WWII's+Pacific+Theater+1st+Period

=WWII's Pacific Theater =

** Introduction **
The Pacific Theater dureing World War II involved alot of fighting. Both countries had been evolving hate for eachother over the years. After Pearl Harbor the Japanese gained control over the pacific islands (Phillipines, Burma, Aleutians, Solomons). There were new types of warfare that came about during the Pacific Theater. Many battles took place over this time including the battle of Coral Sea, the battle of Midway, the battle of Guadalcanal, the battle of Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima. This was know as one of the most brutal times in war. Alot of the brutality had to do with the racism of each country. They each hated eachother a lot and neither of them would surrender so that made each battle even more brutal. There were a lot of bombing raids during this time including the Doolittle Raid and the fire bombing of cities. Once the allies became strong they threatened the Japanese's perimeter and their advantage was lost because they could not produce enough planes to defend themselves. The turning point in the Pacific Theater came in 1942 with the first great carrier battles.

__**Carrier Warfare** __  A new type of warfare was started in the Pacific. Carrier warfare was the use of aircraft carriers. The ships never attacked each other directly. They sent their airplanes to go and attack the other aircraft carrier. These battles could last days because the planes would attack in small groups then return to the aircraft carrier to refuel and wait. Carriers could carry plenty of airplanes. For example, the USS Enterprise could hold up to 90 airplanes.

__ **Battle of Coral Sea** __ Japan was invading islands in the Pacific in order to take Australia and New Zealand out of the war. The Allied forces took action to stop the invasion. The battle took several days, but during this battle the Allied aircrafts carriers and the Japanese aircrafts never saw each other. After several days the battle was considered a draw. The draw was to be settled later in the Battle of Midway.

__ **Battle of Midway** __ The Japanese were looking to break the draw that occurred at the Battle of Coral Sea. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto created his plan. The plan had a flaw. They thought the U.S. only had two working carriers. The Japanese carriers were armed with bombs and torpedoes. The U.S. and the Japanese sent airstrike after airstrike. The battle lasted June 4-7 1942, however the U.S. dive-bombers did their job on the last day and in a few minutes they made the Japanese fleet broken and burning. In the end the U.S. sunk all four Japanese aircraft carriers. The U.S. won. This was considered the turning point in the Pacific.

[] [] __**Brutality of the fighting**__ The radial discrimination played a huge part of the brutality in the war. There were many suicides in the pacific because of hopelessness. Japanese were only known as different types of animals, they were never treated very well. Many japanese were offended by being called yellow, red, and black men. The japanese didn't take the time to belittle the Americans they just focused on being the superior race. They did however call the Americans "The Demonic Power" because they wanted their people to think the Americans were cruel. This made it so both nations had little or no respect for each other. The tensions between both countries had been rising for many years, so when the war hit there was no wonder why it was so brutal.

During the war the Japanese had captured over 70,000 american and Filipino soldiers. The treatment of the prisoners was awful and they would sometimes be denied of food and water while watching others eat and drink. The captives were forced to walk the death march, it was 70 miles long. During the march the japanese would sometimes push captives off of cliffs or use them for target practice. Toward the end of the march, the soldiers that weren't already dead were forced into hotbox cars with no ventilation. Many soldiers died inside. Over 16,000 soldiers were killed during the death march. The 54,000 captives were exhausted, diseased, hungry, and very thirsty. They were forced into a camp that could not even provide water for 5,000 men. 170 soldiers died daily from the terrible conditions in the camp. This number soon increased to 500, in nine months 40,000 prisoners were dead. The discipline was very harsh, the men would be divided into groups of ten and if one escaped the whole group was killed. They also used the able soldiers for labor and sent them off to boats or factories to work. Later the japanese surrendered and everyone agreed that they should be punished for their war crimes. The Americans were also cruel to the japanese. There are some accounts of soldiers taking and collecting the skulls of japanese soldiers. Another conflict was how the Americans put the japanese living in the united states into internment camps, but they did not do this to the germans. This might be because when we are looking in the mirror we cannot distinguish the difference between a German and an American as easily as we can with a Japanese and an American. Either way both countries were wrong in what they did.

__**Island Hopping**__

**__Battle of Guadalcanal__-** It was codenamed Operation Watchtower by the allied forces. It was fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal. It was the second major offensive by Allied forces against the Japanese. After the battle for Henderson Field the Japanese made many attempts to retaking the airfield. And in November some Allied intelligences learned of one of the major plans to take it. To counter the planned attack the U.S. sent two Army infantry battalions. Callaghan's force, the rear admiral comprised of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers.

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalcanal_Campaign#Naval_Battle_of_Guadalcanal **
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__ Battle of Tarawa __** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">- <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">It was largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was the first time that the United States seriously faced the Japanese. There were nearly 6,000 Japanese and Americans that died on that island in 76 hours of fighting. American casualties on the beach were over the hundreds that never got remembered. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tarawa

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__Battle of Saipan__-** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">It was fought from June 15 to July 9 of 1944. It was the American plan to cut off Japanese communication to the south and the west. There was later a bombardment on Saipan that began on June 13, 1944. There were fifteen battleships involved. The invasion had stunned the Japanese high command which had expected an attack from further south. In an attempt to counter they deployed the A-Go force to attack the U.S. Navy. However, it was a terrible disaster for the Japanese. By July 7 the Japanese had nowhere to retreat. 2,949 Americans were killed and 10,364 were wounded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saipan ====== <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__Battle of Iwo Jima__ -** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">More U.S Marines had earned the Medal of Honor than in any other battle in U.S History. Within 36 days of fighting 1 in 3 soldiers were killed of wounded. Adding to a total of 25,851 casualties. 6,825 American boys were killed. Along with virtually all 22,000 Japanese perished. The battle was won by the inch-by-inch tenacity of foot soldiers. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">[|http://www.iwojima.com/battle/battlec.htm]

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__ **Bombing Campaigns- Campaigns** __ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%; line-height: 19pt;">On April 18, 1942, the Doolittle Raid occurred. It was the first air raid the U.S. posted against the Japanese as a retaliation for the Pearl Harbor attacks. Led by Lieutenant General James "Jimmy" Doolittle, the raid drastically boosted the morale of the United States because many people believed the Japanese were too powerful and invulnerable to be attacked. This was proven wrong. Even though there wasn't anywhere near the kind of damage that there was in Pearl Harbor, there was enough to show Japan could be beat. One of the aircrafts used during WWII was the B-29 bomber. A B-29 was a "flying fortress" and was the type of plane that carried the atomic bombs which destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They played huge roles in the war. media type="youtube" key="AtSt5XZ7fq4" height="349" width="425"

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__**Question-**__
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Why was it known as the war without mercy?** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">-Each of these countries had a lot of tension between them, and after pearl harbor each was filled with pure hatred. The Americans started to judge the Japanese and same goes for the Japanese with the Americans. Neither of these countries wanted to surrender because they were both so determined to win the war. The pride of this war i think is what made it so gruesome. Both countries had to prove they were more superior with bigger and better war strategies and weapons. Since the Japanese already hated the Americans so much, i'm sure that is why they had no problem treating the soldiers so terribly when they were taken captive.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%; line-height: 19pt;">__**Conclusion-**__
====<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%; line-height: 19pt;">The world war II pacific theatre was a very brutal time during the war. New ways of fighting were invented including carrier warfare. The japanese used island hoping to gain control of each island more quickly. There were also many bombing raids during this time and a lot of innocent people were killed. The United States became more powerful and ended the war with japan by finally dropping the atomic bomb, forcing Japan to surrender. ====