American History Chapter 14Section 2
Philippine Islands
• The Japanese continued to win victories in the Pacific until the Battle of Midway.
• A few hours after their attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese attacked airfields in the Philippines.
• A few days later, troops landed on the Philippine Islands, strongly outnumbering American and Filipino forces.
Giving up the Philippines
• General Douglas MacArthur decided to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula.
• Eventually the defenders of Bataan surrendered.– April 9, 1942
Prisoners of War (POWs)
• Japanese were infamous on how they badly treated POWs
• In the Philippines, nearly 78,000 soldiers were forced to march 65 miles to a Japanese prison camps.
• Almost 10,000 troops died on the way.
• The march was later called the Bataan Death March.
Firing Back-April 18, 1942
• By early 1942, the United States was preparing to drop bombs on Tokyo.
• President Roosevelt ordered Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle to command the mission.
• America bombed Japan for the first time in April of that year.
• Doolittle’s raid sent Japanese strategy into a tailspin.
Breaking the Code
• Thanks to the work of code breakers, American forces were able to decode Japan’s plan to attack both New Guinea and Midway.
Battle of Coral Sea-April 7-8, 1942
• Japan suffers its first defeat of the war during the Battle of the Coral Sea off New Guinea –
• The first time in history that two opposing carrier forces fought only using aircraft without the opposing ships ever sighting each other.
• American forces prevented the Japanese from cutting supply lines to Australia.
Battle of Midway-June 4-7, 1942
• Knowing the code allowed Admiral Chester Nimitz to ambush the Japanese fleet at Midway and win the battle.
• At the Battle of Midway, 3,057 Japanese had died.
• FOUR Japanese Aircraft carriers were sunk by the Americans.
• The Battle of Midway was a turning point.
We want a plan
• In 1942, Joseph Stalin wanted President the Americans and British to open a second front against Germany.
• Winston Churchill, however, wanted to attack the periphery, or edges, of the German empire.
Why North Africa was Import
• Egypt was very important to the British because of the Suez Canal, the route used by most of Britain's Empire to send supplies to Britain
Nazi German’s Afrika Korp
• The German “Afrika Korp” was commanded by General Erwin Rommel, a brilliant commander whose success earned him the nickname, the “desert fox”
Agreeing to attack the edges
• Roosevelt agreed and ordered troops to invade Morocco and Algeria in North Africa.
• These were French territories under German control.
Casablanca
• General Patton led the American forces in Morocco.
• They quickly captured the city of Casablanca.
• Then they headed east into Tunisia, where they struggled in their first real battle with German forces.
Battle of Kasserine Pass
• In the Battle of Kasserine Pass, 7,000 Americans were injured.
• Together with British forces, they were able to defeat the Germans in North Africa in 1943.
German Subs
• At the same time, the war against German submarines in the Atlantic intensified as well.
• German submarines had entered American coastal waters.
• By August of 1942, Germans had sunk about 360 American ships there.
Convoy System
• This convinced the U.S. Navy to set up a convoy system. • Cargo ships traveled in groups escorted by navy warships. • American and British shipyards also upped production of
cargo ships. • Soon they were producing more ships than the German
submarines were sinking. • The United States was also using new technology such as
radar, sonar, and depth charges against the submarines. • The war slowly turned in favor of the Allies.
Battle of Stalingrad • In the spring of 1942, Hitler
was confident he could beat the Soviets by wrecking the Soviet economy.
• The city of Stalingrad controlled the Volga River and was a major railroad junction, capturing the city was the key to Germany’s attack.
• He considered the city of Stalingrad central to his efforts.
Not the right supplies
• Hitler ordered his troops to capture and hold the city at all costs.
• In September of that year, German troops entered Stalingrad, but they were not equipped for the cold in ways the Soviet army was.
Victory and Turning Point • The Germans lost thousands
of soldiers. • In November, Soviet
reinforcements arrived and trapped almost 250,000 German troops within the city.
• The Germans surrendered the city in February of 1943.
• The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point of the war, because it put Germans on the defensive.