The Pacific Theater was the largest theater of the war. The Japanese referred to the Pacific Theaters as the Greater East Asia War. The Pacific theater presented an entirely different strategic landscape.
The US was joined by Great Britain & China in defeating the empire of Japan. British troops consisted of a large number of colonial troops from their territories. Troops from India, Burma (present day Myanmar, Malaya now known as Malaysia, Fiji, Tonga; Troops from Australia, New Zealand and Canada played a pivotal role as well. Japan attacked the American territories of Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island and the British territories of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Stretching over vast oceanic expanses, it was characterized by its remote, far-flung island territories, which required lengthy and complex naval and air operations. The US Naval Institute describes the Pacific Theater war strategy as having 4 phases: defense, defense-offense, offense-defense, and offense. While the US was caught off guard and suffered significant casualties at Pearl Harbor, the US had other means to respond to Japan.
When we talk of Japan and WWII we have to discuss how vast of a territory Japan controlled. From 1937-1945 Japan waged what is known as The Second Sino-Japanese war. Japan wanted to gain territories that were rich in natural resources and to secure areas that could act as naval bases for its vast empire. As far back as 1907, Japan had strategically outlined a list of potential enemies as it sought to create a vast empire in its post Industrial era. Many European countries held territories in this region. Japan looked at the imperial colonies of The US, Great Britain, France, The Netherlands and even Russia as possible targets. These empires were strong and taking their territories in Asia would be a challenge. When Japan attacked French IndoChina for example, the US froze Japanese assets and began its embargo of the empire of Japan. We often talk about the immediate response of the US to Pearl Harbor. The day after, The US declares war on Japan. For Japan, the day after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked the Philippines which at that time was a territory of the United States. In March of 1942, FDR ordered General MacArthur to leave the Philippines and Lieutenant Wainwright assumed command of the US forces in the Philippines. US forces couldn’t overcome the final Japanese offensive and by May, Japan controlled the Philippines. Remaining US forces were held captive and many died due to abuse and neglect. After the war ended, Japan’s actions in the Philippines were considered war crimes.
Japan also attacked British controlled Hong Kong on Dec 8th, 1941 and by Christmas, they controlled it. Japan’s acquisition of these territories and others created a perimeter of protection around their vast empire. Japanese officials looked to secure additional territories and cut off the links to Australia in order to weaken the Allies ability to counter attack. The Allies divided the territory in the Pacific into two theaters. The Southwest Pacific area was under control of General MacArthur and consisted of the Dutch East Indies which is present day Indonesia and Malaysia. The Philippines, Australia, the Bismarck Archipelago which are a chain of volcanic islands off the coast of present day Papua New Guinea and the Solomon islands. The rest of the territory was under the command of Admiral Chester Nimitz. Nimitz was from Texas and his family had German roots. He attended West Point and graduated 7th in his class. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was chosen by FDR to be Commander- in- Chief of the US pacific Fleet. In March of 1942, he became Commander of The Pacific Ocean areas within the Pacific Theater. It was Nimitz’s forces that launched the successful assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa which I will get more into in a little bit.
The main goal was to limit Japanese advances and to maintain ties to both Australia and New Zealand. Allied forces were able to do this after successfully fighting off the Japanese at Guadalcanal.
The Pacific theater was inherently a war of amphibious landings, naval blockades, and long-distance bombing campaigns. The Pacific theater offered an unforgiving tropical climate coupled with challenging topography. Soldiers not only had to fight their human enemy but also battle tropical diseases, sweltering heat, and relentless rainfall. It was a new kind of warfare that required drastic shifts in military strategies and adaptability to the unfamiliar environmental conditions. Australia and New Zealand, whose geographic proximity to the conflict made them vital members of the Allies in the Pacific. As the war raged on, other nations like China, India, and the Dutch East Indies also made their contributions to the fight against the Axis Powers. The Pacific theater was a tapestry of far-flung islands, naval battles, and aerial assaults. Pivotal events in this theater included the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which acted as the catalyst for America's entry into the war, dramatically shifting the geopolitical landscape. The US and its allies attacked islands, defeated the Japanese forces there, secured bases and oil fields and used them as the starting off point for the next attack until they got to Japan. They would hop over heavily fortified islands and conquer smaller and less fortified islands. This process of island hopping would cut off the other islands from supplies and allow the Allies to take them back at a later time.
The Battle of Midway, where the U.S. fleet crippled the Japanese navy, marked a significant turning point in the Pacific theater. This was the first major victory for the US over Japan. The plan was to prevent further expansion and to hop over Japan’s strong holds and cut them off with naval blockades and starve them of needed supplies.
The conquest of Iwo Jima and Okinawa brought the war to Japan's doorstep, setting the stage for the endgame in the Pacific theater. Iwo Jima was of strategic importance in getting close to mainland Japan. The island of Iwo Jima had 3 air fields and was 750 miles off the coast of Japan. This was the largest Marine invasion of the war. It was also one of the bloodiest battles. It is estimated that almost all of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on the island were killed and about 7,000 US Marines lost their lives in the battle for Iwo Jima. The island had an advanced system of tunnels and underground caves where the Japanese were operating on the island. The Japanese allowed US forces to land on the beach and once they did, the Japanese opened fire. The beaches were not easy to navigate as they were made of soft volcanic ash. US forces used flame throwers to destroy the underground tunnels and caves. After 5 days, the Marines raised a flag when US forces had captured the highpoint on the island. The image of this flag raising became an iconic symbol of the war and remains an important symbol from the war and for the Marines. In this campaign there were 27 recipients of the Congressional medal of honor. The scale of the Pacific theater, coupled with Japan's steadfast refusal to surrender, led to a prolonged conflict.
The Battle of Okinawa lasted from April to June of 1945. The Plan to take the island was known as Operation Iceberg. Okinawa was the most important and the largest of the Ryukyu islands which are also known as the Nansei islands. This was strategically important and the thought was that once captured, the island could be used as a base to attack the mainland of Japan. Prior to invasion, the US repeatedly bombed the island. The US brought 100,000 soldiers and over 80,000 marines. The goal was to capture the airfields and head north. The massive amounts of ships brought was overwhelming. The Japanese Air Force attacked the US Fleet and hoped to wipe it out. Over 1000 Kamikaze pilots attacked the US Fleet. Many had been shot down. The Japanese sank over 20 ships – the most since Pearl Harbor. Weather, especially the rain, hindered the advance across the island. The US used flamethrowers and even Napalm to destroy the enemy. Japanese propaganda encouraged Okinawa civilians to kill themselves as opposed to surrendering to the Americans. US forces encouraged the Japanese to surrender. The Japanese refused and continued to fight. Many Japanese troops resorted to Suicide charges against the US troops. The battle for Okinawa was one of the bloodiest of the war. 3,000 Marines were killed, 4,600 soldiers killed and 4,900 sailors killed in action on Okinawa. For the Japanese – 66,000 soldiers were killed and the Civilian casualties are estimated at 140,000. The battles gave a glimpse of what could be expected once US troops reached the Japanese homeland. Estimates of the time showed that 1 million US troops could be killed during the invasion of Japan.
Operation Downfall was the codename for the plan to invade Japan with a potential start date of November of 1945. The geography of Japan made US plans obvious and knowing the extent to which Japanese troops and civilians would go in order to protect the homeland made death toll estimates extremely high. The operation was planned without taking the atomic bomb into consideration. Very few people outside of the Manhattan project knew of its existence. The Pacific Theater had been divided under a number of commanders but it was decided that if needed, MacArthur would be the one to take charge. The goal of the operation was to force Japan’s surrender as quickly as possible. Japan’s leadership for the most part knew that victory was highly unlikely. They had hoped to prolong the war or to make a full scale invasion of the homeland seem like such a monumental task that the US would seek some sort of an armistice instead. Japanese propaganda encouraged citizens to take up arms and fight. That dying for the emperor would lead to glory. Kamikaze pilots along with suicide boats that would be used to attack allied ships were both utilized to bring as much destruction to the US and to lower morale of our troops. The US considered using chemical warfare on Japanese crops in the hopes of being able to starve the Japanese and force their surrender. The studies done to create the necessary weapons yielded the components of what would later be used to create agent orange. With the death of FDR on April 12, 1945 the Presidency and the decision of HOW to end the war fell to Vice President Harry Truman, who had only met with FDR a handful of times and who knew nothing about the Manhattan project when he became the President.
Once again Herbert Hoover traveled around the world and saw the dire situation many were in. Hoover chaired the Famine Emergency Committee and once again helped to feed the world and save countless lives. His work did little to revive his political career as the Democratic party continued to vilify him and his Depression era policies.
The Japanese proved to be a difficult enemy to defeat. The willingness of their soldiers to use themselves and or their planes as the final bomb – their unwillingness to surrender, and the brutality with which American POWs were treated by the Japanese. I do want to talk about American POWs in the Pacific for a bit. Thousands of American soldiers were taken as prisoners of war. American POWs were subjected to horrific treatment and conditions. Statistics show that 4 out of every 10 American POWs died from starvation, disease or abuse or even barbaric forms of experimentation. Many were taken to other parts of the Japanese empire and forced to work as slave labor. Many of the most successful Japanese businesses utilized this slave labor – companies like Mitsubishi and Kawasaki for example. The Japanese Government had never ratified the Geneva Convention and didn’t play by the same rules when it came to the treatment of prisoners. American POWs held in German camps didn’t die at the same rates as they did in Japanese camps.
The Allies kept POWs as well. As room in camps in Great Britain became limited, camps were built in the South and Southwest in the United States for German POWs. Labor shortages on farms led the US government to contract out those POWs to work as laborers. Geneva convention rules stipulated that the POWs had to be paid and that they were not permitted to do dangerous jobs. For Japanese POWs – it is estimated that anywhere from 30 – 45,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered to Allied troops. More surrendered to the Soviets. It was more common for Japanese soldiers to fight to the death or to commit suicide ad opposed to being captured or surrendering. Japanese POWs were held in camps in Australia, New Zealand, India and the United States. Dehumanization through propaganda and the sight of seeing the enemy’s actions of differing levels of savagery led to horrible acts being committed by both sides. Stories of bodies being mutilated, body parts being taken as souvenirs, necklaces made of teeth… the list goes on. The high death tolls from taking each island, the spread of disease, lack of supplies all made the choice to end the war as quickly as possible with as few American deaths as possible the main goal.
Truman was briefed on the atomic bomb on April 24, 1945. After being told how the weapon had the capability of destroying the world and how Germany was in the process of trying to create one and the Russians would most likely have one in a few years’ time, Truman gave the green light for the project to continue. After the successful test of the bomb in July of 1945, Truman was briefed by military officials that the bomb could be used against the Japanese to force a surrender and to act as a threat to Joseph Stalin to think twice about his plans for expansion in the post war years. President Truman had four options: 1) continue conventional bombing of Japanese cities; 2) invade Japan; 3) demonstrate the bomb on an unpopulated island; or, 4) drop the bomb on an inhabited Japanese city. Truman authorized the use of the bomb on Japanese cities. The horrifying show of force led to Japan’s surrender, the end of war in the Pacific Theater and the start of the nuclear age.
