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Date: December 7, 1941
Location: Hawaii Oahu United States
Participants: Japan United States
Context: Operation Barbarossa Pacific War Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
Key People: Nagano Osami Tōjō Hideki Yamamoto Isoroku Husband Edward Kimmel Walter Campbell Short
Top Questions Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? How long did the Pearl Harbor attack last? Was the Pearl Harbor attack successful? Did the Pearl Harbor attack signal the beginning of World War II for the United States? What is Pearl Harbor like today? Summary Read a brief summary of this topic
Pearl Harbor attack, (December 7, 1941), surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan. Prelude to war Pacific War: Japanese-controlled areas of China Pacific War: Japanese-controlled areas of China
In the late 1930s, American foreign policy in the Pacific hinged on support for China, and aggression against China by Japan therefore necessarily would bring Japan into conflict with the United States. As early as 1931 the Tokyo government had extended its control over the Chinese province of Manchuria, and the following year the Japanese cemented their hold on the region with the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo. A clash at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing on July 7, 1937, signaled the beginning of open warfare between Japan and the United Front of Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese Communist Party. In response, the United States government extended its first loan to China in 1938.
In July 1939 the U.S. announced the termination of the 1911 Treaty of Commerce and Navigation with Japan. Beginning in the summer of 1940, the U.S. began to restrict the export to Japan of materials useful in war. Between June 1940 and the fateful crisis of December 1941, the tension constantly mounted. In July 1941, by which time the Japanese had occupied all of Indochina and had entered into an alliance with the Axis powers (Germany and Italy), the U.S. government severed all commercial and financial relations with Japan. Japanese assets were frozen, and an embargo was declared on shipments to Japan of petroleum and other vital war materials. Militarists were steadily gaining in influence in the Tokyo government; they bitterly resented U.S. aid to China, which by this time had been stepped up. They saw in the German invasion of the Soviet Union an unrivaled opportunity to pursue a policy of aggression in the Far East without danger of an attack upon their rear by the forces of the Red Army. Nonetheless, negotiations looking to find some kind of understanding between the United States and Japan took place through the autumn of 1941, and not until near the end of November did it become clear that no agreement was possible. Tōjō Hideki Tōjō Hideki Yamamoto Isoroku Yamamoto Isoroku
Although Japan continued to negotiate with the United States up to the day of the Pearl Harbor attack, the government of Prime Minister Tōjō Hideki decided on war. Adm. Yamamoto Isoroku, the commander in chief of Japan’s Combined Fleet, had planned the attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet with great care. Once the U.S. fleet was out of action, the way for the unhindered Japanese conquest of all of Southeast Asia and the Indonesian archipelago would be open. The order for the assault was issued on November 5, 1941, and on November 16 the task force began its rendezvous in the Kuril Islands. Commanders were instructed that the fleet might be recalled, however, in case of a favourable outcome of the negotiations in Washington, D.C. On November 26, Vice Adm. Nagumo Chuichi led a fleet including 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 11 destroyers to a point some 275 miles (440 km) north of Hawaii. From there about 360 planes in total were launched. Britannica Quiz World War II: Fact or Fiction? Warnings and responses Kimmel, Husband; Pearl Harbor attack Kimmel, Husband; Pearl Harbor attack
The U.S. Pacific Fleet had been stationed at Pearl Harbor since April 1940. In addition to nearly 100 naval vessels, including 8 battleships, there were substantial military and air forces. As the tension mounted, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel and Lieut. Gen. Walter C. Short, who shared command at Pearl Harbor, were warned of the possibility of war, specifically on October 16 and again on November 24 and 27. The notice of November 27, to Kimmel, began, “This dispatch is to be considered a war warning,” went on to say that “negotiations have ceased,” and directed the admiral to “execute an appropriate defensive deployment.” Kimmel also was ordered to “undertake such reconnaissance and other measures as you deem necessary.” The communication of the same day to Short declared that “hostile action is possible at any moment” and, like its naval counterpart, urged “measures of reconnaissance.” Examine the facts and timeline of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Examine the facts and timeline of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
In response to these warnings, the measures taken by the army and navy commanders were, as the event proved, far from adequate. Short ordered an alert against sabotage and concentrated most of his fighter planes at the base on Wheeler Field in an effort to prevent damage to them. He also gave orders to operate five of the mobile radar sets that had been set up in the island from 4:00 am to 7:00 am, considered to be the most dangerous period. (Radar training, however, was in a far-from-advanced stage.) Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now
Kimmel, despite the fact that his intelligence had not been able to locate substantial elements in the Japanese fleet—especially the first-line ships in carrier divisions 1 and 2—did not expand his reconnaissance activities to the northwest, the logical point for an attack. He moored the entire fleet (save that part which was at sea) in the harbour and permitted a part of his personnel to go on shore leave. Neither of these officers suspected that the base at Pearl Harbor would itself be subjected to attack. Nor, for that matter, is there any indication that their superiors in Washington were in any way conscious of the approaching danger. In the 10 days between the war warning of November 27 and the Japanese attack itself, no additional action was taken by Washington. WWII: Japanese American internment in pictures Britannica Exclusive Archive WWII: Japanese American internment in pictures On March 18, 1942, the federal War Relocation Authority (WRA) was established to “take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.” This collection of pictures documents the internment of those approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans.
Early on Sunday morning, December 7, Washington learned that the Japanese ambassadors had been instructed to ask for an interview with the secretary of state at 1:00 pm (7:30 am Pearl Harbor time). This was a clear indication that war was at hand. The message took some time to decode, and it was not in the hands of the chief of naval operations until about 10:30. It was delivered to the War Department between 9:00 and 10:00 am. Gen. George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army chief of staff, was out horseback riding and did not see the dispatch until he arrived at his office about 11:15 am. The chief of naval operations, Adm. Harold Stark, even then did not think that the communication called for any additional instructions to Kimmel. However, Marshall did decide to send a new warning and gave orders to the military command to communicate with the navy. He did not telephone, fearing that his words might be intercepted, and instead sent his dispatch by telegram. There was a mix-up in communication, however, and the warning did not reach Hawaii until after the attack had begun. It is important to note that it had not been filed until noon, only an hour before the Japanese planes moved in on the base.
At Pearl Harbor itself, there were incidents that, properly interpreted, might have given a brief warning. Four hours before the decisive moment, a Japanese submarine was sighted by the minesweeper USS Condor. About two and a half hours later, the commander of the destroyer USS Ward sent a message saying that he “had attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon submarine operating in defensive sea area” near Pearl Harbor. While Kimmel waited for confirmation of this report, the Japanese opened hostilities. In these same morning hours, U.S. Army Pvt. George Elliott, practicing on the radar set after its normal closing time, noticed a large flight of planes on the screen. When he telephoned his lieutenant, he was told to disregard the observation, as a flight of B-17 bombers from the United States was expected at that time. Once again an opportunity was missed. The attack Learn why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor causing the United States to join Allied forces in World War II Learn why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor causing the United States to join Allied forces in World War II See all videos for this article Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor attack Pearl Harbor attack
The first Japanese dive-bomber appeared over Pearl Harbor at 7:55 am (local time). It was part of a first wave of nearly 200 aircraft, including torpedo planes, bombers, and fighters. Within a quarter of an hour the various airfields at the base were subjected to savage attack. Due to Short’s anti-sabotage measures, the U.S. military aircraft were packed tightly together at the Naval Air Station on Ford Island and adjoining Wheeler and Hickam fields, and many were destroyed on the ground by Japanese strafing. At Wheeler Field in particular the destruction was fearful. Of the 126 planes on the ground, 42 were totally destroyed, 41 were damaged, and only 43 were left fit for service. Only 6 U.S. planes got into the air to repel the attackers of this first assault. In total, more than 180 aircraft were destroyed. Watch Japanese dive-bombers attack the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor to spark the Pacific War Watch Japanese dive-bombers attack the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor to spark the Pacific War See all videos for this article View footage of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the strike that provoked the U.S. into entering World War II View footage of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the strike that provoked the U.S. into entering World War II See all videos for this article
At the same time a massive action was directed against Kimmel’s fleet. The ships anchored in the harbour made perfect targets for the Japanese bombers, and, because it was Sunday morning (a time chosen by the Japanese for maximum surprise), they were not fully manned. Most of the damage to the battleships was inflicted in the first 30 minutes of the assault. The battleship USS Arizona blew up with a tremendous explosion. Riddled with bombs and torpedoes, the USS West Virginia settled on an even keel on the bottom of the harbour. The USS Oklahoma, hit by four torpedoes within five minutes, rolled completely over, with its bottom and propeller rising above the waters of the harbour. The USS California, the flagship of the Pacific Battle Force, was torpedoed and ordered abandoned as it slowly sank in shallow water. The target ship USS Utah also was sunk. Hardly a vessel escaped damage. The antiaircraft crews on the various vessels were fairly prompt in getting into action, and army personnel fired with what they had, but the force of the attack was in no serious way blunted. Pearl Harbor attack Pearl Harbor attack Pearl Harbor attack Pearl Harbor attack
At 8:50 am the second wave of the attack began. Less successful than the first, it nonetheless inflicted heavy damage. The battleship USS Nevada had sustained a torpedo hit during the first wave, but its position at the end of Battleship Row allowed it greater freedom of action than the other moored capital ships. It was attempting to get underway when the second wave hit. It was struck by seven or eight bombs and was grounded at the head of the channel. The battleship USS Pennsylvania was set ablaze by bombs, and the two destroyers moored near it were reduced to wrecks. The destroyer USS Shaw was split in two by a great explosion. Shortly after 9:00 am the Japanese withdrew.
No one could doubt that the Japanese had gained a great success. The Arizona and the Oklahoma were destroyed with great loss of life, and six other battleships suffered varying degrees of damage. Three cruisers, three destroyers, and other vessels were also damaged. U.S. military casualties totaled more than 3,400, including more than 2,300 killed. Heavy damage was inflicted on both army and navy aircraft on the ground. The Japanese lost from 29 to 60 planes, five midget submarines, perhaps one or two fleet submarines, and fewer than 100 men. The Japanese task force retired from the theatre of battle without being attacked. Pacific War Events Pearl Harbor attack Pearl Harbor attack December 7, 1941 Wake Island Battle of Wake Island December 8, 1941 - December 23, 1941 Bataan Death March Bataan Death March April 9, 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea Battle of the Coral Sea May 4, 1942 - May 8, 1942 Battle of Midway Battle of Midway June 3, 1942 - June 6, 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal Battle of Guadalcanal August 1942 - February 1943 Battle of the Philippine Sea Battle of the Philippine Sea June 19, 1944 - June 20, 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf Battle of Leyte Gulf October 23, 1944 - October 26, 1944 U.S. Marines on Okinawa Battle of Okinawa April 1, 1945 - June 21, 1945
There was, however, one consoling feature to the tragedy. As a result of the dispositions made by Kimmel, two U.S. aircraft carriers were not in the harbour. The USS Enterprise, under Adm. William F. Halsey, was on a mission to reinforce the Wake Island garrison with marine planes and aviators. The USS Lexington was undertaking a similar mission to ferry marine dive-bombers to Midway. These operations also meant that seven heavy cruisers and a division of destroyers were at sea. The Enterprise was scheduled to return to Pearl Harbor on December 6 but was delayed by weather. A third carrier, the USS Saratoga, was embarking a fresh complement of aircraft in San Diego on the morning of the attack. Listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt declare the Pearl Harbor attack “a date which will live in infamy” Listen to Franklin D. Roosevelt declare the Pearl Harbor attack “a date which will live in infamy” See all videos for this article
The Pearl Harbor attack severely crippled U.S. naval and air strength in the Pacific. However, of the eight battleships, all but the Arizona and Oklahoma were eventually repaired and returned to service, and the Japanese failed to destroy the important oil storage facilities on the island. The “date which will live in infamy,” as U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt termed it, unified the U.S. public and swept away any earlier support for neutrality. On December 8 Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote (Rep. Jeannette Rankin of Montana, who had also voted against U.S. entry into World War I). Investigations, accusations, and interpretations Learn about the Pearl Harbor attack and the USS Arizona Memorial Learn about the Pearl Harbor attack and the USS Arizona Memorial See all videos for this article
The extent of the disaster and the unpreparedness of the U.S. military provoked considerable criticism and led to numerous investigations. Both Kimmel and Short were relieved of duty, and, almost immediately after the assault, the president appointed a commission headed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts to examine the facts and to fix responsibility. At a later date both army and navy boards reviewed the problem. In 1946 a full-scale congressional investigation took place. Prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks, probably no episode in U.S. military history was so thoroughly examined, and on none has a wider divergence of opinion been expressed.
The most extreme view of the disaster is not to be found in any of the numerous investigations, but was disseminated long after the tragedy by those supporting the so-called “Back Door to War” theory. Among the earliest and most prominent exponents of this theory was Rear Adm. Robert A. Theobald, a Pacific task force commander whose career was sidelined after he clashed with superiors and failed to challenge the Japanese attacks on Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians. In The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor (1954), Theobald asserted that Roosevelt “by unrelenting diplomatic pressure” “enticed” Japan “to initiate hostilities with a surprise attack by holding the Pacific fleet in Hawaiian waters as an invitation to that attack.” This position found little support among mainstream historians at the time, and declassified documents relating to the capabilities and limitations of U.S. code-breaking efforts would serve to further undermine the “Back Door” theory.
Roosevelt did indeed pursue a policy of support for Nationalist China which acted as a substantial irritant to the Tokyo government and did much to provoke it to action. At the same time, there is substantial evidence that he sought to postpone a clash, rather than to incite one, and even in the closing days of the negotiations he made an appeal to Japanese Emperor Hirohito, which, if listened to, might have had that effect.
The success of the attack on Pearl Harbor was primarily due to the Americans’ false estimate of the enemy’s capabilities and intentions. The authorities in Washington knew that the Japanese forces were moving southward into the Gulf of Thailand. They did not believe that coincident with this move the Japanese could or would mount an attack on the Hawaiian base. It seemed logical, too, that the Japanese would avoid such action because it would inevitably bring the United States into the war; operations in the Pacific directed against the British and the Dutch might not have had this effect. The possibility of an air attack on Pearl Harbor had been frequently discussed among U.S. military planners in the course of the year, but, as matters came to a crisis, for the reasons mentioned above, it fell into the background.
It is a difficult matter (and one on which divergent opinions will long be held) to apportion responsibility between Washington and the commanders on the spot. In a report presented only a few weeks after it had been appointed by Roosevelt on December 17, 1941, the Roberts Commission placed the principal blame for the disaster upon Kimmel and Short. The army and navy commissions which later examined the problem took a contrary view, throwing the blame on the War and Navy departments. The majority report of a congressional committee, rendered in 1946, while not avoiding criticism of the chief of naval operations and the U.S. Army chief of staff, stressed the lack of preparation in Hawaii. Two members of this committee strongly dissented, severely blaming the authorities in Washington, and a third took a kind of middle ground.
Those who defend the position of the Hawaiian commanders make the following points. Short replied to Marshall’s warning of November 27, “Department alerted to prevent sabotage.” When this reply passed over the chief of staff’s desk, he neglected to notice that it mentioned only this one kind of preparation (as did Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, his subordinate). At no time in the next 10 days was this neglect repaired. As for Kimmel, the point has been made that he was inadequately informed as to the seriousness of the crisis. In the months before Pearl Harbor, the armed services, through the breaking of the Japanese code, were able to get much information as to Japanese purposes. Not a small part of this related to the position of the naval forces in Hawaii. Kimmel himself claimed that had he been put in possession of this material, he would have taken far stronger measures than he actually did. In defense of his failure to undertake more vigorous measures of reconnaissance, he urged the importance of his training program and the limited nature of his resources.
The critics of Washington also asserted that by the evening of December 6 the president had clear evidence that war was impending and that he should have taken prompt measures to alert the War and Navy departments. This view attached little importance to the warnings of November 27.
Those who were critical of the commanders on the spot took the view that the warnings given were sufficient and that a deplorable lack of imagination was shown in acting on them. A rash of questions are raised. Why was the possibility of an air attack not taken into account? Why were Short’s airplanes drawn up in such fashion as to be most exposed to enemy attack? Why was the radar training program not more advanced? Why did Kimmel handle his schedule so that the Japanese could count on all the battleships being in port on Sunday? Why were normal weekend leaves and liberties granted? Why was not some attempt made to improve reconnaissance? Why was the report on the Japanese submarine not taken more seriously? Those who emphasize the responsibility of Kimmel and Short also call attention to the fact that the war warnings of November 27 brought much more vigorous action on the part of the commanders in the Canal Zone and the Philippines. Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona National Memorial Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona National Memorial USS Arizona National Memorial USS Arizona National Memorial
Whatever judgment may be rendered on this matter, more important than the question of responsibility is the question of the historical significance of Pearl Harbor. Here the verdict is easier to reach. Great as the Japanese success was in the short run, great as the humiliation inflicted on the United States was, the attack was, in the longer perspective, a monstrous error on the part of the government in Tokyo. Even from a tactical point of view it was a blunder. In their intent to destroy the fleet, the Japanese neglected the great oil supplies on Hawaii, the destruction of which would have immobilized the United States for months to come. More important, the Japanese attack brought the U.S. government into the war, unified the American people, and made the ultimate defeat of the Japanese militarists inevitable. There had been much antiwar sentiment in the United States in the fall of 1941. Had the Japanese commanders directed their attention against the British and Dutch, it would have been at least doubtful whether Roosevelt could have led the American people into the war in the Pacific. As in so many other instances in the history of the 20th century, in spite of the weaknesses of the democracies, the autocratic states made errors even more vital than the errors of the democracies. Pearl Harbor was atoned for in four and a half years of war, but the blunders of Japanese militarists resulted in utter and total defeat.
Enola Gay, the B-29bomber that was used by the United States on August 6, 1945, to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first time the explosive device had been used on an enemy target. The aircraft was named after the mother of pilot Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr.
The B-29 (also called Superfortress) was a four-engine heavy bomber that was built by Boeing. It was first flown in 1942 and soon became popular in the Pacific theatre during World War II. In 1944 the B-29 was selected to carry the atomic bomb, and a number of the aircraft subsequently underwent various modifications, such as reinforcements of the bomb bay. That year Lieutenant Colonel Tibbets, who was one of the most experienced B-29 pilots, was tasked with assembling and training a crew. The modified B-29s were later flown to the U.S. military base on Tinian, one of the Mariana Islands.
Enola Gay Enola Gay U.S. bomber Enola Gay on Tinian, Mariana Islands, prior to its atomic bombing mission to Hiroshima, Japan, August 1945. Air Force Historical Research Agency On July 16, 1945, the United States successfully tested an atomic bomb. Pres. Harry S. Truman was informed of the development while attending the Potsdam Conference, and he in turn told Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that the United States had “a new weapon of unusual destructive force.” On July 26 the Allied leaders called for Japan to unconditionally surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.” After Japan ignored the demand, the decision was made to bomb Hiroshima.
Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay took off from the Mariana Islands on August 6, 1945, bound for Hiroshima, Japan, where, with the dropping of the atomic bomb, it heralded a new and terrible concept of warfare. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article At approximately 2:45 AM on August 6, 1945, Tibbets—who was now a full colonel—and a crew of 11 took off from Tinian island carrying a uranium bomb that was known as “Little Boy.” The Enola Gay—Tibbets had a maintenance man paint that name on the aircraft’s nose shortly before takeoff—was accompanied by various other planes. At 8:15 AM, the bomb was released over Hiroshima. While some 1,900 feet (580 metres) above the city, Little Boy exploded, killing tens of thousands and causing widespread destruction. Tibbets flew the Enola Gay back to Tinian, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Three days later the Enola Gay conducted weather reconnaissance in the lead-up to the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945.
Enola Gay Enola Gay The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay backed over a pit to be loaded with the first atomic bomb, which was released on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Air Force Historical Research Agency Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today The Enola Gay remained in service for several years before being given to the Smithsonian Institution on July 3, 1949. It was later disassembled and stored in Maryland. In 1984 work began on restoring the aircraft, which was in dire need of repair. Exposure to the elements had damaged the plane, and it had been vandalized. In addition, birds had built nests in various compartments. The project ultimately spanned some 20 years. In 1995 a portion of the plane served as the centrepiece of a controversial exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C. The exhibit had originally been scheduled to include artifacts from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and highlight the debate over the decision to use the bomb. Amid fierce opposition, however, the original plans were canceled, and a much scaled-back version was staged. In 2003 the fully restored Enola Gay was put on display at the NASM’s Steven F. Udar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Throughout July 1945 the Japanese mainlands, from the latitude of Tokyo on Honshu northward to the coast of Hokkaido, were bombed just as if an invasion was about to be launched. In fact, something far more sinister was in hand, as the Americans were telling Stalin at Potsdam.
Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War The B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay took off from the Mariana Islands on August 6, 1945, bound for Hiroshima, Japan, where, with the dropping of the atomic bomb, it heralded a new and terrible concept of warfare. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article In 1939 physicists in the United States had learned of experiments in Germany demonstrating the possibility of nuclear fission and had understood that the potential energy might be released in an explosive weapon of unprecedented power. On August 2, 1939, Albert Einstein had warned Roosevelt of the danger of Nazi Germany’s forestalling other states in the development of an atomic bomb. Eventually, the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development was created in June 1941 and given joint responsibility with the war department in the Manhattan Project to develop an atomic bomb. After four years of intensive and ever-mounting research and development efforts, an atomic device was set off on July 16, 1945, in a desert area near Alamogordo, New Mexico, generating an explosive power equivalent to that of more than 15,000 tons of TNT. Thus the atomic bomb was born. Truman, the new U.S. president, calculated that this monstrous weapon might be used to defeat Japan in a way less costly of U.S. lives than a conventional invasion of the Japanese homeland. Japan’s unsatisfactory response to the Allies’ Potsdam Declaration decided the matter. (See Sidebar: The decision to use the atomic bomb.) On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb carried from Tinian Island in the Marianas in a specially equipped B-29 was dropped on Hiroshima, at the southern end of Honshu: the combined heat and blast pulverized everything in the explosion’s immediate vicinity, generated fires that burned almost 4.4 square miles completely out, and immediately killed some 70,000 people (the death toll passed 100,000 by the end of the year). A second bomb, dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, killed between 35,000 and 40,000 people, injured a like number, and devastated 1.8 square miles.
World War II: total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan World War II: total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan Total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan, following the dropping of the first atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. U.S. Air Force photo The Japanese surrender News of Hiroshima’s destruction was only slowly understood in Tokyo. Many members of the Japanese government did not appreciate the power of the new Allied weapon until after the Nagasaki attack. Meanwhile, on August 8, the U.S.S.R. had declared war against Japan. The combination of these developments tipped the scales within the government in favour of a group that had, since the spring, been advocating a negotiated peace. On August 10 the Japanese government issued a statement agreeing to accept the surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration on the understanding that the emperor’s position as a sovereign ruler would not be prejudiced. In their reply the Allies granted Japan’s request that the emperor’s sovereign status be maintained, subject only to their supreme commander’s directives. Japan accepted this proviso on August 14, and the emperor Hirohito urged his people to accept the decision to surrender. It was a bitter pill to swallow, though, and every effort was made to persuade the Japanese to accept the defeat that they had come to regard as unthinkable. Even princes of the Japanese Imperial house were dispatched to deliver the Emperor’s message in person to distant Japanese Army forces in China and in Korea, hoping thus to mitigate the shock. A clique of diehards nevertheless attempted to assassinate the new prime minister, Admiral Suzuki Kantarō; but by September 2, when the formal surrender ceremonies took place, the way had been smoothed.
See General MacArthur aboard the Missouri battleship offer surrender terms to Imperial Japan See General MacArthur aboard the Missouri battleship offer surrender terms to Imperial Japan On the deck of the battleship USS Missouri, General Douglas MacArthur invites representatives of Japan to sign the terms of surrender, thus formally ending World War II. From The Second World War: Allied Victory (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. See all videos for this article Truman designated MacArthur as the Allied powers’ supreme commander to accept Japan’s formal surrender, which was solemnized aboard the U.S. flagship Missouri in Tokyo Bay: the Japanese foreign minister, Shigemitsu Mamoru, signed the document first, on behalf of the Emperor and his government. He was followed by General Umezu Yoshijiro on behalf of the Imperial General Headquarters. The document was then signed by MacArthur, Nimitz, and representatives of the other Allied powers. Japan concluded a separate surrender ceremony with China in Nanking on September 9, 1945. With this last formal surrender, World War II came to an end.
Pacific War Part of World War II Map indicating US landings during the Pacific War Map showing the main areas of the conflict and Allied landings in the Pacific, 1942–1945 Date 7 December 1941 – 2 September 1945 (3 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location East AsiaSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaOceania Pacific OceanIndian Ocean Result Allied victory
End of World War II Fall of the Japanese Empire Continuation of the Chinese Civil War Substantial weakening of European colonial powers and the gradual decolonization of Asia First Indochina War Indonesian National Revolution Korean War 1951 Treaty of San Francisco 1956 Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration Territorial changes Allied occupation of Japan
Removal of Japanese troops occupying parts of China and the retrocession of Taiwan to China Liberation of Korea and Manchuria from Japanese rule, followed by the division of Korea Cession of Japanese-held islands in the Central Pacific Ocean to the United Nations Seizure and annexation of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands by the Soviet Union The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands is created by the United Nations and placed under the authority of the United States. The UN Security Council ended the vast trusteeship in stages, from 1986-94, with the US gaining the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. Belligerents Major Allies: United States China[a] British Empire See section Participants for further details. Major Axis: Japan See section Participants for further details. Commanders and leaders Main Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt[b] Chiang Kai-shek Winston Churchill[c] Main Axis leaders Hirohito Hideki Tōjō[d] Casualties and losses Military 4,000,000+ dead (1937–45) Civilian deaths 26,000,000+ (1937–45)[e] Military 2,500,000+ dead Civilian deaths 1,000,000+[f] vte Campaigns of World War II vte Pacific War vte Japanese colonial campaigns History of Japan Flag of Japan (1870–1999).svg List[show] Topics[show] GlossaryHistoryTimeline vte The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War,[12] was the theater of World War II that was fought in the Pacific and Asia. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast Pacific Ocean theater, the South West Pacific theater, the South-East Asian theater, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet–Japanese War.
The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been in progress since 7 July 1937, with hostilities dating back as far as 19 September 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.[13] However, it is more widely accepted[g][15] that the Pacific War itself began on 7/8 December 1941, when the Japanese invaded Thailand and attacked the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong as well as the United States military and naval bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines.[16][17][18]
The Pacific War saw the Allies pitted against Japan, the latter aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by the Axis allies, Germany and Italy. Fighting consisted of some of the largest naval battles in history, and incredibly fierce battles and war crimes across Asia and the Pacific Islands, resulting in immense loss of human life. The war culminated in massive Allied air raids over Japan, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accompanied by the Soviet Union's declaration of war and invasion of Manchuria and other territories on 9 August 1945, causing the Japanese to announce an intent to surrender on 15 August 1945. The formal surrender of Japan ceremony took place aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. After the war, Japan lost all rights and titles to its former possessions in Asia and the Pacific, and its sovereignty was limited to the four main home islands and other minor islands as determined by the Allies.[19] Japan's Shinto Emperor relinquished much of his authority and his divine status through the Shinto Directive in order to pave the way for extensive cultural and political reforms.[20]
Overview
The Pacific War Council as photographed on 12 October 1942. Pictured are representatives from the United States (seated), the Philippine Commonwealth, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand Names for the war In Allied countries during the war, the "Pacific War" was not usually distinguished from World War II in general, or was known simply as the War against Japan. In the United States, the term Pacific Theater was widely used, although this was a misnomer in relation to the Allied campaign in Burma, the war in China and other activities within the Southeast Asian Theater. However, the US Armed Forces considered the China-Burma-India Theater to be distinct from the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during the conflict.
Japan used the name Greater East Asia War (大東亜戦争, Dai Tō-A Sensō), as chosen by a cabinet decision on 10 December 1941, to refer to both the war with the Western Allies and the ongoing war in China. This name was released to the public on 12 December, with an explanation that it involved Asian nations achieving their independence from the Western powers through armed forces of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.[21] Japanese officials integrated what they called the Japan–China Incident (日支事変, Nisshi Jihen) into the Greater East Asia War.
During the Allied military occupation of Japan (1945–52), these Japanese terms were prohibited in official documents, although their informal usage continued, and the war became officially known as the Pacific War (太平洋戦争, Taiheiyō Sensō). In Japan, the Fifteen Years' War (十五年戦争, Jūgonen Sensō) is also used, referring to the period from the Mukden Incident of 1931 through 1945.
Participants
Political map of the Asia-Pacific region, 1939 The Axis aligned states which assisted Japan included the authoritarian government of Thailand, which formed a cautious alliance with the Japanese in 1941, when Japanese forces issued the government with an ultimatum following the Japanese invasion of Thailand. The leader of Thailand, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, became greatly enthusiastic about the alliance after decisive Japanese victories in the Malayan campaign and in 1942 sent the Phayap Army to assist the invasion of Burma, where former Thai territory that had been annexed by Britain were reoccupied (Occupied Malayan regions were similarly reintegrated into Thailand in 1943). The Allies supported and organized an underground anti-Japanese resistance group, known as the Free Thai Movement, after the Thai ambassador to the United States had refused to hand over the declaration of war. Because of this, after the surrender in 1945, the stance of the United States was that Thailand should be treated as a puppet of Japan and be considered an occupied nation rather than as an ally. This was done in contrast to the British stance towards Thailand, who had faced them in combat as they invaded British territory, and the United States had to block British efforts to impose a punitive peace.[22]
Also involved were members of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, which included the Manchukuo Imperial Army and Collaborationist Chinese Army of the Japanese puppet states of Manchukuo (consisting of most of Manchuria), and the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime (which controlled the coastal regions of China), respectively. In the Burma campaign, other members, such as the anti-British Indian National Army of Free India and the Burma National Army of the State of Burma were active and fighting alongside their Japanese allies.[citation needed]
Moreover, Japan conscripted many soldiers from its colonies of Korea and Taiwan. Collaborationist security units were also formed in Hong Kong (reformed ex-colonial police), Singapore, the Philippines (also a member of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere), the Dutch East Indies (the PETA), British Malaya, British Borneo, former French Indochina (after the overthrow of the French regime in 1945 (the Vichy French had previously allowed the Japanese to use bases in French Indochina beginning in 1941, following an invasion) as well as Timorese militia. These units assisted the Japanese war effort in their respective territories.[citation needed]
Germany and Italy both had limited involvement in the Pacific War. The German and the Italian navies operated submarines and raiding ships in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, notably the Monsun Gruppe. The Italians had access to concession territory naval bases in China which they utilized (and which was later ceded to collaborationist China by the Italian Social Republic in late 1943). After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declarations of war, both navies had access to Japanese naval facilities.[citation needed]
The major Allied participants were the United States and its colonies (including the Philippine Commonwealth, where a guerrilla war was waged after its conquest), China, which had already been engaged in bloody war against Japan since 1937 including both the KMT government National Revolutionary Army and CCP units, such as the guerrilla Eighth Route Army, New Fourth Army, as well as smaller groups. The United Kingdom was also a major belligerent (mostly through colonial troops from the armed forces of India as well as from Burma, Malaya, Fiji, Tonga, etc., but also with large numbers of British troops). Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Dutch government-in-exile (as the possessor of the Dutch East Indies) were also involved, all of whom were members of the Pacific War Council.[23]
Mexico provided some air support in the form of the 201st Fighter Squadron and Free France sent naval support in the form of Le Triomphant and later the Richelieu. From 1944 the French commando group Corps Léger d'Intervention also took part in resistance operations in Indochina. French Indochinese forces faced Japanese forces in a coup in 1945. The commando corps continued to operate after the coup until liberation. Some active pro-allied guerrillas in Asia included the Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army, the Korean Liberation Army, the Free Thai Movement and the Việt Minh.[citation needed]
The Soviet Union fought two short, undeclared border conflicts with Japan in 1938 and 1939, then remained neutral through the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of April 1941, until August 1945 when it (and Mongolia) joined the rest of the Allies and invaded the territory of Manchukuo, China, Inner Mongolia, the Japanese protectorate of Korea and Japanese-claimed territory such as South Sakhalin.[citation needed]
Theaters Between 1942 and 1945, there were four main areas of conflict in the Pacific War: China, the Central Pacific, South-East Asia and the South West Pacific. US sources refer to two theaters within the Pacific War: the Pacific theater and the China Burma India Theater (CBI). However these were not operational commands.
In the Pacific, the Allies divided operational control of their forces between two supreme commands, known as Pacific Ocean Areas and Southwest Pacific Area.[24] In 1945, for a brief period just before the Japanese surrender, the Soviet Union and Mongolia engaged Japanese forces in Manchuria and northeast China.
The Imperial Japanese Navy did not integrate its units into permanent theater commands. The Imperial Japanese Army, which had already created the Kwantung Army to oversee its occupation of Manchukuo and the China Expeditionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, created the Southern Expeditionary Army Group at the outset of its conquests of South East Asia. This headquarters controlled the bulk of the Japanese Army formations which opposed the Western Allies in the Pacific and South East Asia.
Historical background Conflict between China and Japan Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Allied Commander-in-Chief in the China theater from 1942 to 1945 By 1937, Japan controlled Manchuria and it was also ready to move deeper into China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937 provoked full-scale war between China and Japan. The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communists suspended their civil war in order to form a nominal alliance against Japan, and the Soviet Union quickly lent support by providing large amount of materiel to Chinese troops. In August 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to fight about 300,000 Japanese troops in Shanghai, but, after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell.[25] The Japanese continued to push the Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanjing in December 1937 and conducted the Nanjing Massacre.[26] In March 1938, Nationalist forces won their first victory at Taierzhuang,[27] but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Japan deployed about 350,000 troops to invade Wuhan and captured it in October.[28] The Japanese achieved major military victories, but world opinion—in particular in the United States—condemned Japan, especially after the Panay incident.
In 1939, Japanese forces tried to push into the Soviet Far East from Manchuria. They were soundly defeated in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol by a mixed Soviet and Mongolian force led by Georgy Zhukov. This stopped Japanese expansion to the north, and Soviet aid to China ended as a result of the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact at the beginning of its war against Germany.[29]
Chinese casualties of a mass panic during a June 1941 Japanese aerial bombing of Chongqing In September 1940, Japan decided to cut China's only land line to the outside world by seizing French Indochina, which was controlled at the time by Vichy France. Japanese forces broke their agreement with the Vichy administration and fighting broke out, ending in a Japanese victory. On 27 September Japan signed a military alliance with Germany and Italy, becoming one of the three main Axis Powers. In practice, there was little coordination between Japan and Germany until 1944, by which time the US was deciphering their secret diplomatic correspondence.[30]
The war entered a new phase with the unprecedented defeat of the Japanese at the Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang, 1st Battle of Changsha, Battle of Kunlun Pass and Battle of Zaoyi. After these victories, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large-scale counter-offensive in early 1940; however, due to its
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