The War in the Pacific

Timeline – Naval Battles

• Use pages 785-787 to add the following events to your timeline– The Battle of the Coral Sea– The Battle of Midway

• Naval warfare– WWII, especially in the pacific, established the

aircraft carrier as the new king of naval warfare• Replaced the gun-firing battleships of WWI• Many battles were fought with the ships of the

opposing sides completely out of sight of each other• In some battles,

no ships actually fired a shot

• Naval warfare– WWII, especially in the pacific, established the

aircraft carrier as the new king of naval warfare– Battle of the Coral Sea (May, 1942)• American and Australian forces defeated the Japanese• First time a

Japanese invasion was stopped

• Naval warfare– WWII, especially in the pacific, established the aircraft

carrier as the new king of naval warfare– Battle of the Coral Sea (May, 1942)– Battle of Midway (June 3, 1942)

• The US navy stopped a Japanese fleet moving toward Midway, an island between Japan and Hawaii

• Considered the turning point of the war, from this point on the Japanese would be on the defensive

Timeline – Ground Fighting

• Use pages 787-789 to add the following events to your timeline– The US attacks Guadalcanal– The US takes the Philippines– Allies capture Iwo Jima– Allies capture Okinawa

• Ground Fighting– After stopping the Japanese advance at sea, the

Allies began attacking the Japanese using a strategy called “Island Hopping”• Allied troops took

strategic island on which they could build air bases that would bring other Japanese-held territory into range of heavy bombers

• Ground Fighting– After stopping the Japanese advance at sea, the

Allies began attacking the Japanese using a strategy called “Island Hopping”

– Guadalcanal (August, 1942)• The first time the Japanese were

defeated on land

• Ground Fighting– After stopping the Japanese advance at sea, the Allies began attacking the Japanese

using a strategy called “Island Hopping”– Guadalcanal (August, 1942)

– The US Takes the Philippines (October, 1944)• US troops, led by General Douglas MacArthur, took back what

was once a US territory• Ships approaching

the Philippines were opposed by kamikaze pilots

• Ground Fighting– After stopping the Japanese advance at sea, the Allies began attacking the Japanese using a

strategy called “Island Hopping”– Guadalcanal (August, 1942)– The US Takes the Philippines (October, 1944)

– The Allies take Iwo Jima (March, 1945)• More than 20,000 Japanese troops were heavily entrenched

in the island• More than 6,000 marines died taking it

• Ground Fighting– After stopping the Japanese advance at sea, the Allies began attacking the Japanese using a

strategy called “Island Hopping”– Guadalcanal (August, 1942)– The US Takes the Philippines (October, 1944)– The Allies take Iwo Jima (March, 1945)

– The Allies capture Okinawa (June, 1945)• Okinawa put US heavy bombers in range of the Japanese

home islands• Cost 7,600 American

lives and 110,000 Japanese

Strategic Bombing and the End of the War

• The US bombed Japanese cities and industrial centers– Firebombing Tokyo killed between 80,000 and

130,000 people– Nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed

about 200,000 people• Hiroshima: August 6, 1945• Nagasaki: August 9, 1945

– Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945

Debating the Atomic Bomb

• Read “Point Counterpoint” on page 791 and fill in the chart below showing the reasons that people say the atomic bombs should or should not have been used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Why using the bomb was necessary Why using the bomb was not necessary

Debating the Atomic Bomb

Guiding Question: Should the US have used the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Write a topic sentence as though you were writing an SCR to answer the guiding question