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WWII in Asia: Japanese Aggression & US Strategy

Explore WWII events in Asia, such as Japanese expansion, turning point battles like Coral Sea and Midway, Bataan Death March, military leaders, the Potsdam Conference, atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, and Japan's surrender in September 1945.

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WWII in Asia: Japanese Aggression & US Strategy

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  1. WWII IN ASIA 1. Japanese aggression and US strategy • Turning point battles • Coral Sea • Midway • Leyete Gulf • Iwo Jima and Okinawa • Potsdam Conference---July 1945 • Atomic bomb • Hiroshima and Nagasaki---Aug. 1945 • Japan surrenders---Sept. 1945 • WWII ends in Asia • VJ-Day---Victory in Japan

  2. map/japan • JAPANESE EXPANSION • Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor • US declares war on Japan. • 1942 • Philippines • Bataan Death March

  3. Bataan Death March: April, 1942 • Approximately 80,000 US and Filipino troops [12,000 Americans] surrendered to the Japanese and were forced to march 60 miles to Camp O’Donnell. • Several thousand died along the way from atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers.

  4. map/japan • JAPANESE EXPANSION • Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor • US declares war on Japan. • 1942 • Philippines • Bataan Death March "Island hopping" or "leap frogging" all the way to Japan. Difficult strategy of re-taking islands Japan had under their control... • Guam • Malaya • New Guinea • Threatening Australia and Hawaii

  5. WWII Military Leaders WWII MILITARY LEADERS • West Point Graduate • Commanding general of troops in the Philippines • Forced off the Philippines in 1942--- “I shall return” • 1944, Battle of Leyete Gulf---- “I have returned to re-take the Philippines”. • Supreme Allied Commander in the South Pacific General Douglas MacArthur

  6. map/japan • TURNING POINT BATTLES • 1942 • Coral Sea • Midway • Midway virtually destroyed Japanese Navy. • 1943 • Continued “island hopping” strategy

  7. The Doolittle Raid • After Pearl Harbor, FDR wanted a morale booster. • He wanted to bomb Tokyo but aircraft carriers could not get close enough. • Plan: B-25s (which could launch off carriers) would bomb Tokyo and land in China. • Lt. Col. James Doolittle was in command of this operation. • On April 18th, 1942 bombs fell on Tokyo, which led to a change in strategy among the Japanese leaders. Lt. Col. James Doolittle B-25s off to Tokyo

  8. Change in Japanese Strategy • Japanese leaders were rattled by the raids—bombs might have killed the emperor!! • The American fleet, they decided, had to be destroyed! • They wanted to cut off their supply lines to Australia. • They decided to attack Midway Island—the last American base west of Pearl Harbor. Bombs falling on Tokyo.

  9. The Battle of Midway • Code-breakers heard the plan. • At the Battle of Coral Sea, the Yorktown and the Lexington fended off a Japanese attack on New Guinea and preserved Australia. • Code-breakers learned of plan to attack Midway • Admiral Nimitz used this as an opportunity to ambush the Japanese fleet. • Japanese plans were hit with antiaircraft fire, shooting down 38 planes. • Japan lost 100 pilots which hurt their Air War. • American planes caught carriers by surprise—their fuel, bombs, and aircraft were exposed. • Four Japanese carriers were sunk, destroying the heart of the navy. • This hit the Japanese hard—it halted Japanese expansion in the Pacific. Fighting at the Battle of Midway Badly damaged Yorktown

  10. Battle of Midway Island:June 4-6, 1942

  11. Battle of the Coral Sea:June 4-6, 1942

  12. Gen. MacArthur “Returns” to the Philippines! [1944]

  13. Japanese Kamikaze Planes:The Scourge of the South Pacific Kamikaze Pilots • The last 2 years of the war, the Japanese resorted to “suicidal bombers” or Kamikaze bombers to destroy the American Navy. • Approximately 2,800 Kamikaze attackers sunk 34 Navy ships, damaged 368 others, killed 4,900 sailors, and wounded over 4,800.

  14. map/japan • TURNING POINT BATTLES • 1944 • Battle of Leyete Gulf, recaptured the Philippines • 1945 • Iwo Jima and Okinawa • Put the US 500 miles from mainland Japan • Began bombing mainland Japan

  15. US Marines on Mt. Surbachi,Iwo Jima [Feb. 19, 1945]

  16. potsdam POTSDAM CONFERENCE • Big Three • Churchill, Truman and Stalin meet in Potsdam, Germany in July 1945. • Truman informed of successful test of bomb. • Demanded unconditional surrender from Japanese or a new weapon would be used.

  17. potsdam POTSDAM CONFERENCE • Some suggest that Truman was warning Stalin. • If he didn’t follow through with the decisions at Yalta, it could happen to the Soviet Union.

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