ww2: the u.s. in the pacific theatertompkinspage.weebly.com/uploads/8/6/3/9/8639873/pacific...of...

Who were the main countries that made up

the Axis powers? List the country that

would be involved in the Pacific theater

first

Circle the following places, then label with

the letter

Hawaii - H

Japan – J

The Philippines – P

Midway Island - M

BEFORE PEARL HARBOR

(1941)

AFTER PEARL HARBOR

(1942)

What new territories did the Japanese acquire? (pair and share)

Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle

16 U.S. Bombers pushed into Tokyo, Japan

(and other cities)

Effect: • Good for emotions of American

army and citizens

• Took the Japanese down a notch

Americans broke Japanese code to find that Midway was their next point of attack

We surprised the Japanese and bombed their aircraft carriers before they could get any planes up

Effect: • Japan loses 4 of their 6 aircraft

carriers and 250 planes….navy weakened

Part of the Island Hopping plan • We also wanted to put a naval base

here

19,000 American soldiers in “hell”

• Tompkins reads excerpt from soldier

6 months later…Japanese abandon island

Effect: • Allies are now on the OFFENSIVE,

not defensive

In the Philippines

Japanese try out the

kamikaze tactic here • 424 kamikaze pilots sunk 16

ships and damaged 80

Effect: • Japan ultimately loses

• Japanese Navy never plays a

large part in war again

Critical for U.S. to obtain

because of its proximity to

the island of Japan

U.S. wins, but nearly 7,000

men die

Effect: • We secure a close base to

Japan

Okinawa is just south of the main

islands of Japan

1,900 kamikazes sent

110,000 Japanese lives lost

7,600+ Americans die

Effect • Foreshadowing of invasion of Japan?

Pretending like you don’t know the future

history of the war…. What do you think a

smart next move would be as the U.S.

military (concerning Japan)?

What do you think would be the worst part

of being a WW2 soldier in the Pacific

Theater?

See Tompkins’ slides.

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