Japanese Victories

-Pearl Harbor -Japan had many Victories in much of the Pacific Empire greater than Hitler’s -MacArthur retreats from the Philippines “Bataan Death March” for US prisoners of war -MacArthur pledges to return

America Recovers

Bombing of Tokyo April 1942 Known as Doolittle’s raid after Col. James Doolittle- increased morale of American troops -Coral Sea Battle: saved Australia from Japanese attack; first time Japan had been turned back air power in the navy: only used planes from carriers to inflict damage

America Recovers

-Battle of Midway, 1942

Adm. Chester Nimitz:

commander of US naval forces in the Pacific Midway: important point between US and Japan inflicted great damage to much larger Japanese fleet “Avenged Pearl Harbor” -Japan never recovered its naval power

Island Hopping

-as the U.S. built its naval and air advantage the Japanese fortified every island -U.S. bypasses many islands and takes weaker ones for airfields, uses air power to cut off the supplies of enemy -Guadalcanal, 1942 19,000 marines; 1 defeat for Japan but at high cost st land -Philippines, 1944 178,000 Allied troops and 738 ships- months later, Am. Took islands and freed POW’s

High Costs

-Japanese defending with every man - kamikaze attacks suicide bombers Iwo Jima, 1945 Critical base need by the US for airfields to launch invasion and attacks on Japan Most heavily defended place on earth 6,000 Marines die of 20,700 Japanese troops only 200 survived

High Costs

FDR dies after elected to 4 th term Harry S. Truman, his VP, becomes President He must decide on whether or not to drop the Atomic bomb

High Costs

-Okinawa, 1945 Last island between the US and Japan higher death totals 7,600 American deaths 110,000 Japanese -warnings of what invasion would cost of Japan’s homeland would cost fighting home to home, they would not surrender

Manhattan Project

-about 130,000 people at over 30 different sites worked in the project to develop the Atomic bomb -J. Robert Oppenheimer led the project at Los Alamos NM – testing ground -some scientists urged the gov’t not to use the weapon -Truman made the decision to use the weapon on Japan

Ultimate Weapon

-Before atomic weapon was used, airdrops of leaflets urged Japanese to surrender -Japanese leaders refuse to unconditionally surrender -August, 1945 the bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb over

Hiroshima est .- 100K dead

-another bomb dropped on

Nagasaki

– est. 50K dead -Japanese surrender -V-J Day (Victory over

Japan)

The Cost of Victory???

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Rebuilding the World

-Yalta Conference, 1945 meeting of the Big Three: US, England, and Soviet Union -Creation of the United

Nations

-Potsdam, July 1945 division of Germany into 4 sections- US, England, France, and Soviet Union



Nuremburg Trials

- war crimes - several Nazi leaders executed

Occupation of Japan

-General Douglas MacArthur - Reformed Japan’s economy - Established democratic government, their constitution called the MacArthur Constitution - Guaranteed basic freedoms, gave women suffrage Constitution still exists as Japan’s government

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The End