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Japan invades French Indochina
On November 24, 1940, during WWII, Japan invaded French Indochina ("French Indochina"). French Indochina was the name for southeast Asia at the time. Leading up to this invasion, Japan had launched attacks on many nearby lands ("League of Nations") in an effort to built a much desired empire of western proportions. This was the last straw for America, and just after the invasion, an embargo, or a stopping of the sale to; in this case, of oil and steel to Japan, was issued (Ellis and Esler, 575). -
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Japan's Role in WWII
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Japan Bombs Pearl Harbor.
On December 7th, 1941 Japan responded to America's embargo meant to ruin their economy (Ellis and Esler 575-576). Early on the 7th, Japanese airplanes arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and bombed the American Naval fleet there. The attack claimed the lives of 2,400 men and destroyed several battleships and aircraft. The US declared war on Japan the next day, December 8 1941. Three days later, on the 11th, Germany and Italy declared war on the US, and Japan had entered WWII (Ellis and Esler, 576). -
Early Japanese Success
Japan expirienced success after their attack on Pearl Harbor. On March 12, 1942, American Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur lost the Philippines to an invading Japanese force ("Douglas MacArthur"). After this, the Japanese would overtake the British colonies of Hong Kong, Burma, and Mayala, as they built an impressive empire (Ellis and Elser, 576). -
Battle of Coral Sea
On May 7, 1942, Japan tried to sieze Port Moresby, a city in New Guinea. Port Moresby was the last Allied stronghold in Indonesia. The American ships Yorktown and Lexington defended the assault. Although the American ships suffered far more damage, they had managed to take out enough Japanese planes to force a Japanese retreat from Port Moresby ("Battle Coral Sea"). -
Battle of Midway
On the 3rd of June, 1942, Japan attempted to sieze the island of Midway from the US. The attack was meant to be a surprise, however, the American military had intercepted a code and sent three battleships to defend Midway. Those battleships prevailed, sinking five Japanese ships while loosing only one of their fleet. This proved to be Japan's first loss, and no Japanese offensive was made during the rest of WWII ("Battle of Midway"). -
Battle of Guadalcanal
August 7th, 1942 marked the begining of the end for Japan. On this date, Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur began his island-hopping campaign. Starting with this victory at Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, the general traveled from island to island, liberating Japanese-held lands on his way to Japan. MacArthur eventually drove the Japanese from the Philippines in 1944 (Ellis and Esler, 588). -
Japanese Resistance
February 19th of 1945 marked th begining of the Battle of Iwo Jima ("Iwo Jima"). In this month long battle, and another even longer at Okinawa, the Japanese showed they would fight until death rather than surrender. As another testament to this, many Japanese men started flying kamikaze missions. Although these actions taken by the Japanese foretold the answer, Harry Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration, asking for Japanese surrender or total destruction (Ellis and Esler, 588). -
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day, V-E day for short, is a holiday still celebrated today. V-E Day is signifigant to Japan's war in the east because it allowed America to focus its full war power on the Pacific theater. Before this, America had agreed to focus on ending the European war before the Pacific one (Ellis and Esler, 579). Also playing a role in Japan's defeat, the Soviet Union agreed to enter the Pacific theater at the Yalta Conference 3 months after the European war ended (Ellis and Esler, 583). -
The Manhattan Project
Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer had been working on the top secret "Manhattan Project", a project headed by the US government, meant to produce and test an atomic bomb. On July 16th, 1945, the Atomic bomb was tested in a New Mexico desert. Nobody really knew what to expect, however, by the end of the day, everyone's expectations had been surpassed. It was made clear that the principal of atomic fission could supply enough force to destroy massive amounts of life (Groves, "First Blast"). -
Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
After the Potsdam Declaration was ignored, President Truman decided to take action. America dropped the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This bomb was 2000x more powerful than any one before it, it demolished five square miles of the city, and ruined 60% of the buildings in Hiroshima ("US Drops Bomb"). After no response from Japan, America dropped another Atomic bomb on Nagasaki on the 9th of August, and in response, Japan finally surrendered on August 10, 1945 (Ellis and Esler, 589).
