World War 2 Pacific Campaign
1941-1945
Casualties of the Pacific campaign
Opening actions
The United States entered World War II on December 7th 1941 with the Japanese attack on the US naval base of Pearl harbor, along with the US bases in Guam, the Philippines, Wake Island, Midway island, and the British base of Hong Kong. The opening months of the war in the Pacific were a series of defeats with US and Allied forces being forced out of the Philippines and Hong Kong. These defeats continued as the US began a rapid build up of forces and materials to try and stop the Japanese advance.
Midway: The Turning Tides
Midway was the decisive turning point in the war in the pacific. It crippled the Japanese fleet and ended their period of expansion. The battle focused around the US base of Midway, a tiny atoll that had already been attacked in the opening days of the war but had beaten back the assault. This time the Japanese had brought a massive fleet consisting of one of the largest battleships ever built and almost every aircraft carrier the Japanese had. However, the US had broken the Japanese codes and set a trap around Midway. This trap cost the Japanese four of their carriers and their dreams of expansion.
Allied Offensive
With the victory at Midway and Soviet victories in Europe, the US began of series of campaigns to capture strategic island chains throughout the Pacific with the end goal being the final invasion of Japan. These conflicts included the invasion of the Marshall Islands, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa which were taken to use as bases for bombing Japan and the eventual landing force.
The radiance of a thousand suns
The invasion of the Japanese homeland never came however. With continued Japanese resistance to requests to surrender, the newly sworn in president Truman decided to deploy the first atomic bomb, call "Little Boy" against the Japanese city of Hiroshima with catastrophic results. However, despite the massive cost of the bombing, the Japanese government continued to refuse the demands for unconditional surrender resulting in a second bomb, "Fat Man" being dropped on Nagasaki. With two cities have been decimated and no way to stop further destruction, Japan was left with few options.
Pacific Victory
With the threat of further atomic destruction and a Soviet invasion imminent, the Japanese government accepted unconditional surrender to the Allies on August 15th 1945 via a nation wide radio broadcast by emperor Hirohito. This brought to an end the bloodiest conflict in human history.