Short and Long term Triggers of the Battle of Midway

  • Japanese Expansionism

    Japan sets out to take power throughout the pacific, starting with the invasion of Manchuria.
  • Marco Polo Bridge Incident

    A battle in Beijing between China and Japan that starting Japan's invasion of China.
  • Rape of Nanjing

    Also known as the Nanjing Massacre this was the mass murder of the Chinese people in Nanjing by the Japanese after they had invaded and seized the city.
  • Japan joins the Axis powers

    Japan officially joins the war by invading French Indochina and allies with Germany and Italy, with the goal to take Pacific power and gain territory.
  • Bombing of Pearl Harbour

    The Japanese launch a surprise bombing attack on the American Pearl Harbour, which was a key foothold in the Pacific. This resulted in 2,400 American's dead, including 68 civilians.
  • Japan invades the Philippines

    Japan launched an attack on the Philippines just 8 hours after the bombing of Peral Harbour. This included aerial bombardment, followed by landings of ground troops both north and south of Manila.
  • Japan invades Malaya

    Japan invades by landings across the north-eastern coast of Malaya, in order to take more land in the Pacific.
  • Japan invades the Dutch East Indies

    In response to the Dutch declaring war on Japan the Imperial Japanese Army overran the Dutch Colony
  • The Doolittle Air Raids

    The Doolittle Air Raids were raids carried out on mainly on Tokyo by the US, it resulted in 50 Japanese dead, 400 wounded and about 200 houses destroyed.
  • Battle of Midway

    The failed surprise attack by Japan on Midway Atoll.