W O R L D W A R I I - T H E P A C I F I C T H E A T R E

Number of Americans that served in World War II (Atlantic and Pacific Theatres combined): 15,145,115

Combat Casualties: 292,131 Wounded: 671,801 Prisoners of war, missing in action at War’s end:

139,709 Miscellaneous deaths: 115,187

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C H R O N O L O G Y

Prologue: Japan 1853-1940: From Isolation to Empire

1853-93- American fleet under Commodore Matthew Perry forces its way into Japan at Uraga Bay, ending 250 years of self-imposed isolation from foreign contact; Japan senses national weakness, total vulnerability to superior Western technology and guns, moves to modernize its archaic feudal society; 300-year rule of ‘Shoguns’ (provincial warlords) is overthrown, replaced by Western-style parliamentary government with ancient Emperor as symbolic head of state; “enrich the country, strengthen the military” becomes national slogan as Japan seeks parity with British, French, & Dutch empires in the Far East; traditional Samurai (warrior) class is broken up, co-opted into new national army; industry grows, commerce & military thrive under Japan’s new “parliamentary imperialism;”

1894-1913- War with China over local territorial dispute (1894) provides first test of Japan’s new military strength; swift Japanese triumph over outgunned, disorganized Chinese alarms Russia & other Western powers which intervene to limit Japanese gains and force return of some Chinese territory; Japan’s ensuing bitterness towards Europeans spurs development of a modern army & navy; Japanese form strategic alliance with Britain to counter Russian influence in region and contend for East Asian supremacy; conflicting territorial claims lead to war with Russia (1904-05); Japan’s overwhelming victory is first by Asian nation over Western imperial power, sending shock waves throughout Europe and inspiring nationalism in subject peoples throughout Asia and India; Treaty of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, N.H. 1905) recognizes Japan’s new role in Orient, supremacy over Korea, & claims to Russian territory (Sakhalin Island) seized in war; Japan then annexes Korea (1910), turns gaze toward northern China (Manchuria) as militant imperialists gain strength in Japanese parliament;

1914-20- Japan joins Western allies to fight against Germany in World War I, seizing German colonies in Far East and former Chinese territory; when war ends (1918) Japan refuses to return land to China, puts new demands on Chinese (“5 points”) for control of coastal harbors, raw materials, & key Chinese industries; at Treaty of Versailles (Paris, France1919) victorious Allies agree to Japan’s Chinese conquests if Japan opposes new Bolshevik (communist) regime in Russia; Chinese fear of Japan, mistrust of West are confirmed by Japanese intervention in disputes between Manchurian warlords, unopposed by European powers; Japan fights against Bolsheviks during Russian Revolution as promised but seizes fresh Russian territory and expands its Oriental empire to the dismay of China and the West;

1921-36- U.S.-backed international disarmament conference in Washington, D.C. (1921-22) seeks to limit Japanese military while allowing for its national security; Four-Power Pact (Britain, U.S., France, Japan) replaces Anglo-Japanese alliance while Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty blocks growth of Japanese navy & Oriental empire; Japan counters by forming pact with new “Soviet Union,” returning seized Russian territory and partly withdrawing from Chinese coast; worldwide Great Depression (1929- ) devastates Japanese economy and erodes confidence in parliamentary government, particularly in rural Japan; growing poverty, mistrust of government corrupted by ties to financial cliques (“zaibatsu”) & pressure to feed expanding population all strengthen hand of anti-Western nationalists; European rejection of joint Chinese/Japanese petition for racial equality in the League of Nations gives final push to Japanese imperialism; old Samurai grievances revive among unhappy junior military officers from impoverished countryside, secret societies (“Black Dragon,” “Blood Brotherhood”) form to purge government of foreign influence, promote racial purity and imperial conquest; anti-Western terror campaign begins with assassination of Prime Minister Hamaguchi (1930); junior officers stir “revolutionary violence” in futile attempt to replace parliament with tribunals of “national patriots;” murder of top Manchurian warlord (1928) signals beginning of Japanese military’s planned conquest of China; minor skirmish (“Manchurian Incident”) gives pretext for invading and occupying Manchuria (1931); successive prime ministers are assassinated as civilian government is now unable to stop military’s bid for power (1932-36); Japanese army becomes haven for anti-Western reactionaries as world condemns Japanese occupation of China; Japanese parliament creates puppet state of “Manchukuo” in vain attempt to placate military by legalizing its seizure of Manchuria; League of Nations condemns Japan, calls for complete withdrawal from China; Japan renounces League (1933), then converts Manchuria into industrial base and staging-ground for invasion of China; failed military coup (Tokyo 1936) by radical junior officers provokes conservative reaction, power shift to old hard-line imperialists; extremists lose ground as civilian government is restored but with conservative reactionaries in full control; anticipating eventual war with U.S., Japan signs mutual defense pact with Germany, then prepares for all-out conflict;

1937-40- Skirmish with Chinese near Peking (“Marco Polo Incident” 1937) gives pretext for long-sought war with China; Japanese armies invade from base in Manchuria, seize Mongolia and northern provinces, destroy ancient capital at Nanking leaving 1,000,000 casualties; Japan’s civilian government now powerless to stop military conquest of China; Japanese people rally to imperial banner while relations with Europe and America deteriorate; Japanese, Soviet armies clash along Chinese border (1938-39) to test field armies for coming war, then sign mutual defense treaty; Britain, U.S. openly side with nationalist China, U.S. breaks commercial ties after Japanese sink U.S. gunboat in Yangtse River (1939); Japan joins Axis alliance with Germany and Italy, then invades French Indochina to block flow of supplies to nationalist Chinese; U.S. then freezes Japanese assets in American banks, cuts oil flow to Japan, then demands that 1) Japanese renounce Axis pact, 2) withdraw from China and French Indochina, and 3) formally recognize nationalist Chinese under Chiang Kai-Shek; Japan’s High Command rejects U.S. demands, Japanese then overrun vast areas of mainland China but are unable to consolidate gains as bulk of land forces are tied down by costly guerrilla war;

Part II: World War II in the Pacific 1941-45

1941- Inspired by German occupation of France and Belgium, Japan obtains consent from German-controlled “Vichy” government of France to take control of French Indochina, then targets Dutch East Indies and Malaya for oil and raw materials; implacable American demands push Japanese military rulers to conclude war with U.S. is inevitable and mobilize Japan for full-scale war while continuing ‘talks’ with U.S.; Japanese High Command drafts “perimeter strategy” to acquire strategic boundaries and raw materials for its Pacific empire; Japan’s last civilian prime minister is deposed as High Command plots surprise attack on American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaiian Islands; Allied forces (Britain, U.S., Holland, Australia), are weak, unprepared, & scattered throughout the Pacific; Japan attacks Pearl Harbor without warning on Dec. 7, killing 2,300 and crippling the American fleet; U.S. Congress declares war on Japan Dec. 8; Japan invades the Philippine Islands the same day, destroys key airfields, seizes capital at Manila (Dec. 10); American army under Gen. Douglas MacArthur is trapped on nearby Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island; 90,000 surrender to Japanese, 1/3 die while led into captivity (Bataan “death march”); Japanese overrun Thailand and South Burma (Dec. 9-16), capture U.S. bases at Guam and Wake Island (Dec. 10-23); British garrison at Hong Kong surrenders to Japanese on Dec. 25, exposing remainder of Allied outposts in south Pacific to Japanese onslaught;

1942- Japan attacks Papua New Guinea & Gilbert Islands to cut Allied supply lines, secure new holdings in South Pacific; key British base at Rabaul (in Bismarck Archipelago near Australia) falls as Japanese overrun Borneo, Timor, and oil-rich Dutch East Indies; British fortress at Singapore surrenders to Japan on Feb. 15,

Dutch-held Sumatra falls the next day; Japanese naval victory at Battle of Java Sea clears way to conquer island of Java & complete “perimeter” plan for Pacific empire; first Allied counterattack (March 1942) forces Japan to re-think strategy, widen perimeter to include U.S.-held territories; Japanese advance toward Samoa & Midway Islands, simultaneously attack British-held Figi Islands and New Guinea to isolate Australia; U.S. intercepts Japanese plans, slows Japanese advance at Battle of Coral Sea (May 5-7); Japanese navy presses toward Midway Island to force showdown with smaller American fleet; U.S. breaks Japanese secret code, then surprises and cripples Japanese fleet at Battle of Midway (June 3-6); turning point of war in Pacific is reached as American-led Allies are now on equal military footing with Japan; Allies begin broad counterattack in July, reach great Japanese base at Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) on Aug. 7; Allied naval victories at Eastern Solomons, Cape Esperance, Santa Cruz, and near Guadalcanal isolate Japanese garrison on the island; on the Asian mainland, nationalist Chinese under Chiang Kai-Shek repel Japanese in south China but are badly mauled in Burma, forcing British to retreat to India as Burma falls to Japan (Dec. 1942);

1943- Allied invasion of Guadalcanal begins; island taken after very heavy losses against well-entrenched Japanese (Jan. 5- Feb. 21); recapture of Papua New Guinea (Jan. 22) reopens sea lane to Australia; Allied naval victory at Battle of Bismarck Sea costs Japan another fleet, puts it on the defensive for the remainder of the war; Japan’s supreme naval commander Admiral Yamamoto is ambushed, killed by U.S. planes (April 18), leaving Japanese navy without effective leadership; Americans drive entrenched Japanese from Aleutian Islands near Alaska; U.S.-led Allies draw up plans for invading Japanese homeland via the Philippines;

1944- Allies encircle and cut off Japanese at Rabaul, then retake Gilbert, Marshall, and Caroline Islands; Saipan (Mariana Islands) is recaptured after very heavy casualties; Japanese High Command resigns after loss of Saipan to Allies, senses eventual loss of war as Saipan becomes base for long-range Allied bombing of Japanese homeland; naval Battle of the Philippine Sea pits remainder of Japanese fleet against superior U.S. force in last-ditch attempt to stall Allied advance toward the Philippines; Japan’s crushing defeat reduces its fleet to a fraction of its original strength, forcing retreat from Mariana Islands which Americans convert to base for long-range bombers; on the Asian mainland, joint British, Burmese, and Indian army drives Japanese from south Burma; Japanese attack U.S. airbases in south China, but end to land war is near as Japan is now unable to reinforce its troops in the field; Allied army led by Gen. MacArthur lands on Leyte Island in the Philippines (Oct. 20); Japanese counterattack from the sea but are repelled with heavy losses at Battle of Leyte Gulf (Oct. 23-25); Japan is now powerless to stop Allied advance through the Philippines; Allies retake Leyte Island after heavy fighting on Dec. 25, advance to Mindoro and Luzon islands, then lay siege to the capital at Manila;

1945- Americans retake Bataan Peninsula, fulfilling Gen. MacArthur’s prophecy (“I shall return”); Japanese surrender Manila on March 3, abandon the Philippines by April 17; parallel British-led campaign in Burma drives north to capital at Rangoon, re-opening path to China; long-range bombing of Japanese homeland intensifies in preparation for eventual ground invasion; Tokyo fire-bombed on March 9-10 leaving 80,000 dead, one million homeless; U.S. Marines take Iwo Jima island to reduce length of bombing runs but suffer 30,000 casualties; round-the-clock bombing begins as Americans advance toward heavily fortified Okinawa island at Japan’s southern tip; Okinawa surrenders on April 3 but Americans lose 50,000 more as the cost of invading Japan’s homeland becomes clear; successful test of first atom bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico (spring 1945) offers Allies the chance to force an early Japanese surrender and avoid the heavy casualties of a ground assault; at Potsdam Conference (July1 to August 1, 1945; Britain, U.S., & Soviet Union) following Germany’s earlier surrender on May 4, Allies call for Japan to capitulate; Japan refuses, U.S. drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima (Aug. 6), killing 80,000 and leveling the city center; after Soviet Union declares war on Japan (Aug. 8) Japan fights alone but still refuses to give in; U.S. drops second atomic bomb on Nagasaki (Aug. 9), killing another 70,000; Emperor Hirohito persuades new High Command to surrender to avoid total destruction of Japanese motherland; at formal ceremony aboard battleship Missouri (Sept. 2) Japan transfers authority to U.S.-led occupation force under Gen. MacArthur; Japan gives up the last of its Chinese possessions on Sept. 9, bringing World War II to an end.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica 1999