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Pearl Harbor
Desc.: Japan launches a surprise attack on Hawai'i, damaging the U.S. fleet. Sig.: Spark's the U.S.'s entry into WWII against Japan. FDR uses the nature of the surprise attack to convince isolationists. -
Japanese American Internment
Desc.: War Relocation Authority established in the U.S. Sig.: Over 100,00 Japanese American citizens will be placed in internment camps. One example of deep-seated racial tensions in the U.S. Effectively cements the Japanese as the racialized "other". -
Bataan Death March
Desc.: Allied POWs at Bataan march 60 miles without food or water in the blazing sun. Of the 12,000 American POWs, 5,000 die during the trip. Sig.: News of the Japanese atrocity fuels the Allied war machine with hatred. Japanese are further dehumanized in the eyes of the Americans. -
Doolittle Raid
Desc.: U.S. B-25 bombers strike Tokyo, Japan in a surprise attack. Sig.: Boosts U.S. morale in the face of successive Japanese victories in the Pacific. Additionally, forces Japan to keep homeland air defenses instead of concentrating all of it over the Pacific. -
Battle of the Coral Sea
Desc.: Japan suffers its first defeat off New Guinea. Sig.: First time in history that aircraft carriers fight using soley aircraft without ever being in sight of one another, signifying not only advancement in military technolgies, but also highlighting the importance of aircraft in WWII. Furthermore, Japan's first defeat greatly increases Allied morale. -
Battle of Midway
Desc.: Japan suffers a crippling defeat at Midway, marking a turning point in the Pacfic Theatre. Sig.: Japan's navy is unable to recover from the losses suffered at Midway. Combined with the U.S. war machine, the Allies begin rapidly outpacing construction in the Pacific. -
Guadalcanal
Desc.: U.S. Marines take the unfinished airfield at Guadalcanal from the Japanese. Sig.: Guadalcanal is a vital point for maintaining air control over the Pacific. Occupation would allow the Japanese to strike Australia, and the U.S. to attempt to retake the Philipines. Fighting over the airfield would continue for another 5 months before the Japanese eventually withdraw, but resistance draws on until February of 1943. -
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Desc.: A decisive U.S. victory, and the first occurance of kamikaze attacks against U.S. warships. Sig.: Advent of suicide attacks by the Japanese indicate growing Japanese desperation. Furthermore, the nature of the attacks prompt the U.S. to view the Japanese as relentless, and only able to be defeated by total decimation. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
Desc.: U.S. Marines invade an Iwo Jima that had been shelled by warships for the past 4 months. The battle will continue for another month. Sig.: After a colossal amount of casualties on both sides, military significance of the island is questioned. U.S. takes the island from the Japanese, who attempt to dissuade American advance onto the Japanese mainland by not surrenduring. Nearly all of the 20,000 Japanese on Iwo Jima will die fighting for their cause. -
Battle of Okinawa
Desc.: First invasion of the Japanese mainland at Okinawa. Fighting will continue until June, with the atomic bombs being dropped in the beginning of August. Sig.: The bloodiest campaign of the Pacific, the Japanese fight to the last man to prevent Allied incursion into Japan. Finalizes the image of Japan as a combatant that will fight to the bitter end. Skyrocketing casualties used as justification for atomic bombing to swiftly end the war before further mainland invasion begins. -
VE Day
Desc. Victory over Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared in Europe. Sig.: All Allied forces, including Russia, are now able to focus on the remaing Axis power, Japan. Russia's entry in Manchuria will mean absolute defeat for Japan, but the Japanese continue to hold in Okinawa. -
Hiroshima
Desc.: First atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima. Sig.: Bomb is dropped even though Japanese defeat is assured. Done to prevent Russia's involvement in peace negotiations in the Pacific, and to display American power. -
Russia Invades Manchuria
Desc.: Russia declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria, north of China. Sig.: Hearing of the atomic bomb, Russia still wants part of the peace negotiations promised to them by FDR. Truman, not wanting Russia's influence in Asia, rpceeds with the second atomic bomb, knowing militarily that Japan was finished and would soon surrender. -
Nagasaki
Desc.: Second atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki. Sig.: Japan immediately seeks peace with Allies, though this was already in process after Russia invaded Manchuria. Culmination of American hatred for the Japanese--ends what would later be called a "war without mercy".
