America and World War II

The Early Battles

Chester Nimitz: commander of the US Navy in the Pacific.◦ In the beginning, Nimitz could do nothing to

prevent the Japanese from taking the Philippines and other Southeast Asia island nations Philippines—General Douglas MacArthur

promised: “I came through and I shall return.” Bataan Death March—April 9, 1942 78,000

prisoners of war are made to march 65 miles while sick, exhausted, and starving (anyone who stopped was shot)

Holding the Line Against Japan

Liberty Ships:◦ Battle ships and aircraft carriers started to be

built by welding large sheets of metal together to create the hull of the ship. This made the ships much stronger than before when the large sheets of metal were put together with rivets. (When a ship made with rivets was struck by a torpedo, for example, the rivets would come apart like a zipper. Torpedoes hitting a welded ship would make a hole but the rest of the ship stayed in tact.)

Holding the Line Against Japan

President Roosevelt was searching for a way to raise the morale of the American people by bombing Tokyo.◦ The Doolittle Raid

Tokyo was too far away to launch bombers Colonel James Doolittle had the idea of using aircraft carriers and B-25 bombers

The bombers could take off from an aircraft carrier, but could not land on one

The B-25 bombers would try to land in China after bombing Tokyo

The Doolittle Raid

After the Doolittle Raid (Bombing of Tokyo), the Japanese military decided to attack the last American base in the North Pacific west of Hawaii—Midway.◦ Japanese General Yamamoto believed that attacking

Midway would lure the American fleet into battle and enable his fleet to destroy it.

In March 1942, an American team of code breakers had broken the Japanese Navy’s code for conducting operations.

A Change in Japanese Strategy

The code breaking team alerted Nimitz to the attack on Midway. ◦ Nimitz used this opportunity to ambush the Japanese fleet.

Midway Island was ready with antiaircraft fire shooting down 38 Japanese airplanes

US aircraft carriers launched a counter attack catching the Japanese fleet off-guard with fuel, bombs, and aircraft on the decks of their carriers

◦ Four Japanese aircraft carriers were sunk

The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific that put the Japanese on the defensive

The Battle of Midway

Struggle for North Africa◦ To give American Troops experience and confidence,

Churchill urged Roosevelt to take back North Africa first—before Europe. North Africa was considered less difficult to attack It went well for Allied troops at first but…

At the Battle of Kasserine Pass, Allied troops met the German Army for the first time and American troops were outmaneuvered and outfought losing 7,000 men.

General George Patton was then put in command and American troops were able to push the German Army out of Africa in May 1943.

Turning Back the German Army

Spring 1942—Hitler orders an attack on Stalingrad to take out strategic oil fields, industries, and farmlands in Southern Russia and the Ukraine—the city of Stalingrad was the key to destroy the Soviet economy.

When German forces entered the city, Stalin ordered his troops to hold the city at all costs (retreat=being shot)◦ November 23, 1942—250,000 Soviet troops surrounded

Stalingrad, trapping the German Army 91,000 German troops surrendered (only 5,000 of them survived

prison camp) The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point of

the war—putting the Germans on the defensive.

Stalingrad

Stalingrad

Explain the purpose of the Doolittle Raid and the problems military planners had to solve to make it successful.

Essay Question

Explain the purpose of the Doolittle Raid and the problems military planners had to solve to make it successful.◦ President Roosevelt wanted to bomb Tokyo to raise the

morale of the American people. American planes, however, could reach Tokyo only if an aircraft carrier brought them close enough. Unfortunately, Japanese ships in the North Pacific prevented carriers from getting close enough to Japan to launch their short-range bombers. A military planner suggested replacing the carries’ usual short-range bombers with long-range B-25 bombers that could attack from far away. Although the B-25s could take off from a carrier, they could not land on its short deck. After attacking Japan, they would have to land in China. The raid resulted in the first American bombs to fall on Japan.

Essay Question