Transcript Document

 Americans
could not celebrate V-E Day for long
 The war was still on in the Pacific
 Japan had conquered much of southeast Asia
 Hong Kong, French Indochina, Thailand, much
of mainland China, Dutch East Indies
 Japanese tried to capture the Philippines, but met
resistance from the Americans and General
MacArthur
 MacArthur evacuated to Australia; General
Wainwright surrendered on May 8, 1942
Doolittle’s Raid
 Air
raid on Japan launched from the aircraft carrier
Hornet
 Based
on theory that a plane could be launched from an
aircraft carrier
 Most
of the planes bombed Tokyo, but the damage
was modest
Battle of the Coral Sea
 The
main Allied forces in the Pacific were
Americans and Australians
 In
May 1942, they succeeded in stopping the
Japanese drive toward Australia in the 5 day Battle
of the Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
 Japan’s
next move was toward Midway Island
 Strategic
 Admiral
island northwest of Hawaii
Chester Nimitz moved to defend the
island
 America
won a decisive victory as their planes
destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 250 planes
 Battle
of Midway was a turning point
 Soon
the Allies were island hopping toward Japan
Kamikaze Pilots Attack Allies
 Japanese
countered Allied advances with a new
tactic
 Kamikaze,
which means divine wind, attacks were
suicide attacks by Japanese pilots
Iwo Jima
 General
MacArthur and the Allies next turned to
the island of Iwo Jima
 The
island was critical as a base for an attack on Japan
 It
was called the most heavily defended spot on
earth
 Allied
 Allies
and Japanese forces suffered heavy casualties
achieved victory in March 1945
Okinawa
 In April
 The
1945, U.S. Marines invaded Okinawa
Japanese unleashed 1,900 kamikaze attacks
 Sunk
30 ships and killed 5,000 sailors
 Okinawa
cost the Americans 7,600 Marines and
the Japanese 110,000 soldiers
Manhattan Project
 After
Okinawa, MacArthur predicted that a
Normandy type amphibious invasion of Japan
would result in 1.5 million Allied deaths
 President
Truman saw only one way to avoid an
invasion of Japan…
 Truman
decided to use a powerful new weapon—
the atomic bomb
 Developed
by scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 Truman
warned Japan in July 1945 that without an
immediate surrender, it faced “prompt and utter
destruction”
 This
was called the Potsdam Ultimatum
 Atomic
bombs were dropped in early August 1945
 Hiroshima—August
 Japan
6; Nagasaki—August 9
surrendered on August 14, 1945
 This
is known as V-J Day
Destruction from the atomic bomb
Yalta Conference
 In
Feb. 1945, an ailing FDR met with Churchill
and Stalin at Yalta in the USSR
 A series of compromises were worked out
concerning post-war Europe
 Germany
would be divided into 4 occupied zones
 Stalin agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe
 Stalin agreed to help in the war against Japan and to
join the United Nations
Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph
Stalin at Yalta in February 1945
Nuremberg War Trials
 The
discovery of Hitler’s death camps led the
Allies to put 24 Nazi leaders on trial
 Tried
for crimes against humanity, crimes against the
peace, and war crimes
Occupation of Japan
 Japan
was occupied for 7 years by U.S. forces
under General MacArthur
 He
reshaped Japan’s economy by introducing freemarket practices that led to remarkable economic
recovery
 Also introduced a liberal constitution known as the
MacArthur Constitution