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Coral Sea
The Pacific was occupied by America and Australia. In May 1942, these two Allied Forces stopped the Japanese from driving toward Australia in the Battle of the Coral Sea. This battle lasted for five days. -
Battle of Midway
Americans have broken the Japanese code to realize that their next target was the island of Midway, located north-west of Hawaii. Again, the Allies succeeded in stopping Japan's attack. This battle was a turning point in the Pacific War and soon the Allies started "island hopping", meaning they went from island to island claiming it from the Japanese. -
Guadalcanal
19,000 Allied troops invaded Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Six months later, the Japanese evacuated Guadalcanal, calling it the Island of Death. -
Philippine Sea
The American forces continued their Island Hopping towards Japan, traveling through the Pacific. On October 1944, about 178,000 Allied troops and 738 ships met up on Leyte Island in the Philippines. In the Philippines, 424 Japanese kamikaze pilots went on suicide missions, sinking 16 Allied ships and damaging another 80. This was a brand new tactic to any war ever fought. -
Yalta Conference
During the Allies nearing a victory in Europe, Roosevelt had met with Churchill and Stalin at Yalta in the Soviet Union. Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill, now known as the Big Three, toasted the defeat of Germany that now seemed certain. For eight days, the Big Three talked about a postwar Germany. Stalin wanted a harsh punishment. Roosevelt convinced Churchill to agree to a temporary division of Germany into four zones, one each for the Americans, the British, the Soviets, and the French. -
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima was extremely important to the United States as a base, since heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan from there. However, it was defended extremely well, with 20,700 Japanese troops occupied in tunnels and caves. More than 6,000 marines died taking Iwo Jima. There were only 200 Japanese survivors. -
Okinawa
On this date, US Marines invaded Okinawa causing over 1,900 Japanese Kamikaze attack on Allied ships. The result was 30 sunken ships, about 300 damaged ships, and 5,000 seamen killed. When shore was reached, the battle had begun, and lasted about two and a half months. There were 7,600 Americans killed, but 110,000 Japanese killed in the battle. Churchill thought there would be a million American lives lost and half a million British lives lost. -
Hiroshima
A B-29 bomber named Enola Gay released an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Hiroshima, an important Japanese military center, ceased to exist. Japan’s leaders still hesitated to surrender after almost everything was destroyed. -
Nagasaki
Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, another atomic bomb was dropped over the town of Nagasaki, completely leveling the city. Eventually, at the end of the year, about 200,000 total dead from the bombing. Causes were the initial explosion and radiation. This caused Japan to surrender. -
V-J Day
V-J Day took place on September 2nd, and was the day that Japan had officially surrendered in the war. V-J Day is supposed to mean Victory over Japan Day.
