JAPAN STRIKES THE PACIFIC
After a rapid industrialization, the Japanese wanted to create an empire, and so they tried taking all of China, which instead created a Chinese resistance, and eventually war. The war was hard on the Japan financially, so they planned on invading European colonies in southeast Asia, which were rich in resources. Americans were threatened by this plan, because a Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia would mean a possible loss of American colonies in the area, so the United States cut off oil shipments to Japan, as well as sending aid to the resistance in China. This angered, but did not stop the Japanese, and on December 7th, 1941, they bombed the American port of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing and injuring thousands of US soldiers and destroying many ships. The United States then declared war on Japan, but the Japanese were still going strong. As suspected, Japan took American controlled Guam and Wake Island, and then took the Philippines. But the Japanese didn't stop there, as they invaded countless islands and territories in the Pacific, including some British colonies, like Hong Kong and Malaya. However, things began to change when Japan tried to take Midway Island, which was located west of Hawaii. But due to a Japanese code being cracked by the USA, the Americans knew the Japanese were coming, and US Admiral Chester Nimitz planned a surprise defensive attack on the Japanese, which succeeded, and the Japanese were no longer predominant in the war in the Pacific. This was called the Battle of Midway, Fresh with confidence from the Battle of Midway, the United States launched an offensive attack on the Japanese as they were trying to take the island of Guadalcanal. The Japanese were surprised again, and the battle lasted for six months, with extreme casualties on both sides, but eventually with an American victory. Japan was now significantly weakened, and their goal of conquest in Southeast Asia was now much harder to achieve.
ARTICLES
VIDEOS
MAPS
After a rapid industrialization, the Japanese wanted to create an empire, and so they tried taking all of China, which instead created a Chinese resistance, and eventually war. The war was hard on the Japan financially, so they planned on invading European colonies in southeast Asia, which were rich in resources. Americans were threatened by this plan, because a Japanese conquest of Southeast Asia would mean a possible loss of American colonies in the area, so the United States cut off oil shipments to Japan, as well as sending aid to the resistance in China. This angered, but did not stop the Japanese, and on December 7th, 1941, they bombed the American port of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing and injuring thousands of US soldiers and destroying many ships. The United States then declared war on Japan, but the Japanese were still going strong. As suspected, Japan took American controlled Guam and Wake Island, and then took the Philippines. But the Japanese didn't stop there, as they invaded countless islands and territories in the Pacific, including some British colonies, like Hong Kong and Malaya. However, things began to change when Japan tried to take Midway Island, which was located west of Hawaii. But due to a Japanese code being cracked by the USA, the Americans knew the Japanese were coming, and US Admiral Chester Nimitz planned a surprise defensive attack on the Japanese, which succeeded, and the Japanese were no longer predominant in the war in the Pacific. This was called the Battle of Midway, Fresh with confidence from the Battle of Midway, the United States launched an offensive attack on the Japanese as they were trying to take the island of Guadalcanal. The Japanese were surprised again, and the battle lasted for six months, with extreme casualties on both sides, but eventually with an American victory. Japan was now significantly weakened, and their goal of conquest in Southeast Asia was now much harder to achieve.
ARTICLES
- World War II in the Pacific is a great article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and gives a nice overview of Japan's invasions and strikings in the Pacific. The article sets up why Japan took all these Islands and fought the Unites States, and then goes into detail about the actual events and territories seized by Japan.
- The Pacific War is a journal summarizing in extreme detail, events from the war in such an accurate and thorough way. It lists the goals of the Japanese in the Pacific, and if they reached them or not. The Article also says what Americans did to try and stop them.
- An article written by Christopher Lyon, Flying Tiger, Hidden Eagle describes all the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the peak of World War II, going back to the Japanese invasion of China, and is very helpful in understanding the big reasons the war was fought.
- Japan's Quest for an Empire 1931-1935 runs through the beginnings of World War II on how it effected the Japanese. This article also states why Japan made every single move they did in the War. This article is very interesting because it goes into detail about some events that aren't as well known during the War, but still very informative and fascinating.
- One of the big battles in World War II, The Battle of Midway, 1942 made the Japanese not the font-runners for winning the war in the pacific, and this article is all about the battle of midway, with quotes from Soldiers who were actually fought in the battle, giving examples of what it was like to fight in this historic battle.
- "The landing at Guadalcanal was unopposed - but it took the Americans six months to defeat the Japanese in what was to turn into a classic battle of attrition." Go into detail about this battle which was the beginning of the end.
- Major Pacific Battles is an article that is just what is sounds like, giving descriptions of all the battles in the Pacific in World War II, like the Battle of Saipan, the Battle of Leyte, the Philippines Campaign, and much more.
- Pearl Harbor: Hawaii Was Surprised; FDR was not, "Roosevelt's intentions were nearly exposed in 1940 when Tyler Kent, a code clerk at the U.S. embassy in London, discovered secret dispatches between Roosevelt and Churchill. These revealed that FDR — despite contrary campaign promises — was determined to engage America in the war."
- The Pacific Fleet Strikes Back is an unique article because it features pictures of the United States Pacific Fleet striking the Japanese in the events after Pearl Harbor, and being victorious.
- WWII: War in the Pacific describes the damage the World War II in the Pacific caused, to machines, ships, and armies.
- Ginger's Diary, a chilling recount of a seventeen-year-old girl who was living in Hawaii when "I was awakened at eight o'clock on the morning of December 7th by an explosion from Pearl Harbor. I got up thinking something exciting was probably going on over there. Little did I know! When I reached the kitchen the whole family, excluding Pop, was looking over at the Navy Yard. It was being consumed by black smoke and more terrific explosions."
- 'I Will Fight to the Last': WWII Japanese Soldier Diary, June 1943, very interesting telling of World War II in the Pacific from a Japanese soldier's perspective: "I have become used to combat, and I have no fear. In yesterday's raid our air force suffered no losses, while nine enemy planes were confirmed as having been shot down and three others doubtful."
- A Marine Diary: My Experiences on Guadalcanal, a retelling of the battle of Guadalcanal, from the diary of James R. Garret, a US Corporal, "That doesn't include many false alarms and numerous shellings from Japanese battleships, destroyers and cruisers. It seemed like about an air raid or shelling every day for three and a half months. I remember a lot of diving into ditches and ducking in and out of bomb shelters, or whatever we could find to hide under."
VIDEOS
- Presidents Roosevelt's "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy" speech on December 8th, 1941, regarding the attack on Pearl Harbor, one day earlier.
- Footage of the actual attack on Pearl Harbor, shows all of the destruction the bombing created.
- An first hand account of the Battle of Midway from US ex- commander Harry Ferrier, a survivor of the battle.
MAPS
This map is an overview of when Japan struck the Pacific in World War II in from 1941-1945. The Red lines are areas the Japanese controlled and the blue is where the United States and the allies fought them off.
Source: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-worldwar/5820
Source: http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-worldwar/5820
This is a map of Japan' s empire from before they attacked the Pacific and then after. Red on the map is the Japanese Empire in 1870, before the war. The pink is the Japanese territory in1932, and all of the rest is Japanese occupation through the years of right before and during when their big strike to the Pacific.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Japan
This here is a map of the Philippines in 1941, when the Japanese invaded. The red lines represent Japanese forces.
Source: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1/ch01.htm
Source: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/MacArthur%20Reports/MacArthur%20V1/ch01.htm
This map shows the Japanese Expansion through the years, in a simple and broad way.
Source: http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/07_World-War-Two/07i_War-in-Asia+the-Pacific-r.htm
Source: http://www.kingsacademy.com/mhodges/03_The-World-since-1900/07_World-War-Two/07i_War-in-Asia+the-Pacific-r.htm
This map is the Japanese empire in only 1942, when they were at their peak, occupying much of the Pacific.
Source: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm
Source: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/pacificwar/timeline.htm