Lesson 21 - WW II: War in the Pacific - War in the 20th Century

INTA 4803 TP WAR IN THE 20th CENTURY

WW II: War in the Pacific -
Unconditional Surrender

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"Tokyo rocks under the weight of our bombs ... I want the entire world to
know that this direction must and will remain - unchanged and unhampered.
Our demand has been and it remains - unconditional surrender."

President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)
In his first address to Congress, April 18, 1945

"Baby satisfactorily born"

Coded message to President Truman at Potsdam Conference, July 17, 1945
advising him of the successful atomic bomb test the day before.

Lesson Objectives

• Describe the timeline of major events in the Pacific war and analyze the sequential significance of each.

• Analyze the impact of the military revolution during the interwar years on the war in the Pacific theater.

• Describe and analyze Japanese and American strategies for the war in the Pacific and Asia.

• Describe and analyze the "island hopping" strategy to defeat Japan and be able to apply these lessons to subsequent US security strategy.

• Describe and analyze the air campaign to defeat Japan and be able to apply these lessons to subsequent US security strategy.

• Describe and analyze the factors influencing the decision to employ the atomic bomb against Japan.

Study Guides

• What were the four components (phases) of the U.S. Strategy against Japan?

• Describe how each component of the U.S. strategy against Japan was executed (weapons, tactics, challenges, successes).

• Describe how each succeeding phase of the U.S. strategy in the Pacific war supported by each of the preceding phases of the strategy.

• What impact did conventional (non-nuclear) bombing have on Japan's ability to wage war?

• Describe the factors that played in the decision to employ the atomic bomb against Japan.

• What factors influenced Japan's surrender decision?

Assignment

Readings:
"Victory At Sea"
David M. Kennedy
The Atlantic Monthly, March 1999
• READ: pp. 55-67 (Begin at "The Philippines")
• READ: pp. 72-76 (Begin at "Leyte Gulf ...")

United States Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report (Pacific War)
Washington, DC
1 July 1946

This is a superb summary of the Pacific War and provides detail to supplement the narrative of the Kennedy reading (above). I urge you to read it in its entiriety, but be sure to pay particular attention to:
     • Introduction
     • Japan's Original Strategic Plan
     • Japanese Overextension thru Turning the Tide
     • Destruction of the Japanese Merchant Fleet
     • Conversion of Japanese Air Forces to Kamikaze Forces
     • Economic Effects of Air Attacks Against the Japanese Home Islands thru Japan's Struggle to End the War

End of WW II (pp. 69-73)
Robert A. Divine
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: Foreign Relations and the Presidency
College Station TX: Texas A & M Press, 2000

Atomic Mission
John T. Correll
Air Force Magazine (October 2010)
     • Detailed description of the planning and execlution of the first atomic bombing mission.

Supplemental Resources:

"The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb"
Louis Morton
Command Decisions
Kent Roberts Greenfield, ed
Washington:Department of the Army, Center of Military History, 2000

Pacific War Animated Maps
History Animated

U.S. Navy in World War II
      This is a portal to online versions of histories of the Navy in WW II, including"
        • US Navy at War 1941-1945, Official Reports of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King (CNO)
        • Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945
        • Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II
        • Office of Naval Intelligence Combat Narratives

U.S. Marine Corps in World War II
      This is a portal to online versions of official histories of the Marines in WW II, including"
        • History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
        • U.S. Marine Corps Historical Monographs
        • Marines in World War II Commemorative Series

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