiroshima & Little Boy August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM The Enola Gay dropped ‘Little Boy’ on

Hiroshima Instantly kills an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year casualties to 90,000-

140,000 (due to radiation and other injury) 69% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed 7% severely damaged.

Paul Tibbets & Enola Gay

HIROSHIMA BEFORE

AFTER

Nagasaki & ‘Fat Man’ August 9, 1945 Nagasaki attacked at 11:02 a.m. Less killed by the second bomb: "Fat Man."

Death toll totaled 73,884 74,909 injured

NAGASAKI BEFORE/AFTER

Surrender Hirohito gave a recorded radio address to the

nation on August 15. He declared a surrender, announcing to the

Japanese populace the surrender of Japan. Official surrender signed on the USS

Missouri on September 2, 1945.

…THE END…for now…