Japan Strikes in the Pacific
In the beginning of the 1930’s, due to a lack of raw
materials and space, and in response to the rapid expansion and
industrialization of many western nations, Japan too began to expand its
empire. First going into China, Japan tried to take over, causing a long war
and Japan’s economy to plummet. This led the Japanese to search for resources
in other places, looking towards the European colonies of the Pacific, which
would pose a threat to the United States who controlled the Philippines and
Guam not to far off. The United States to decided to back the Chinese,
supplying them with weapons and any aid they would need to help defend their
country. Then in July of 1941
President Roosevelt decided to cut of all oil shipments to Japan, but none of
this was able to stop Japan. On December 7th 1941, the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base in Hawaii just 4,000 miles away from
Japan. The entire naval fleet was destroyed, which included 8 battleships and
10 other boats. Over 1,000 Americans were wounded and around 2,400 were killed.
This attack led America to finally join the war, declaring war on Japan the
very day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1. A Detailed Timeline of World War 2 From 1939-1945. Shows what is going on in Europe and what is going on in the Pacific next to each other to give a clear idea of the events of the war. "Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. Almost at the same time, Japanese warplanes attack the Philippines and two U.S. islands: Wake and Guam, which are later occupied. Japanese troops invade Malaya and Thailand and seize Shanghai. Later in December Japanese troops invade Burma and Hong Kong. Three days after Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States."
2.Battle of Wake Island This gives a good overview of the role of the Wake Island in the early part of the war and its later significance as the site of war crimes. “Although the fight for Wake ended in a U.S. defeat, the American people continued to view the atoll as a rallying point. The garrison’s stand inspired Hollywood’s first combat film of the war, Wake Island, which was released in the late summer of 1942.”
3. This article gives a more detailed, blow-by-blow account of the battle for Wake Island, the experiences of American POWs from the Island, and the mass killing of American POWs left on the island at the hands of their Japanese captors. It includes some interesting personal perspectives: “No matter how badly the POWs were treated, the one defensive weapon they employed prevented the Japanese from breaking their pride entirely. That weapon was their universal observance of military discipline and continued existence as a military organization. Devereux once said about the POW camps: ‘The stakes seemed to me simply this: the main objective of the whole Japanese prison program was to break our spirit, and on our side was a stubborn determination to keep our self-respect whatever else they took from us. It seems almost as much a part of the war as the battle we fought on Wake Island.’”
4. This review of We Gave Our Today by William Fowler highlights many details of the role the Japanese idea of “Seishiin” or strength of will, the spirit animating kamikaze bombers, in Japan’s dominance of British Burma.
“The Japanese general, Heitara Kimura, still aimed to cut the Burma Road to China and hold on to Burma's airfields, although Tokyo could provide no reinforcements. In desperation, they tried to stop tanks with human anti-tank mines: holes dug in the road with a Japanese soldier crouching in each, nursing a bomb between his legs with the fused nose uppermost, ready to strike it with a brick. They were under orders to stay where they were, whatever the consequences. And in any case, if they moved, the bomb could explode. Knowing they were doomed, the soldiers waited patiently - so patiently that the colonel who had spotted them could walk up and shoot each soldier in the head.”
5. Revisiting Wartime: 66 Miles of Cruelty review of Michael and Elizabeth Norman’s “Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath”
There are hundreds if not thousands of accounts of the Bataan Death March, and this one is focused on one story, but also provides a basis for understanding the brutality of the Japanese Army, not only towards its prisoners, but towards its own men.
“There are many Japanese voices in “Tears in the Darkness.” Mr. and Ms. Norman don’t excuse Japan’s actions, but place them in careful context. Japanese soldiers, they write, were the products of “a closed world of violence where men were subjected to the most brutal system of army discipline in the world.” These soldiers “had been savaged to produce an army of savage intent.”
6. The Beginning of the End – Review of Craig Symonds “The Battle of Midway”
According to this article Symonds argues against the idea that luck played a key role in a crucial battle of the war, which“. . . was decided in a five-minute span on the morning of June 4, 1942, when U.S. Navy dive-bombers landed a series of haymakers on Japan's formerly invincible aircraft-carrier striking force. Down in a fiery flurry went the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu. A fourth carrier, the Hiryu, was destroyed that afternoon. By the time the cool north Pacific had swallowed their ruins, the war had a new course. The U.S. victory, stunningly complete, smashed the drive train of Japan's imperial machine and opened the way for the first Allied offensive, the six-month fight for Guadalcanal.” Ultimately the reviewer disagrees with Symondskey contention pointing out that “If luck really does favor the prepared, historians should never overlook preparation. But as that epigram's structure suggests, her favor remains paramount.”
7. How Cyberwarfare and Drones Have Revolutionized Warfare By TIM HSIA AND JARED SPERLI June 17, 2013 This article connects the innovations of the Coral Sea Battle to today’s drone and cyber warfare, point out the significance of Coral Sea as “. . .the first battle in which naval ships did not shoot upon or even see the opposing force. Aircraft carriers directly engaged one another using aircraft, with their long-distance reach, as their sole offensive weaponry. This new type of warfare, the carrier versus carrier, was an inevitable escalation of the air, radio and radar technology of the day. It was viewed as a revolution in military affairs.”
8. NY Journal of Books review of Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
The two battles for Bataan and Corregidor were notable for the US failure to adequately support forces fighting against the Japanese in the early part of the pacific war. “General Douglas MacArthur comes in for particular criticism from Mr. Sloan, both for the unpreparedness of American and Filipino forces to execute their planned strategy of falling back on Bataan and Corregidor to form a bastion and await reinforcements, including leaving months worth of food and supplies to fall into Japanese hands because they were not evacuated out of Manila before its capture by the Japanese invaders as an open city. . . . Nearly all American aircraft took off soon after word of the attack, awaiting orders to strike back at Japanese forces on the island of Formosa, the most likely springboard for an invasion. Whether awaiting a formal declaration of war or forlornly hoping that the Philippines could stay neutral before the Japanese juggernaut, MacArthur makes no decision to attack. When the planes are forced to land and refuel, a wave of Japanese air power destroys most of them on the ground, dooming the Americans and their Filipino allies”
9. This tells the story of the Bataan death March through the eyes of one survivor, Lt. Colonel William E. Dyess. “As members of the murder squad stooped over each huddled form, there would be an orange 'flash in the darkness and a sharp report. The bodies were left where they lay, that other prisoners coming behind us might see them.
Our Japanese guards enjoyed the spectacle in silence for a time. Eventually, one of them who spoke English felt he should add a little spice to the entertainment.
'Sleepee?' he asked. 'You want sleep? Just lie down on road. You get good long sleep!'
On through the night we were followed by orange flashes and thudding sounds."
10. This article goes in depth on the attack of Pearl Harbor,Midway, and many other important events of the Pacific War, along with Japan's plan to defeat the U.S. "A first step in Japanese high command’s defensive belt strategy was an advance into the southeast Pacific in order cut the line of communication and supply between the United States and Australia. At the same time, the central Pacific island of Midway was to be seized in order to anchor the left flank of the Gilbert Islands and to forestall direct American advances toward the Japanese homeland. While offensive in appearance, these campaigns were actually defensive in strategic tone. Their goals were to complete a defensive belt which the allies would find impregnable."
2.Battle of Wake Island This gives a good overview of the role of the Wake Island in the early part of the war and its later significance as the site of war crimes. “Although the fight for Wake ended in a U.S. defeat, the American people continued to view the atoll as a rallying point. The garrison’s stand inspired Hollywood’s first combat film of the war, Wake Island, which was released in the late summer of 1942.”
3. This article gives a more detailed, blow-by-blow account of the battle for Wake Island, the experiences of American POWs from the Island, and the mass killing of American POWs left on the island at the hands of their Japanese captors. It includes some interesting personal perspectives: “No matter how badly the POWs were treated, the one defensive weapon they employed prevented the Japanese from breaking their pride entirely. That weapon was their universal observance of military discipline and continued existence as a military organization. Devereux once said about the POW camps: ‘The stakes seemed to me simply this: the main objective of the whole Japanese prison program was to break our spirit, and on our side was a stubborn determination to keep our self-respect whatever else they took from us. It seems almost as much a part of the war as the battle we fought on Wake Island.’”
4. This review of We Gave Our Today by William Fowler highlights many details of the role the Japanese idea of “Seishiin” or strength of will, the spirit animating kamikaze bombers, in Japan’s dominance of British Burma.
“The Japanese general, Heitara Kimura, still aimed to cut the Burma Road to China and hold on to Burma's airfields, although Tokyo could provide no reinforcements. In desperation, they tried to stop tanks with human anti-tank mines: holes dug in the road with a Japanese soldier crouching in each, nursing a bomb between his legs with the fused nose uppermost, ready to strike it with a brick. They were under orders to stay where they were, whatever the consequences. And in any case, if they moved, the bomb could explode. Knowing they were doomed, the soldiers waited patiently - so patiently that the colonel who had spotted them could walk up and shoot each soldier in the head.”
5. Revisiting Wartime: 66 Miles of Cruelty review of Michael and Elizabeth Norman’s “Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath”
There are hundreds if not thousands of accounts of the Bataan Death March, and this one is focused on one story, but also provides a basis for understanding the brutality of the Japanese Army, not only towards its prisoners, but towards its own men.
“There are many Japanese voices in “Tears in the Darkness.” Mr. and Ms. Norman don’t excuse Japan’s actions, but place them in careful context. Japanese soldiers, they write, were the products of “a closed world of violence where men were subjected to the most brutal system of army discipline in the world.” These soldiers “had been savaged to produce an army of savage intent.”
6. The Beginning of the End – Review of Craig Symonds “The Battle of Midway”
According to this article Symonds argues against the idea that luck played a key role in a crucial battle of the war, which“. . . was decided in a five-minute span on the morning of June 4, 1942, when U.S. Navy dive-bombers landed a series of haymakers on Japan's formerly invincible aircraft-carrier striking force. Down in a fiery flurry went the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu. A fourth carrier, the Hiryu, was destroyed that afternoon. By the time the cool north Pacific had swallowed their ruins, the war had a new course. The U.S. victory, stunningly complete, smashed the drive train of Japan's imperial machine and opened the way for the first Allied offensive, the six-month fight for Guadalcanal.” Ultimately the reviewer disagrees with Symondskey contention pointing out that “If luck really does favor the prepared, historians should never overlook preparation. But as that epigram's structure suggests, her favor remains paramount.”
7. How Cyberwarfare and Drones Have Revolutionized Warfare By TIM HSIA AND JARED SPERLI June 17, 2013 This article connects the innovations of the Coral Sea Battle to today’s drone and cyber warfare, point out the significance of Coral Sea as “. . .the first battle in which naval ships did not shoot upon or even see the opposing force. Aircraft carriers directly engaged one another using aircraft, with their long-distance reach, as their sole offensive weaponry. This new type of warfare, the carrier versus carrier, was an inevitable escalation of the air, radio and radar technology of the day. It was viewed as a revolution in military affairs.”
8. NY Journal of Books review of Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor
The two battles for Bataan and Corregidor were notable for the US failure to adequately support forces fighting against the Japanese in the early part of the pacific war. “General Douglas MacArthur comes in for particular criticism from Mr. Sloan, both for the unpreparedness of American and Filipino forces to execute their planned strategy of falling back on Bataan and Corregidor to form a bastion and await reinforcements, including leaving months worth of food and supplies to fall into Japanese hands because they were not evacuated out of Manila before its capture by the Japanese invaders as an open city. . . . Nearly all American aircraft took off soon after word of the attack, awaiting orders to strike back at Japanese forces on the island of Formosa, the most likely springboard for an invasion. Whether awaiting a formal declaration of war or forlornly hoping that the Philippines could stay neutral before the Japanese juggernaut, MacArthur makes no decision to attack. When the planes are forced to land and refuel, a wave of Japanese air power destroys most of them on the ground, dooming the Americans and their Filipino allies”
9. This tells the story of the Bataan death March through the eyes of one survivor, Lt. Colonel William E. Dyess. “As members of the murder squad stooped over each huddled form, there would be an orange 'flash in the darkness and a sharp report. The bodies were left where they lay, that other prisoners coming behind us might see them.
Our Japanese guards enjoyed the spectacle in silence for a time. Eventually, one of them who spoke English felt he should add a little spice to the entertainment.
'Sleepee?' he asked. 'You want sleep? Just lie down on road. You get good long sleep!'
On through the night we were followed by orange flashes and thudding sounds."
10. This article goes in depth on the attack of Pearl Harbor,Midway, and many other important events of the Pacific War, along with Japan's plan to defeat the U.S. "A first step in Japanese high command’s defensive belt strategy was an advance into the southeast Pacific in order cut the line of communication and supply between the United States and Australia. At the same time, the central Pacific island of Midway was to be seized in order to anchor the left flank of the Gilbert Islands and to forestall direct American advances toward the Japanese homeland. While offensive in appearance, these campaigns were actually defensive in strategic tone. Their goals were to complete a defensive belt which the allies would find impregnable."
Primary Source
1. A NYT newspaper article published the day after the japanese attacked Pearl Harbor (see image on left)
2. A radio Broadcast from NBC after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
3. A message from the Chief of Naval Operations warning of a possible attack form Japan. (See image above)
videos
1. Battle Scars Still Stinging 70 Years Later A short interview with 94 year old war veteran recalling his time in the war. He joined WWII after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and while in the war he took photographs of the mass destruction caused by the second world war.
2. A recording of FDR's speech after the attack on Pearl Harbor, declaring that December 7th will be a day that lives in infamy.
3. A radio Broadcast on the War in the Pacific
2. A recording of FDR's speech after the attack on Pearl Harbor, declaring that December 7th will be a day that lives in infamy.
3. A radio Broadcast on the War in the Pacific