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Effects of World War 2 on us
Effects of World War 2 on us
United states role in ww2
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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. .
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 ...
“Pacific Situation Declared Eased by Battle of Midway.” Los Angeles Times 10 June 1942: 2 ProQuest. Web. 13 March 2014.
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,...
World War Two was the most devastating conflict in the history of humanity. It crippled many nations and caused millions of people to die. One of the major causes of this disastrous war was the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War. This treaty was destructive towards the Germans. Germany had to pay large amounts of reparations to the Allied nations at the end of World War One resulting in a Great Depression in Germany. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles’ war guilt clause forced Germans to admit full responsibility for starting the war. Furthermore, to gain the support of the German populace, Adolf Hitler adopted an effective propaganda campaign. Adolf Hitler employed a successful propaganda campaign to gain the support of the German people combined with the Treaty of Versailles harsh economic and political sanctions ignited World War Two.
Last and biggest of the Pacific island battles of World War II, the Okinawa campaign (April 1—June 22, 1945) involved the 287,000 troops of the U.S. Tenth Army against 130,000 soldiers of the Japanese Thirty-second Army. At stake were air bases vital to the projected invasion of Japan ("Battle of Okinawa," 1996). The Battle of Okinawa remembered more for its iconic photograph of US Marines raising the US flag on Okinawa more so than any other war or battle ever fought. Okinawa the largest of the Ryukus islands played a major role in the American forces overall strategic efforts to advance to the mainland’s of Japan. Because it was the last major battle of WWII, the battle of Okinawa used lessons learned and TTP’s from all previous battles with the Japanese to successfully employ combined striking power of the services and techniques of amphibious operations.
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
Sledge, E. B. World War II Reference Library. Ed. Barbara C. Bigelow, et al. Vol. 4: Primary
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...
It’s a beautiful sunny morning, on a tropical island that everyone would love to take a vacation at. It’s approximately 6:00 am, December 7, 1941, when a first group of 181 kamikaze planes attacked; targeting key naval bases stationed at Hawaii; a sustained crippling of U.S. naval forces for about 6 months. The death toll was 2,500. Out of the 9 battleships, 8 were heavily damaged by the assault on Pearl Harbor and out of the 8, three were unrepairable, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah. 160 aircrafts were put out of commission, and nearly 130 were heavily damaged. This was the first incident in which there was an act of war, committed on U.S. soil, outside of the American Revolution and the Civil War. The world was at war, and the U.S. remained neutral until now. Before the attack, the U.S. was in great debate whether to enter the war or to stay out of it. The act of war forced the U.S. into the War and triggered a controversial debate in whether to retaliate against Japan with the use of nuclear arms.
Ellicia Chiu Mrs. Daly World History: Period 3 4/27/15 How Did the Versailles Treaty Help Cause World War II? The first World War is recorded as one of the “deadliest conflicts in human history”. With over 16 million dead, it was one of the first wars with a high amount of casualties. However, the one that tops the list with around 60 million deaths was World War II.
As the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the United States officially entered World War Two. The Japanese government later learned later that this single event sets off an explosion that subsequently caused the United States to attack the Midway Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Pearl Harbor was one of the United States largest naval bases and the largest in the Pacific Ocean. This attack ceased all trade with Japan and officially added Japan as one of the US enemies. With a new world war started it created new concerns for the army. “World War II introduced a whole new set of problems in naval tactics” (Smith, 1). The main change driving these changes was the fact that aircraft carriers became more prevalent and common in every major countries naval force. Japan was able to pull off the Pearl Harbor attack as a result of aircraft carriers to launch their airplanes. As a result of the battles leading up to the Battle of Midway and conflicts with Japan this created a lot larger of an impact on WWII as a whole and to boost unity in America leading to a more prosperous period of history following the war.
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.
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.
... 1945-1950.” The Pacific Historical Review, Vol. 49, No. 1. (1980): 51-76. www.jstor.org (accessed March 23, 2008).