America Enters the War

Japanese Forces Advance

Throughout the Pacific, Japanese forces attacked and conquered. These advances secured important oil and rubber supplies for Japan, and brought Southeast Asia and the western Pacific securely under Japanese control. By the summer of 1942, Japan appeared ready to dominate the Indian Ocean, Australia, New Zealand, and the central Pacific. If the Allies did not regroup quickly, they would have little hope of victory in the Pacific.

Objectives

-Explain why Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor and describe the attack itself -Outline how the United States mobilized for war after the attack on Pearl Harbor -Summarize the course of the war in the Pacific throughout the summer of 1942.

Key Word

-Pearl Harbor

The Battle of Coral Sea Gives Hope

A second event, the Battle of Coral Sea, also helped to kindle hope for the American military in the Pacific. In early May 1942, the Japanese moved to take Port Moresby in New Guinea. From that position they could threaten Australia and protect their important military bases at Rabaul. To counter Japan's move, the U.S. sent two aircraft carriers, the USS Lexington and USS Yorktown, along with support vessels.

America Strikes Back With the Doolittle Raid

After Pearl Harbor, FDR wanted America to retaliate against Japan, American military leaders devised a plan for a nighttime bombing raid from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, led by Colonel James Doolittle. While still 800 mlies away from mainland Japan, the Hornet was detected, so rather than wait for night, Doolittle led a force of 16 B-25 bombers against Tokyo. They delivered their payload on the Japanese capital just after noon. The raid killed 50 Japanese people and damaged 100 buildings. The pilots then flew to China, where they crash-landed. Doolittle's Raid proved a minimal military gain, but it bolstered American morale for the long fight ahead.

America Declares War

As the news about Pearl Harbor spread across the nation and FDR prepared to address Congress, Americans rallied together. Many did not know what to expect, but they anticipated monumental changes.

General Hideki Tojo

In 1941, General Hideki Tojo became the Japanese prime minister. Known as "the Razor" for his sharp mind, he focused intently on military expansion but sought to keep the U.S. neutral. Throughout the summer of 1941, Japan and the U.S. attempted to negotiate an end to their disagreement, but with little success. Japan was bent of further expansioin, and the U.S. was firmly against it. Finally, in late November 1941, Cordell Hull, the U.S. Secretary of State, rejected Japan's latest demands. Formal diplomatic relations continued for the next week, but Tojo had given up on peace. By the beginning of December he had made the decision to deliver a decisive first blow against the U.S.

Japan Attacks the United States

Although Japan and the U.S. had been allies in World War I, conflict over power in Asia and the Pacific had been brewing between the two nations for decades prior to 1941. Japan, as the area's industrial and economic leader, resented any threats to its authority in the region. America's presence in Guam and the Philippines and its support of China posed such a threat. Yet Japan relied on trade with the U.S. to supply much-needed natural resources.

Bataan Death March

Although MacArthur was ordered to evacuate to Australia, the other Americans remained behind. They held out until early May 1942, when 75,000 Allied soldiers surrendered. Japanese troops forced the sick and malnourished prisoners of war, or POWs, to march 55 miles up the Bataan Peninsula to reach a railway that took them inland where they were forced to march 8 more miles. More than 7,000 American and Filipino troops died during the grueling journey, which is known as the Bataan Death March.

The Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor

As Japanese diplomats wrangled in the U.S. capital, Japan's navy sailed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the site of the U.S. Navy's main Pacific base. The forces that Tojo sent from Japan under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo included 6 aircraft carriers, 360 airplanes, an assortment of battleships and cruisers, and a number of submarines. Their mission was to eradicate the American naval and air presence in the Pacific with a suprise attack. Such a blow would prevent Americans from mounting a strong resistance to Japanese expansion. The attackers struck with devastating power, taking the American forces completely by surprise.

Trouble in the Pacific

As war broke out in Europe, the Japanese Empire continued to grow in China and began to move into Indochina. President Roosevelt tried to stop this expansion, in July of 1940, by placing an embargo on important naval and aviation supplies to Japan, such as oil, iron ore, fuel, steel, and rubber. After Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940 with Germany and Italy, FDR instituted a more extensive embargo. The embargo slowed, but did not stop, Japanese expansion as the Japanese were able to secure the resources they needed within their new possessions.

Results of the Attack Part 2

Despite these losses, the situation was not as bad as it could have been. The most important ships--aircraft carriers--were out at sea at the time of the attack and survived untouched. In addition, seven heavy cruisers were out at sea and also avoided detetction by the Japanese. Of the battleships in Pearl Harbor, only three--the USS Arizona, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah--suffered irreparable damage. American submarine bases also survived the morning, as did important fuel supplies and maintenance facilities. In the final analysis, Nagumo proved too conservating. He canceled a third wave of bombers, refused to seek out the aircraft carriers, and turned back toward home because he feared an American counterstrike. The American Pacific Fleet survived.

Responding to the Call

During the course of the war, more than 16 million Americans served in the military. From 1941 to 1942 alone, the army grew from 1.4 million to more than 3 million, the navy increased from under 300,000 to more than 600,000, and the marines expanded from only about 54,000 to almost 150,000. Americans from all ethnic and racial backgrounds joined the fight. Appoximately 300,000 Mexican Americans and 25,000 Native Americans served in integrated units. Nearly one million African Americans also joined the military. They served mostly in segregated units, however, and were at first limited to supporting roles. However, as casualties mounted, African Americans saw more combat, and some eventually served in white combat units.

Mobilizing for War

Following the Japanese attack, a spirit of patriotism and service swept across the country. Americans looked for ways to contribute to the war effort. They joined the military, volunteered with the Red Cross and other organizations, and moved into new jobs to help.

Mobilizing Industry

From the start, Roosevelt and the other Allied leaders knew that American production would play a key role in helping the Allies win the war. Although America's industry had started to mobilize in response to the Lend-Lease Act, American production still needed to increase the rate at which it churned out war materials. In January 1942, the government set up the War Production Board to oversee the conversion of peacetime industry to war industry. Later, the government created a host of other agencies that worked together to allocate scarce materials into the proper industries, regulate the production of civilian goods, establish production contracts, negotiate with organized labor, and control inflation, with the Office of War Mobilization to supervise all of these efforts.

Japanese Forces Take the Philippines

In December 1941, General Douglas MacArthur, commander of U.S. Army forces in Asia, struggled to hold the U.S. positions in the Philippines with little support. This task grew even more daunting when the Japanese destroyed half othe army's fighter planes in the region and rapidly took Guam, Wake Island, and Hong Kong. The main land attack came on December 22. MacArthur positioned his forces to repel the Japanese invasion, but he badly miscalculated the strength of the enemy and was forced to retreat. U.S. forces fell back from Manila to the Bataan Peninsula and a fortification on Corregidor, Americans suffered, lacking necessary military and medical supplies and living on half and quarter rations.

Why It Matters

In the beginning of December 1941, the U.S. had engaged in warlike activity but had yet to commit itself. A surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii, ended all debate and brought the U.S. into the war. The participation of the U.S. in this war, as in World War I, would decided the struggle's conclusion.

The Battle of Coral Sea Gives Hope Part 2

On May 7 and 8, in the middle of a Pacific storm, Japanese and U.S. aircraft carriers engaged in battle. It was the first sea fight in which enemy warships never sighted one another. Instead, U.S. airplanes attacked Japanese ships and vice versa. Although technically the Battle of Coral Sea proved a draw, strategically it was a victory for the U.S. because it forced the Japanese to call off their attack on New Guinea. It makred a shift in momentum toward the Americans. From that day on, the Pacific theater of battle would be won or lost on the strength of aircraft carriers and planes--and here, America's productive capacity gave Americans a marked advantage over their adversaries. The Battle of Coral Sea and the Doolittle Raid gave the U.S. a renewed sense of confidence. The war would last three more years, but the dark days of early 1942 were over.

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

Over 350,000 women also responded to the cal. In 1941, Congresswoman Edit Nourse Rogers introudced a bill to establish a Women's Army Auxilary Corps--which became the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943--to provide clerical workers, truck drivers, instructors, and lab technicians for the United States Army. More than 150,000 women volunteered for the service; 15,000 served abroad over the course of the war and over 600 received medals for their service. More than 57,000 nurses served in the Army Nurse Corps, putting themselves in danger to care for the wounded in Europe and the Pacific. Tens of thousands more American women joined similar navy and Coast Guard auxiliaries.

Results of the Attack

The Americans suffered heavy losses: nearly 2,500 killed, 8 battleships severely damaged, 3 destroyers left unusable, 3 light cruisers damaged, and 160 aircraft destroyed, and 128 more damaged. The U.S. battlefleet was knocked out of commision for nearly six months, allowing the Japanese to freely access the needed raw materials of their newly conquered territories, just as they had planned.

America Declares War Part 2

The attack on Pearl Harbor left little doubt about declaring war on Japan. The Soviet Union's conversion to the Allied side, following Germany's invasion in June 1941, made some Americans doubt the wisdom of supporting the Allies. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed that. It made the necessity of declaring war on Japan clear and ended any continuing political divisions between isolationsits and interventionists. After President Roosevelt's speech, the House voted 388 to 1 to declare war, and the Senate jointed them unanimously. True to their military commitments with Japan, Germany and Italy declared war on America. Both Democrats and Republicans put aside their political diffeences to unify the nation in facing the task of winning a global war.

Mobilizing Industry Part 2

Under the direction of the government, Americans worked to create a "production miracle." The massive defense spending finally ended the Great Depression; for the first time in more than a decade there was a job for every worker. Each year of the war, the U.S. raised its production goals for military materials, and each year it met these goals. The Ford Motor Company poured all of its resources into war production, building over 8,000 B-24 Liberator bombers. Henry J. Kaiser's shipyards produced large merchant "Liberty Ships" in as little as four and a half days. In 1944, American production level were double those of all the Axis nations put together, giving the Allies a crucial advantage. In a toast at a wartime conference, even Joseph Stalin, an Allied leader, praised American production: "To American production, without which the war would have been lost."

Fierce Fighting in the Pacific

With Pearl Harbor smoldering, the Japanese knew they had to move fast to gain important footholds in Asia and the Pacific. Although Japan's population was smaller than America's, the Japanese did have military advantages, including technologically advanced weapons and a well-trained and highly motivated military. At the start of the Pacific war the outlook was grim for America.