Ch. 16. 2 Japan’s Pacific CampaignI. Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor

A. Day of Infamy

1. The U.S. cut off oil shipments to Japan in 1941 as a result of them invading French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos)

2. Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan’s greatest naval strategist called for an attack on the U.S. Fleet in Hawaii

A. Day of Infamy1. Dec. 7th, 1941 American sailors at Pearl Harbor woke to

explosions by Japanese bombers

A. Day of Infamy4. 19 ships were destroyed or damaged including 8 battleships,

2,300 Americans killed with over 1,100 wounded5. Almost at the same time the Japanese attacked Hong Kong

(U.K.), Guam (U.S.), & Wake Island (U.S.)

II. Japanese VictoriesA. Quick Victories for the Japanese

1. Guam and Wake Island fell quickly and then the Japanese turned their attention to the Philippines

2. Within 4 months of severe fighting the Japanese took the Philippines

A. Quick Victories for the Japanese3. Also took Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, the resource rich

Dutch East Indies, Burma and began setting sights on India4. The Japanese came as conquerors and treated their new

colonies with cruelty5. Most brutal treatment was given to prisoners because they

considered surrendering dishonorable

III. Allies Strike BackA. The Allies Turn the Tide

1. Doolittle’s raid in response to Pearl Harbor was a psychological boost of moral for the Allies because it showed Japan was vulnerable

2. The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time that the Allies were able to stop the advancing Japanese fleet

B. The Battle of Midway1. U.S. broke the Japanese code and were able to decipher

Japan’s next invasion on Midway Island

B. The Battle of Midway2. American planes swooped down on the Japanese fleet

destroying 332 planes, 4 carriers, and support ship3. The tide of the war was changed; the Allies had the upper

hand

IV. An Allied Offensive1. General MacArthur develops a strategy of “island hopping”

to by pass Japanese strongholds and attack lesser defended islands closer to Japan

IV. An Allied Offensive2. The Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on August

7, 1942 began the island hopping strategy

IV. An Allied Offensive3. The battle lasted 6 months and was a sign that the Japanese

would fight to almost the last man4. Japanese lost more than 24,000 men out of 36,000; battle

became known as the “Island of Death”