7.0 DEFEAT OF JAPAN IN WW2

Question 1

REASONS FOR DEFEAT OF JAPAN

Answer 1

1. ECONOMIC STRENGTH OF US
2. AMERICAN RECOVERY
3. MILITARY AND NAVAL STRENGTHS OF ALLIES
4. IMPERIAL OVERSTRETCH
5. ATOMIC BOMB
6. ALLIED VICTORY IN EUROPE

Question 2

ECONOMIC STRENGTH OF USA

Answer 2

after 1929 Great depression many unemployed people eager to work
JAPAN - 180 coal, 21 iron, 5 oil (mill tons)
USA - 2,000 coal, 396 iron, 833 oil (mill tons)

Question 3

AMERICAN RECOVERY

Answer 3

RECOVERED IN 6 MONTHS INSTEAD OF 2 YEARS
MID 1942 AMERICANS REBUILT NAVY
- ABLE TO REARM AND REPLACED DAMAGE MACHINES QUICKLY AS COMPARED TO JAPAN
> May 1942 Battle of Coral Sea
- America sunk 2 Japanese aircraft carriers, keystone in war machine
> Jun 1942 Battle of Midway
- Jap lost 4 aircraft carriers and 300 planes

Question 4

MILITARY AND NAVAL STRENGTHS

Answer 4

1. VAST RESOURCES
2. ISLAND HOPPING TACTICS
3. US MILITARY STRATEGIES

Question 5

Military and Naval strengths
VAST RESOURCES

Answer 5

US 16 million men Japan 6 million troops
USA 70,000 tanks 12,000 aircraft per year
- more than japan

Question 6

Military and Naval strengths
ISLAND HOPPING TACTICS

Answer 6

FORCED JAPAN TO STRETCH RESOURCES OVER MANY SMALL ISLANDS TO DEFNED AGAINST USA
Aug 1942 Guadalcanal and the Solomon islands
- Japan lost 25,000 men 600 planes
Jun 1944 the Marianas islands
- during naval battle of Philippine sea > japan lost 2 or more carriers, 300 planes, 170,000 soldiers
Oct 1944 campaign to retake the Philippines
- naval battle of Leyte Gulf > lost 4 carriers, 3 battleships, 10 cruisers, 9 destroyers
Early 1945 Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Question 7

IWO JIMA and OKINAWA

Answer 7

Early 1945
- Okinawa > 60,000 Jap soldiers died
Nov 1944 Allies bombed aircraft factory in Tokyo
- campaign intensified on March 1945
> 250,000 buildings destroyed
> 185,000 civilians killed

Question 8

Military and Naval strengths
US MILITARY STRATEGIES

Answer 8

Doolittle Raid April 1942
- retaliatory surprise attack 4 months after Pearl Harbor attack
- 16 bombers from aircraft carriers in pacific bombed Tokyo Nagoya Kobe
Battle of Coral Sea May 1942
- halted Japan southward advance to Australia
- sunk 2 Japanese aircraft carrier
Battle of Midway Jun 1942
- Japan entered the battle with hugely superior naval strength
> 200 ships, 600 aircraft, 8 aircraft carriers
- USA still recovering from pearl harbor attack under Admiral Nimitz only 76 ships, 3 surviving aircraft carriers
Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, 300 planes, 3/4 of experienced pilots

Question 9

IMPERIAL OVERSTRETCH

Answer 9

• AFTER 3 YEARS OF CONQUEST > ACQUIRED VAST EMPIRE THAT STRETCHES FROM SEA TO NORTHERN CHINA AND GUADALCANAL TERRITORIES
  16 million square Km