The War in the Pacific
Ch 14 sec 3
I. A Slow Start for the Allies
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After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. took a
few months to recover. Also, the
focus of the nation was on Europe,
so the ability to strike back at the
Japanese was delayed.
The Japanese made huge advances
while the U.S. was recovering.
They spread throughout the south
Pacific and Southeast Asia,
solidifying their control of
resources they need.
I. A Slow Start for the Allies
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One of the main targets for
Japan was the U.S. controlled
Philippines. They forced the
out-manned Americans back
to a defensive position on the
Bataan peninsula.
The army ran out of food and
medicine, and had to
surrender to the Japanese.
The POWs were then
marched 65 miles to a prison
camp, with little food or
water given to the prisoners.
I. A Slow Start for the Allies
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Thousands died on the march,
called the Bataan Death March,
and hundreds more died at the
prison camp.
II. Fortunes Shift in the Pacific
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After the loss of the Philippines,
the U.S. finally got some good
news. A squadron of bombers
were able to attack Tokyo and
other cities in Japan in
retaliation of Pearl Harbor.
Although it was not a physically
damaging attack, it did cause
the U.S. to celebrate, and it
gave concern to the Japanese
about possible future attacks.
II. Fortunes Shift in the Pacific
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At the Battle of the Coral
Sea, the U.S. was able to
stop the Japanese advance
for the first time.
The Battle of Midway was
the turning point in the war.
The Japanese lost all four of
its aircraft carriers, over 250
planes and were unable to
initiate attacks for the rest
of the war.
III. The Allies Make Progress
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The Allies defeated the Japanese
at Guadalcanal after months of
intense fighting. They used a
combination of land, sea, and air
attacks to gain control of the
island.
This started the island-hopping
plan of attacking some islands
while bypassing others. The
manufacturing capability of the
U.S. could replace lost
equipment that Japan could not.
III. The Allies Make Progress
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The U.S. had broken the Japanese
code early on, and the U.S. used
Navajo radio operators to translate
messages, and the Japanese were
never able to break that code.
The U.S., led by General MacArthur,
took back the Philippines. The Battle
of Leyte Gulf was where the
Japanese navy was all but destroyed.
Kamikaze pilots were first used at
the battle. They did not affect the
battle, but they were feared.
III. The Allies Make Progress
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The Allies then wanted islands closer
to Japan to stage bombing raids on the
country. The first island they took was
Iwo Jima. Out of the 20,000 Japanese
soldiers on the island, only 1,000
surrendered. The rest fought to the
death.
The next island was Okinawa, where
again the Japanese fought with no real
thought of surrender. There were
huge losses on both sides, and the
Americans realized that the invasion of
mainland Japan would be a long,
bloody process.
In your notebooks
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Half-page summary of the lecture today.