The Japanese Theater of

World War II

Dr. James Patterson

 Japanese Aggression


Economic depression in Japan
Japanese Aggression

Depression in Japan, too

Hideki Tojo
Hideki
Tojo of
Japan
 Japanese Aggression

Depression in Japan, too

Hidecki Tojo

Aggression in Manchuria, China and
later ALL of China
 Japanese Aggression

Depression in Japan, too

Hidecki Tojo

Aggression in Manchuria, China and
later ALL of China

1940 (Indochina)--U.S. cut off all sale
of fuel and metal to Japan
 Japanese Aggression

Depression in Japan, too

Hidecki Tojo

Aggression in Manchuria, China and
later ALL of China

Resignation from League of Nations

1940--U.S. cut off all sale of fuel and
metal to Japan

Japan joined AXIS Pact with
Germany and Italy
 Japanese Aggression

Depression in Japan, too

Hidecki Tojo

Aggression in Manchuria, China and later
ALL of China

Resignation from League of Nations

1940--U.S. cut off all sale of fuel and metal
to Japan

Japan joined AXIS Pact with Germany and
Italy

Japanese sent negotiators to U.S.
Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

5000 casualties
Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

5000 casualties

188 planes destroyed
Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

5000 casualties

188 planes destroyed

19 ships disabled or destroyed
Aftermath of the Japanese Attack
 ah5_p100 Attack on Pearl Harbor

Explosion of the U.S. Shaw

 Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of
Congress

The U.S. declared war on Japan. Germany and Italy

declared war on the U.S.
U.S. Home Front

Japanese relocation centers
 U.S. Home Front

Japanese Relocation Centers
– 110,000 Japanese-Americans
detained
– Allowed to fight in the European
theater of war
 U.S. Home Front

Japanese Relocation Centers
– 110,000 Japanese-Americans
detained
– State department reasoning
 ah5_p114 Japanese-Americans At Santa Anita Race Track in 1942

Before being sent to relocation centers, Japanese Americans in California, Oregon, and
Washington had to sell all of their belongings and take only what they could carry with them to
assembly centers such as this one in Los Angeles.
Baggage-inspection line

Young boys waiting in the baggage-inspection line

 U.S. Home Front

Japanese Relocation Centers
– 110,000 Japanese-Americans
Detained
– State Department reasoning
– Post-warcompensation of
$35,000,000
 Warfare of the Pacific

“Island hopping”
 MAP 25.2 War in the Pacific

An ocean battlefield utterly unlike the European Theater

ah5_p113 Navaho Indians Aiding The U.S. War Effort

Navaho “Code Talkers”

Kirk operating a portable radio unit in a jungle
clearing near the front lines
Warfare of the Pacific

“Island hopping”

Fire-bombing Tokyo


FDR died in April of 1945 from a
brain hemorrhage.

Vice-President Harry Truman
became President.

For the first time, he became
aware of a new weapon.
 Warfare of the Pacific

“Island hopping”

Fire-bombing Japan

The atomic bomb question:
For the bomb:

End the war sooner

Save American AND Japanese lives

Demonstrate U.S. power to Russia

End the war before Russia claimed
another “buffer zone”

$2 billion expense could not be “wasted”
Warfare of the Pacific

“Island hopping”

Fire-bombing Japan

The atomic bomb question:
Against the bomb:
Fire-bombing has been effective
Japanese defenseless
Japanese running out of food
Could the earth stand the shock?
What about fallout?
Innocents would die
A dangerous precedent (and legacy)
Warfare of the Pacific

“Island hopping”

Fire-bombing Japan

The atomic bomb question

August 6, 1945 Hiroshima

August 9, 1945 Nagasaki

August 14, 1945 Japanese
surrender
Hiroshima after the Bomb
Mushroom Cloud
--Nagasaki
 Conclusion
• World War II was made deadlier than earlier wars by new
weapons and tactics, leading to massive military and civilian
deaths.
• Although America suffered significant casualties, by
comparison with Soviet losses and a worldwide toll of 40 to
50 million, the U.S. came out of the war relatively unscathed.
• The war mobilized almost all Americans, reinforced federal
government power, and forced the U.S. into world leadership.
• With peace and prosperity after the war, Americans looked
forward with confidence and optimism into what would prove
to be an uncertain future.
The Japanese Theater of
World War II

Dr. James Patterson