Chapter 31 Section 4

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Chapter 31 Section 4
Toward Victory
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• Setting the Scene
• General Douglas MacArthur stood at the dock on
  Corregidor in March 1942. A boat waited to
  evacuate him from the fortified island in the
  Philippines. Although the United States Army and
  Filipino defense forces had battled to keep the
  Japanese out of the island chain, they had not
  been successful. Thousands of Allied civilian
  men, women, and children were being held in
  prison camps throughout the islands, and American
  and Filipino soldiers were under attack on the
  Bataan peninsula. After reaching Australia,
  MacArthur pledged his determination to free the
  Philippines with the words "I shall return.
• Allied troops found that the war in Southeast
  Asia and the Pacific was very different from that
  in Europe. Most battles were fought at sea, on
  tiny islands, or in deep jungles.

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I. War in the Pacific

• By May 1942, the Japanese controlled much of SE
  Asia, many Pacific islands, and the Philippines

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I. War in the Pacific

• Hundreds of American and Filipino soldiers were
  killed during the Bataan Death March

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I. War in the Pacific

• In May and June 1942, the US stopped the Japanese
  advance at the battles of the Coral Sea and
  Midway Island

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I. War in the Pacific

• August 1942 - US Marines and Soldiers landed at
  Guadalcanal and began the "island-hopping"
  campaign

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I. War in the Pacific

• By 1944, Admiral Nimitzs navy was blockading
  Japan bombers pounded Japanese cities and
  industries

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I. War in the Pacific

• October 1944 - MacArthur began to retake the
  Philippines the British were winning in the
  jungles of Burma and Malaya

MacArthur returns to the Philippines
British in Burma
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II. The Nazis Defeated

• Allied bombers hammered Germany with
  round-the-clock bombing raids

Dresden, Germany
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II. The Nazis Defeated

• December 1944 - Allied armies advanced into
  Belgium Germany launched a massive counterattack
  the Battle of the Bulge

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II. The Nazis Defeated

• March 1945 - the Allies crossed the Rhine River
  into Germany Soviet troops closed in on Berlin

Red Army in Berlin
Crossing the Rhine River near Worms, Germany
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II. The Nazis Defeated

• Late April - American and Soviet soldiers linked
  up at the Elbe River

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II. The Nazis Defeated

• As Soviet troops entered Berlin, Hitler committed
  suicide. Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 V-E
  Day

A soldier raises the Soviet flag over the
Reichstag in Berlin
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III. Defeat of Japan

• Most of the Japanese navy and air force had been
  destroyed, yet the Japanese still had a two-
  million man army

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III. Defeat of Japan

• Officials estimated that an invasion of Japan
  would cost over a million casualties - scientists
  offered another way to end the war

Provision Order of Battle for Invasion of Japan
(August 1945)
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III. Defeat of Japan

• July 1945 - Allied scientists successfully tested
  the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico

On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb,
equivalent to eighteen thousand tons of TNT, was
detonated at the Trinity Site
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III. Defeat of Japan

• President Harry Truman warned the Japanese to
  surrender or face destruction, but they ignored
  the deadline

The "Potsdam Declaration" described Japan's
present perilous condition and ended with an
ultimatum Japan must immediately agree to
unconditionally surrender, or face "prompt and
utter destruction".
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III. Defeat of Japan

• August 6,1945 - the Enola Gay dropped an atomic
  bomb on Hiroshima, killing more than 70,000
  people

Crew of the Enola Gay
Hiroshima after the atomic bomb
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III. Defeat of Japan

• August 8th - the USSR declared war on Japan and
  invaded Manchuria - Japan still did not surrender

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III. Defeat of Japan

• August 9th - the US dropped a second atomic bomb
  on Nagasaki, killing more than 40,000 people

Aftermath of Nagasaki bombing
Atomic Mushroom cloud
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III. Defeat of Japan

• Emperor Hirohito forced the government to
  surrender - the peace treaty was signed aboard
  the battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945

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• An Ongoing Controversy
• Dropping the atomic bomb brought a quick end to
  the war. It also unleashed terrifying
  destruction. Ever since, people have debated
  whether the United States should have used the
  bomb. Why did Truman use the bomb? First, he was
  convinced that Japan would not surrender without
  an invasion that would result in an enormous loss
  of both American and Japanese lives. Truman also
  may have hoped that the bomb would impress the
  Soviet Union with American power. At any rate,
  the Japanese surrendered shortly after the bombs
  were dropped, and World War II was ended.