What Made Japan Lose World War 2?

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During World War II, from 1941 to 1945, the United States with its allies and Japan had a war, in which Japan sought for control in Pacific Ocean (World War II in the Pacific). Despite the myth that United States was unprepared for the war, they were more prepared compared to World War I. By 1940, their army was double to 267,767 in 1932. During the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, Japanese instituted Kamikazes: “suicide bombers against the American fleet”, for the very first time (First Kamikaze Attack of the War Begins). This shows how desperate Japan was as the Japanese naval Capt. Motoharu Okamura said that he believes that the only way to swing the war in their favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with their planes (First Kamikaze Attack of the War Begins). However, the kamikazes, known as cherry blossom, were unsuccessful against United States during World War II. Furthermore, the Japanese lost the World War II due to United States’ Island Hopping strategy, Japan’s lack of preparation, and incorrect judgments brought on by desperation. First of all, United States employed Island Hopping strategy, which effectively made Japanese forces weaker and fail their defense (Encyclopedia of World War II, Volume II). To overcome the distance problem for United States during the Pacific War, General Douglas MacArthur primarily seized not well-defended islands and gradually approached Japan’s mainland (Beck, pg.). This strategy consisted of two prongs, southern and northern. In 1944, the southern prong reached Leyte Gulf. In 1944, the southern prong reached Leyte Gulf and the Japanese naval force attempted to destroy the American fleet. The reason behind this was to prevent resupplying American troops, but within 4 days, the Japanese had... ... middle of paper ... ... Print. Ienaga, Saburo. Pacific War, 1931-1945. N.p.: Random, 1978. Print. "Japanese Suicide Bombers Attack American Ships." Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE53&iPin=WPA0403&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 6, 2014). Marx, Thomas. Kamikaze - an Approach to the Historical and Psychological Backgrounds. Nordestedt: GRIN Verlag, 2001. Print. Phillips, Charles, and Alan Axelrod. "World War II in the Pacific." Encyclopedia of Wars, vol. 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Modern World History Online. Facts On File, Inc.http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE53&iPin=EWAR1736&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 6, 2014). World War II. DaVinci Charter Academy, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .

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