Transcript American History Chapter 18: World War II: Americans at War

American History Chapter
18: World War II:
Americans at War
IV. The War in the Pacific
Bell Ringer
What is the most important way the use of
nuclear weapons has changed the world?
 What were some events that led to the
war between Japan and the US?
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Objectives
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Learn about advances Japan made in Asia and
the Pacific in late 1941 and 1942.
See which Allied victories turned the tide of war
in the Pacific.
Read about the strategy of the US in the
struggle to reconquer the Pacific Islands.
Discover why the battles of Iwo Jima and
Okinawa were important.
Understand how the Manhattan Project brought
the war to an end.
A) Setting the Scene
General Douglas MacArthur – US
commander in the Pacific.
 Japan struck Wake, Guam, and the Clark
Field in the Philippines shortly after Pearl
Harbor.
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B) The Japanese Advance, 19411942
Japan hoped by attacking the US we
would withdraw and let them have the
natural resources
 Also attacked Britain – Hong Kong and
Singapore
 Dutch East Indies and Burma.
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a) The Philippines Fall
US trapped on the peninsula of Bataan – Navy
can’t rescue them
 80,000 US and Filipino troops forced to walk
60 miles without food or water in tropical heat
 MacArthur escapes – “I shall return”
20) Bataan Death March: 10,000 US and
Filipino troops died on the march off of
Bataan
21) Geneva Convention: an international
treaty calling for international standards
of conduct towards prisoners of war.
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b) Defending China and Burma
China joined the Allies in 1941
 American General Stilwell Jiang Jiechi’s
Chief of Staff
 “Flying Tigers”
 We loose the Burma Road
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c) The War at Sea
3 US carriers escaped Pearl Harbor –
Lexington, Enterprise, and Saratoga
 Doolittle Raid – April 1942, bombers flown off
of a carrier Hornet bomb Tokyo and land in
China – big moral boost
 Japan tries to take Australia
22) Battle of the Coral Sea: First naval battle
fought entirely in the air – draw
 Did stop the invasion of Australia
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US looses Lexington and the Yorktown is badly damaged
Japan looses 1 and 2 others heavily damaged
C) Allied Victories Turn the Tide
23) Battle
of Midway: Japan attacks the
Islands of Midway – US sink 4 carriers
and shoot down 250 planes – US loses 1 carrier
(Yorktown) – US wins - Turning point
of the Pacific War
 Midway was a US trap – broke code
24) Battle of Guadalcanal: US first
offensive in the Pacific – US win
D) Struggle for the Islands
Island-hopping: US battle plan for Pacific –
take selective Islands to get to Japan faster –
(runways)
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US take Solomon Islands, Gilbert Islands, Tarawa,
Marshall Islands and Mariana Islands (B-29)
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Admiral Bull Halsey and Chester Nimitz
26) Battle of Leyte Gulf – first attack on the
Philippines – Japan attacks with everything –
US win
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80,000 Japanese dead – 1,000 surrendered
27) Kamikazes: suicide planes that deliberately
crashed into US ships – not effective
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“Divine wind”
25)
E) Iwo Jima and Okinawa
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Iwo Jima
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 Japan 100,000
 US 180,000
 US casualties 50,000
 Japan 7,200 survivors
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US bombed Island for 74
days
Japan 25,000 – US 110,000
Japan 216 survivors – US
25,000 casualties
US 27 medals of honor
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Flag on Mt. Surabachi
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Okinawa
350 miles from Japan
F) The Manhattan Project
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Invasion of Japan scared US siliy (400,000)
Albert Einstein wrote a letter to Roosevelt
saying an atomic bomb was possible and that
the Germans might have one
28) Manhattan Project: US program that
built an atomic bomb
 J. Robert Oppenheimer “Now I have become
Death, the destroyer of worlds”
 Roosevelt's death
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The Decision to Drop the Bomb
a massive invasion would cost millions of US
and Japanese lives
2) A naval blockade – take time –starve
3) A demonstration on a deserted island to
pressure the Japanese to surrender
4) Something less then unconditional surrender
 Interim Committee debated these ideas –
Truman said go ahead
 Wanted the Soviets to see it.
1)
Japan Surrenders
August 6th 1945 – the Enola Gay dropped
an atomic bomb on Hiroshima – 80,000
died
 August 9th – 1945 Nagasaki was hit
 August 14th the Japanese surrendered
 Sept 2 – official signing on the USS
Missouri in Tokyo Bay
 WWII was over
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Review
What advances did Japan make in Asia
and the Pacific in late 1941 and 1942?
 Which Allied victories turned the tide of
war in the Pacific?
 What was the strategy of the US in the
struggle to reconquer the Pacific islands?
 How did the Manhattan Project bring the
war to an end?
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