PATH TO WAR IN THE PACIFIC

World War IIChapter 11

Part 1

Japanese Path to WarA. September 1931, Japanese soldiers

seized Manchuria. The Japanese claimed that the

Chinese had attacked them. In fact the Japanese had staged the

attack themselves disguised as Chinese soldiers.

Japanese Path to War

B. When the League of Nations investigated and condemned the attack, Japan withdrew from the league. For several years, Japan

strengthened its hold on Manchuria, which it renamed Manchukuo.

Japanese Path to War

C. By the mid-1930s, militants had gained control of Japanese politics. The United States

opposed the Japanese takeover of Manchuria, but did nothing to stop it.

Chinese Appeasement

D. Chiang Kai-shek tried to avoid a war with Japan. More concerned with the

threat from the Chinese Communists.

Tried to appease Japan by allowing them to occupy parts of northern China.

Japan moved steadily southward.

Chinese Appeasement

December 1936, Chiang formed a united front against the Japanese.

July 1937, the Chinese and Japanese clashed south of Beijing.

The Japanese seized the capital of Nanjing.

Chiang Kai-shek refused to surrender and moved the capital.

New Order in East AsiaE. Japanese military leaders wanted to

establish a New Order in East Asia. The order would include Japan, Manchuria,

and China. They thought that, as the only modernized

country, they could guide the other East Asian nations to prosperity. (Imperialism)

Japanese and NazisF. The Japanese planned to seize Soviet Siberia.

During the 1930s, Japan began to cooperate with Nazi Germany.

The Japanese thought that they and Germany could defeat the Soviet Union and divide its resources.

G. The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact forced the Japanese to rethink their goals. The Japanese needed natural resources. They looked to expand into Southeast Asia for

sources. They risked strong response from European

colonial powers and the United States. They decided to take the risk.

Southeast AsiaH. 1940, the Japanese demanded the right to

exploit economic resources in French Indochina. The U.S. responded by imposing

economic sanctions, or restrictions on trade that are intended to enforce international law, unless Japan withdrew to its borders of 1931.

I. The Japanese badly needed oil and scrap iron from the United States. The economic sanctions were a very real

threat. Japan decided to launch a surprise attack

on U.S. and European colonies in Southeast Asia.

What conflict led Japan to attack U.S. and European colonies in Southeast Asia?

The U.S. threatened economic sanctions if Japan did not go back to its borders as of 1931.

The sanctions meant that the U.S. would no longer supply Japan with scrap iron and oil, which the Japanese badly needed.

To withdraw, however, meant that the Japanese would lose access to raw materials in Southeast Asia, which they also needed.

Unable to resolve the dilemma, the Japanese attacked.

Pearl HarborA. December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked

the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. They also attacked the Philippines and

the British colony of Malaya. Soon after, they invaded the Dutch East

Indies, the Philippines and other islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Spring 1942, the Japanese controlled almost all of Southeast Asia and much of the western Pacific.

A Day of Infamy

Yesterday, December 7th 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God.

The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.

Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves.

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

President Roosevelt addresses Congress and the American

people, Dec. 8, 1941

Greater East-Asia Coprosperity Sphere

B. The Japanese created the Greater East-Asia Coprosperity Sphere, which included the entire region under Japanese control. Japan announced its

intention to liberate colonial nations in Southeast Asia, but first needed their natural resources.

They treated the occupied countries as conquered lands.

Greater East-Asia Coprosperity Sphere

Japan at WarC. The Japanese thought that their attacks

on the U.S. fleet would destroy the U.S. Navy and lead the Americans to accept Japanese domination in the Pacific. The attack on Pearl Harbor had the

opposite effect. It united the American people and

convinced the nation that it should enter the war against Japan.

How did the Japanese miscalculate the response of the United States to the bombing of Pearl Harbor?

The Japanese assumed that with the U.S. fleet severely damaged, the United States would accept Japanese domination in the Pacific.

The attack convinced Americans to fight back when before many people had wanted to stay out of the war.

Hitler declares war on U.S.D. Hitler thought that the Americans

would be too involved in the Pacific to fight in Europe.

Four days after Pearl Harbor, he declared war on the U.S.

World War II had become a global war.