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Period: to
World War II
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Pearl Harbor
A huge success by the Japanese, the attack of Pearl Herbor was a a suprise attack that was a hard blow to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The U.S. refused to allow trade with Japan, in fear of the Americans coming into the war the Japanese attacked first, but this only aloud an opening for the U.S. to enter WWII. -
Loss of Philippines
General Douglas MacArthur, was an American who led the defense of the Philippine islands against the Axis powers. He was in command of a small group of American soldiers and poorly trained Filipino soldiers. December 8, Japanese soldiers came ashore, MacArthur's troops were no match and were forced to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula as the Japanese gained ground. There the Allied forces tried to hold a defensive front but were unable to. 10,000 Americans and 60,000 Filipinos were forced to surre -
Battle of the Java Sea
Dutch East Indies and British Borneo were easily taken control of by the Japanese around the time a massive attack hit the British forces in Singnapore. In the battle, the Japanese caused quite a bit of damage in the Allied navies, they also proceeded to conquer British Burma along with some South Pacific islands. These invasions helped Japan gain control of oil reserves and establish strategic bases. -
Bataan Death March
After Gen. MacArthur was forced to leave his 70,000 troops in the Philippines surrounded by Japanese forces, the Allied forces had to surrender. The Japanese forced the sick and starving soldiers to march for 5 days in the humid forests of Bataan. Those who fell behind were shot or beaten, if one fell were left for dead. Little Food or water was provided and thousands of soldiers died on the march. Those who survived it all were sent to Japanese POW camps where they didn't fair much better. -
Doolittle Raid
American Army Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led a group of 16 bombers on air raid of Tokyo, Japan and several other Japanese cities. While it didn't give much headway in the war, the Raid did do other significant factors. The raid gave hope to the American people, it also worried and angered the Japanese leaders. This worry would later force the Japanese leaders to make major military mistakes. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea took place as the Japanese forces prepared to take control of British Port Moresby on the island of New Guinea. Unbeknowst to the Japanese, the Americans were to send the one American fleet that was not damaged at the attack of Pearl Harbor, the aircraft carriers. U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitzsent sent 2 aircraft carriers on the attack to prevent the Japanese from invading. This battle was the first ever time to halt a Japanese attack. -
Battle of Midway
In an attempt to stop an further attacks to occur on the Japanese mainland, the leaders of the country made up a plan to destroy all of the U.S. naval fleet. -
Guadalcanal
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Island Hopping Strategy
By the late 19th century, the U.S. had several interests in the western Pacific to defend; namely, access to the Chinese market, and colonies – the Philippines and Guam – which the U.S. had gained as a result of the Spanish–American War (1898). After Japan's victories in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95) and in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, the U.S. began to regard Japan as a potential threat to its interests in the western Pacific. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
