After the events of Midway, the U.S. opened a gate with many successes by conquering islands invaded by Japan in an effort to stop attacks on U.S. forces. Gaining the islands was essential in order to invade Japan’s mainland in order to get closer to victory over Japan. Later in the war Japan would not have it’s mainland invaded. Most islands consisted of airfields and Japanese Bases, which were required to conquer and gain an advantage over Japan’s Army. America’s success at Midway was a crucial blow to the Imperial Navy’s fleet, which would not fully recover until the war was lost.
Having lost her Pacific battleships at the outset, the US Navy (USN) had to rely on new strategies to hold and protect its remaining Pacific interests. Out of necessity, the USN formed its remaining carriers into strike forces to conduct raids on the Japanese’s outlying areas. One such significant raid, the Battle of the Coral Sea, showed the significance of carriers being used in a doctrinally different, yet effective, way.
GOt a A Pearl Harbor - The Days Leading Up to the Attack and the Days that Followed Sherilyn Samson Post University Pearl Harbor - The Days Leading Up to the Attack and the Days that Followed December 7, 1941 is the day that Japan attacked Hawaii. This attack on Pearl Harbor is remembered as “a date which will live in infamy”, made famous from Roosevelt’s speech on December 8, 1941; where he asked our congress to declared war on Japan. (Rosenburg, 2014) Up until this day, the United States had reported themselves as a neutral power, but that may not be quite the “truth”. We will review activities that show how the US in fact had been actively participating in the war and know that
Military Status before and during the war i. Japan The Japanese were uncommonly treacherous and savage, their army was the strongest in the pacific before the Americans decided to join the war. Even before the fall of Saipan in June 1944, Japanese planners knew that Iwo Jima would have to be reinforced significantly if it were to be held for any length of time, and preparations were made to send sizable numbers of men and quantities of materiel to that island. Thus the Japanese began preparing their defences mainly using nature, by this meaning that they started fortifying the caves. Thus General Kuribayashi ordered that mining engineers were dispatched from Japan to draw blueprints for projected underground fortifications that would consist of elaborate tunnels at varying levels to assure good ventilation and minimize the effect of bombs or shells exploding near the entrances or exits . in terms of military forces General Kuribayashi had a plan called water's edge defence strategy, but however he later abandoned it.
Japan had made clear overtures to peace, but cultural differences made this nearly impossible (the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour). The determination to use an expensive bomb instead of letting it rust away; the desire to find out how devastating it was and the opportunity to use the bomb as a strong showcase of US supremacy, made Japan the ideal target. Obviously, the USSR would eventually succeed in creating the a-bomb. Therefore, making Hiroshima & Nagasaki the example of the tremendous power of the bombs would make it clear to the USSR that they too needed such weapons to defend themselves. Moreover, other countries claimed the right of nuclear weapons to defend their citizens.
(Vat) After that, Japan continued its naval expansion after World War I. Looking at Japans success; Great Britain and United States realized that the Japanese Navy could threaten their interests. In order to preserve their goals, they came up with The Washington Naval Treaty. This Treaty placed restrictions on the tonnage of battleships, aircraft carriers, and cruisers that Japan could build in relation to those of the United States and Britain (Willmott). The United States argued that they had naval commitments outside of the Pacific, so the Japanese would effectively have equal
Taku Mbeng 3/1/13 Period 1 Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a result of the Japanese Navy bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941. Japan feared they would be vulnerable for attack and would lose their land. The Japanese Navy planned to capture Midway which was a U.S. base hoping to eliminate the U.S. from the war destroying their fleet. Japans plans did not work because the U.S. knew every single attack they planned and when they were going to attack. They found out the information through radio communications and code breaking.
The results of these operations are often cited as one of the turning points of World War II. The Battle of Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in human history, with combined casualties estimated to be above 1.5 million. 8) Battle of Midway: The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle, widely regarded as the most important of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. It took place from 4 June to 7 June 1942, exactly six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese operation, like the earlier attack on Pearl Harbor, was aimed at the elimination of the United States as a strategic Pacific power, thereby giving Japan a free hand in establishing its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
The main specific objectives of the Japanese aim at attacking the US were to destroy the US Pacific Fleet which prevent them from interfering when Japan conquered Dutch East Indies and Malaya, take all Asia’s land back because US could not detain Japan from doing so, fortify Japan against US counter attack, negotiate peace treaty with US from position of strength in 1 year with continued cost of US human lives with Japan and in 6 months be conquered and to deiver a major blow to American morale ultimately discouraging US from entering war. Japan’s hope of achievement and how was the oil embargo signed by President Roosevelt which crippled Japanese expansionist drives severely and 9/10th of oil source was cut off by the US. The Japanese Empire’s control of the Pacific would force US to establish favorable terms in resuming oil imports thus a decision to handle this manner was annihilate American’s military
The main strategy was to control the Pacific, therefore to achieve that America had to protect and gain small islands throughout the Pacific to build airfields and naval bases. Of course in the beginning, Japan had a great advantage over the United States as they could easily choose where and when to attack. However, after the Battle of Midway, the two forces found them selves of equal advantage. After receiving intelligence that the Japanese were out for a decisive battle against the American Navy, Admiral Chester Nimitz knew Japan’s target would be Midway to further extend their strategic control in the Pacific. Japan’s naval commander, Yamamoto, believed the only way to gain control of the Pacific would be through an all-out battle against the United States’ fleet.