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. .
To begin, the attack on Pearl Harbour was devastating to U.S. naval capabilities in the Pacific at the onset of their entry into the war. Japanese officials had grown tired of the U.S. oil embargo, which was meant to limit their territorial expansion and aggression in South-East Asia as well as China, and as negotiations weren’t reaching any conclusions they decided that the only course of action was a first strike on the aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbour to cripple U.S. naval capability in the Pacific (Rosenberg 1). The attack, which lasted about two hours, had resulted in the sinking of four battleships, among ...
Whitman, Edward C.. “Rising to Victory: The Pacific Submarine Strategy in World War II.” Accessed November 25, 2013. http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html.
Shortly after the Japanese suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Midway, the Imperial Army started to rethink their offensive strategy and started to plan to consolidate forces and begin to focus on defending what they had already captured. Within this strategy they realized that having an airfield built on Guadalcanal would give them the ability to secure their flanks as they continued to push on through the Pacific Ocean as well as allow them to severe the supply and communication lines between the United States and Australia. Guadalc...
Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the US. Although Japan began the War in the Pacific on the offensive, winning many battles and gaining significant territories, the tide quickly turned in favor of the US because of the their dominating industrial capacity. Thus, the Japanese began to resort to ghastly measures to prevent a humiliating defeat.
Morison, Samuel, E. (1960). Victory in the pacific, 1945 – history of the united states naval operations in world war ii. (Vol. 14, p. 389). Boston: Little Brown.
Japanese soldiers were trained in all types of conditions to prepare for war. People in Japan grew up with very nationalistic ideals. Many were passionate for their country and would sacrifice anything for their Emperor, even their own lives. This concept was reinforced during many Japanese soldier trainings. They were taught to never give up or surrender to the enemy. At this point, dropping the atomic bomb was needed to end the war in the Pacific, as it is the only way to defeat the Japanese. As the Japanese are very prideful in ethics, a war would occur on Japanese soil if it were not for the bomb. Japanese men would fight American troops, and ultimately, the Japanese would win the battle (The 1). The attacks on Pearl Harbor exemplify their dedication towards the war. Moreover, one can see the extent of nationalism through the negative effects of the Kamikaze pilots. They sacrificed their own lives for the better¬ o...
Bard, Mitchell G. The Complete Idiot's Guide to world War II, Macmillan Publishing, New York, New York, 1999
Even before the battle started, America saw his attack coming. Japan had bombed the Dutch harbor in Alaska on the days of June 3rd and 4th. Japan landed there instead of on the islands of Attu and Kiska, in fear the United States might be there. There attacks failed when the plan to get the American fleet from Midway to aid the freshly bombed Dutch harbor. At 0900 hours an American patrol boat spotted the Japanese fleet seven hundred miles from Midway. At that point admiral Soroku Yamamoto’s plans of a sneak attack were over. Admiral fletcher commanded the U.S.S. Yorktown before it was sunk by the Japanese. Then at 0750, japan spots nine enemy (American) planes fifteen miles out. Tones, a Japanese cruiser, opened fire on the American pilots. Almost instantly if an American bomber plane were hit it would explode and go down. The bombers dropped their torpedoes to far from their targets, so the torpedoes didn’t land a single blow to Japan. At 1040 japan sent from Hiryu,...
On December 7th 1941, Japanese Planes and submarines attacked the United States Naval base at Pearl Harbor. This event singlehandedly brought the U.S from its then neutral stance in World War Two to a fighting member of the “Allied Powers.” Pearl Harbor was the first of a long series of confrontations between the U.S and the Japanese in an effort to gain control of the Pacific. Unlike the “War in Europe” the Pacific strategy was dominated by naval and aerial battles, with the occasional land-based “Island Hopping” Campaign. As such, one of the most important factors in the war in the pacific was Fleet Size, the more ships a country could send to war, the better. Pearl Harbor was the Japanese’s way of trying to deal with the massive U.S Pacific fleet. However, Pearl Harbor was not the turning point of the war. After December 7th the United States began work on numerous technological developments which would ultimately help them in one of the most important battles of WWII, the largest naval confrontation of the war, The Battle of Midway. The battle, which took place from June 4th to June 7th , 1942 is widely considered the turning point of the Pacific Theater (James & Wells). Through the Post-Pearl Harbor desire for “Revenge” and various technological advantages including code breaking and radar, the U.S were able to outsmart the Japanese at Midway and ultimately win the battle, eventually leading to a victory in the Pacific.
In the early 1940s, an event that was so premeditated and yet so very atrocious hit our nation’s pacific ocean. The state of Hawaii and its famous harbor was left victimized and bleeding as the skies rained down with munitions and kamikaze fighter planes. Many of the members of the armed services found themselves asking one question. What was to come next? As the United States of America and the empire of Japan at the time demonstrated that both sides had its differences no one could have ever expect anything of this magnitude to take place.
In part of the island hopping campaign, the United States knew in order to invade mainland Japan, they would need the last piece of the puzzle. Okinawa was the last island needed to be taken in order to serve as a base where the Americans can launch invasions on mainland Japan. The United States assembled a great fleet including forty aircraft carriers, 18 battle ships, 200 destroyers, and 180,000 men. The force all together consisted of over 1,300 US ships. The Japanese on the other hand were outnumbered by 60,000 and did not have the massive fleet as they used to have prior to the Battle of Midway. With the European side of the war almost over, the Americans could start to concentrate their forces on the Japanese.
On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3
In the spring of 1945, the plans for the invasion of the Japanese home islands, code-named “Operation Downfall” were being drawn up. It was to be the largest operation of the war (Skates, 1994, P. 4), involving up to 39 divi...
After a quick examination of the recurring theme of Japanese military arrogance, I will argue that the three most compelling strategies that the Japanese could have pursued in the spring of 1942 were, one – to consolidate the most important resource gains that were already made; two – commence immediate planning for a strong anti-submarine warfare campaign; and three – coordinate significant operations with Japan’s Axis partners, particularly in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Asia theaters of conflict.
World War II consisted of many devastating battles in both the European and the Pacific Theater. The Battle of Okinawa was fought in the Pacific theater. In the beginning of the battle there was little opposition from the Japanese soldiers but as the American troops traveled more inland the more resistance they met. Eventually, the 10th Army came against the fierce challenge of the intricate defense lines the Japanese held up. Many caves and pillboxes in the hills created a formidable challenge for American troops. Slowly though the Allies gained ground and continued to push back the defensive lines of General Ushijima and his troops. The Japanese tried to use kamikaze air and land attacks as successful offensive measures, these continued to produce little effect and failed each time. Finally, the Allies started to gain ground quite quickly. The Japanese had to move their defensive lines several time because the Americans were boxing them in. At las,t General Ushijima ordered everyman to fight till the death and the fighting became very disorganized. On June 21, all the loss ends were tied up. America had won Okinawa.