4. Japan and the United States
Japan develops a plan
for attacks on
European colonies and
U.S. bases
In 1941 President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
cuts off oil shipments
to Japan.
Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto plans
attack on U.S. fleet in
Hawaii
9. Day of Infamy
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor—U.S.
Naval base in Hawaii—on December
7, 1941
U.S. declares war on Japan December
8, 1941.
Japan also attacks Hong Kong,
Thailand, and other islands
10. Japanese Victories
Guam and Wake Island
The Philippines
Japanese attack Philippine Islands
defended by U.S., Filipino troops.
Philippine islands fall to Japanese in
1942.
11. Bataan Death March
The forcible transfer of
75,000 American and Filipino
prisoners of war in the
Philippines from the Bataan
peninsula to prison camps
Beheadings, cut throats and
casual shootings were the
more common and merciful
actions — compared to
bayonet stabbings, rapes,
disembowelments, numerous
rifle butt beatings and a
deliberate refusal to allow the
prisoners food or water while
keeping them continually
marching for nearly a week in
tropical heat.
16. Gains in Many Places
Japan captures British holdings,
including Hong Kong and Singapore.
Japan conquers the Dutch East Indies
which is rich in minerals
Japan captures Burma. This threatens
India, Britain’s main possession in
Asia.
Japanese forces treat conquered
peoples and prisoners of war brutally
17. Doolittle Raid
U.S. bombers attack
Tokyo and other
Japanese cities in April
1942.
(Here Lt. Col. James H.
Doolittle wires a
Japanese medal to a
bomb, for "return" to its
originators in the first
U.S. air raid on the
Japanese Home
Islands.)
Raid does little damage,
but shows that Japan is
vulnerable.
19. Allies Turn the Tide
Battle of the Coral Sea—Americans
stop Japanese advance, May 1942.
New kind of naval warfare—ships
launch planes to fight each other (see
next slide).
20. Bombers do not engage each other, but pass each
other on the way to the enemy aircraft carrier.
21. The Allies Strike Back
The Battle of Midway
Japanese send powerful fleet to capture
Midway Island.
Battle of Midway—U.S. destroy half of
Japan’s aircraft carriers causing Japan to
retreat.
23. An Allied Offensive
MacArthur’s Plan
Douglas
MacArthur—
American army
commander in the
Pacific.
He plans to “island-
hop” past
strongholds in
order to attack
weaker Japanese
bases.
25. Guadalcanal Diary (book and film)
Hollywood cooperated
with the war effort by
producing films to build
the morale of the
American people.
Released in 1943.
The film recounts the fight
of the United States
Marines in the Battle of
Guadalcanal, which
occurred only a year
before the movie's
release. While the film has
notable battle scenes, its
primary focus is on the
characters and back
stories of the Marines.