L05: WWII. The War in the Pacific Flashcards
What was the Asian counterpart to the German-Soviet confrontation?
The war between Japan and China, which was more devastating than the German-Soviet confrontation.
With regard to the Chinese military, what was “aggressive defense”?
Chiang Kai-shek’s strategy utlizing costly human wave assaults to defend China against Japan. It caused enormous suffering.
What were the “Flying Tigers”?
A U.S.-led and U.S.-staffed volunteer Air Force–the American Volunteer Group–created to bolster China’s air defense strategy.
What was the “Hundred Regiments Offensive”?
A multi-pronged sabotage operation created in Aug-Sep 1940 in northern China by the Chinese Communist army. It was a multi-pronged sabotage operation that mobilized local civilians alongside formally enlisted troops. Its organizer was Zhe De, a military leader of the Chinese Communist forces.
Who was Evans F. Carlson?
He was a U.S. Marine Corps officer who was sent to Northern China to study the Communists’ tactics of popular mobilization and guerrilla warfare. Carlson was inspired by this to organize a Marine battalion known as “Carlson’s Raiders.”
From where did the expression “Gung Ho!” originate?
It was the rallying-cry of “Carlson’s Raiders,” which was derived from the Chinese slogan for “Working Together.”
What was the “Three-Power Pact”?
It was the precursor alliance of what would later become formerly named the “Axis Powers.” It included Germany, Italy, and Japan.
What were the Burma Road and the Kunming-Hanoi-Haiphong railway?
Two routes that were tenuous lifelines used to transport material aid from the British and Americans to the Chinese, a defending force with little military-industrial power as compared to its attacker, the Japanese.
What was the “Fourteen-Part Message”?
A document that Japanese envoys presented to U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull which included a vague statement that diplomatic efforts had broken down. It was delivered after the Pearl Harbor attack and fell far short of a formal declaration of war.
What were the “Sook Ching Massacres”?
In the aftermath of the fall of Singapore to the Japanese, the Japanese military police engaged in an ethnic cleansing operation against the Chinese in Singapore (and later Malaysia) in which up to 25,000 people–mostly adult men–were rounded up and murdered.
What was “ABDA”?
The combined forces of the American, British, Dutch, and Australian militaries formed to defend the archpelago of the Dutch East Indies against the Japanese.
What was the “Bataan Death March”?
A murderous event that occurred after the Philipines were lost to Japan, in which the surviving Filipino and U.S. troops were marched off to POW camps.
Identify Chongqing
The Chinese Nationalist wartime capital
Which of these does NOT apply to the Sino-Japanese war?
The Chinese Communists did most of the fighting
Which development happened in 1941 (in the Sino-Japanese war)?
The Japanese once more attacked the city of Changsha in vain, which once more halted their advance into central China.
Which of the following does NOT apply to Japan’s wartime expansion?
Emperor Hirohito urged his military advisers to “strike south” instead of waiting.
Why did Japan attack the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor?
To take out a threat against the flank of its southward drive
Identify Hideki Tōjō.
Japan’s Minister of War, became Prime Minister in 1941.
According to the historian Gerhard L. Weinberg, what was the fatal flaw of Japanese grand strategy?
Assuming that once the Japanese forces had created an empire, this would be generally accepted
Identify Arthur Percival.
The British commander who oversaw the fall of Singapore
How did the Japanese manage to seize the Dutch East Indies?
By a series of landings on the main islands.
