The End of the War

1. The End of the War Section 5

2. War in the Pacific • Island Hopping • U.S. tries to gain control of the Pacific • Attacked islands as they closed in on Japan • Tarawa • Gaudalcanal • Saipan • Iwo Jima • Guam • Okinawa • Philippines • Passed over islands of no strategic importance

3. A Deadly Routine • American ships would shell the island with an artillery barrage • Marines would come ashore under heavy gunfire • Hand-to-Hand fighting would lead to Americans overcome the fierce Japanese resistance

4. Navajo Code-Talkers • Used their own language to radio messages from island to island • Japanese were unable to decode/decipher messages • Examples: • besh-lo = “iron fish” – submarine • Ne-as-jah = “owl” – observation plane

5. Japanese Military • Bushido – “Way of the Warrior” • Emphasized loyalty, honor, and sacrifice • Surrendering was dishonorable • Japanese fought to the death or commited suicide rather than surrender • Kamikaze – suicide missions were Japanese pilots deliberately crashed into U.S. ships

6. Attacking the Home Islands • April 1945 – U.S. prepared to invade Japan • Operation Downfall • Bombers continually hit factories and cities • Japanese people suffered terribly, yet leaders still promised victory

7. Bomb or invade? • Expected casualties • Between 250,000 and 1,000,000 • Japanese were training civilians to fight back • Japanese threatened to execute POW’s if U.S. invaded • Casualties in other parts of Asia expected to be as high as 250,000 if U.S. waited • Prevented Soviets from attacking Japan as well

8. Potsdam Declaration • Issued Ultimatum • Requested surrender or: • Face “the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland”

9. Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma • "I now have come to accept in my mind that in order to end the war, it could not be helped that an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and that countless numbers of people suffered great tragedy." Mr.Fumio Kyuma, who is from Nagasaki, said the bombing caused great suffering in the city, but he does not resent the U.S. because it prevented the Soviet Union from entering the war with Japan

10. Opposition • Considered to be immoral • War crimes, crimes against humanity, state terrorism • Unnecessary, Japan ready to surrender • Hiroshima – August 6, 1945 • 90,000-140,000 total deaths • 1950-1990 – 9% of cancer deaths caused by radiation

11. Cont. • Nagasaki – August 9th, 1945 • 40,000-80,000 deaths • Many survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima were in Nagasaki • Approx 400,000 Hibakusha – “explosion-affected people” • Unintended casualties • Allied POWs. • Korean and Chinese laborers. • Students from Malaya on scholarships. • Some 3,200 Japanese American citizens.

12. Deadliest War in History • Total loss of Human life • Approx. 72 million people • http://worldwar2-database.blogspot.com/2010/10/world-war-ii-casualties.html • China – 20 m • Germany – 7.2 m • Japan – 2.7 m • Poland – 5.6 m • Soviet Union – 23 m • United Kingdom – 450,000 • United States – 418,500

13. Nuremberg Trials • 12 Nazi Leaders sentenced to death. • Thousands of other Nazis imprisoned. • Japanese leaders tried and executed as well.