WW2 - The Pacific Theatre
Purpose and Process
If you want peace, understand war.
BH Liddell Hart
I believe in both my right and my responsibility to work to create a world that doesn't glorify
violence and war but where we seek different solutions to our common problems.
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize
There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare.
Sun Tzu
I want young people to be hesitant to glorify war and to demand of their leaders justification for
the sacrifices they ask of our citizens.
Walter Dean Myers
Purpose and Process
● This unit covers war and conflict including the human cost of the war. As a
result the materials show age-appropriate scenes that include death and
injury.
● If you find something disturbing, please feel free to take a moment to look
away from a video or resource and gather yourself. Please also let me know
so I can support you.
Documentary: China’s Forgotten War
Professor Rana Mitter
Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China | Director of the University of Oxford China Centre |
Fellow of St Cross College.
Professor Mitter studies the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth
century and in the contemporary era. He is particularly interested in the impact of China's war with Japan
in the 1930s and 1940s on the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture.
Causes of The Pacific Theatre
Japan’s Foreign Policy in the 1930s
● The period from 1937-1952 were among the most
eventful in the experience of the Japanese nation.
● In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Japan’s leaders
chose force to solve problems, affecting her relations
with foreign nations.
● The Japanese had inadequate appreciation of the will
of the foreign peoples and an overreliance on the spirit
of the Japanese people.
● The central element of Japan’s ideology, its imperial
institution, played a vital role in its eventual defeat and
the unprecedented occupation by foreign troops
afterwards.
The Mukden Incident (Sept 1931)
● In Sept 1931, the Japanese army in
Manchuria, known as the Kwantung Army,
staged the Mukden Incident.
● This involved blowing up part of the South
Manchurian Railway and then blaming it
on the Chinese.They then occupied much
of Manchuria.
● The fighting escalated briefly in Jan 1932
when skirmishes broke out in Shanghai
between Chinese troops and Japanese
marines who were protecting Japanese
citizens and property in the int’l quarter.
The Mukden Incident (Sept 1931)
● The Japanese subjected Shanghai to
aerial bombing.
● The takeover of Manchuria was a decision
taken by Kwantung army officers
stationed in Manchuria.
● This was backed by some senior military
figures in Tokyo as the Japanese gov’t did
not authorise it.
● The army ignored the Japanese gov’t’s
protests who came to exert an increasing
influence over the gov’t.
Second Sino-Japanese War-1937-45
● On the night of July 7, 1937, a small
Japanese force on maneuvers near the
Marco Polo Bridge demanded entry to the
tiny walled town of Wanping in order to
search for one of their soldiers.
● The Chinese garrison in the town refused the
Japanese entry; a shot was heard, and the
two sides began firing.
● This became known as the Marco Polo
Bridge Incident.
Second Sino-Japanese War-1937-45
● Japan’s military leaders were not planning
on waging war.
● There was hesitation in Tokyo but this was
overcome by political pressure to suppress
the Nationalist regime in the Nanjing
capital.
● Chinese resistance spurred the Japanese
to attempt a quick solution through force.
Second Sino-Japanese War-1937-45 (cont-d)
● In Dec 1937 – Nanking was captured and
sacked and many tens of thousands of
civilians were also killed.
● Over the next 8 years , the Japanese
controlled cities and towns linked by
narrow corridors of communication within
a far larger area in which a variety of
Chinese forces operated.
● The 2nd Sino-Japanese War was neither
won nor lost according to Mason.
Second Sino-Japanese War-1937-45 (cont-d)
● In Nov 1938, Konoe Fumimaro, the new PM
of Japan at the time of the incidents in July
1937, declared in Nov 1938, “The New Order
in East Asia”.
● It was reminiscent of the 21 Demands but
was unrealistic in its rhetoric.
● It looked to ensure the permanent stability of
East Asia. Set up a tripartite relationship of
mutual aid and coordination between Japan,
Manchukuo and China in political, economic,
cultural and other fields.
The Three Power /Tripartite Pact and the Neutrality
Pact
● A pact with Nazi Germany and Italy concluded as an
anti-Communist measure against Russia was signed in
1936.
● Just before Germany went to war with Russia, Japan
and Russia signed a neutrality pact, in 1941. This
brought stability to northeast Asia until 1945.
● In Sept 1940, Japan signed a new pact with Germany
and Italy which allowed for Japanese dominance in
wider sphere in southeast Asia as a member as what
was seen as an ‘all-conquering’ alliance.
Youtube Videos
Three Power/Tripartite Pact 6:57 min
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0ZPS2f
hDNM
Course of The Pacific Theatre
Pearl Harbor Videos
Pearl Harbor (Discovery Channel) 43:23 min
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnQ_6h3VtRo
Pearl Harbor Attack (Pearl Harbor Film) 4:47 min
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lIm06JOBtw
Attack (Tora Tora Tora Film) 4:17 min
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0UjYPHbQtE
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War - 1941
● The USA entered WW2 due to the Japanese
attack of Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
● Up until this point, the USA were intent on
isolation and had remained neutral to the war.
(though they still provided Britain financial aid
after the Lend-Lease Act in April 1941)
● Japanese motives for attacking Pearl Harbor
were due to her economic problems.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War - 1941
“Yesterday, December 7 1941 - a date “Once you start (a war), it cannot easily
which will live in infamy - the United be stopped in the middle ... What’s
States of America was suddenly and important is when to end the war,” the
deliberately attacked by naval and air diary quotes him as saying.
forces of the Empire of Japan”.
“One should be cautious in starting a
war, but once begun, it should be
carried out thoroughly.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Emperor Hirohito, 1942
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● Japan’s move into Indochina, combined with
war with China, withdrawal from the League of
Nations and alliance with Germany and Italy
alarmed the USA.
● The US attempted to restrain Japan
economically.
● The US embargoed scrap metal shipments and
closed the Panama Canal to Japanese
shipping.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● In August 1941, the US set up an embargo
on oil and gasoline exports to Japan.
● This had hit Japan hard as more than 80%
of its oil came from the USA.
● On Dec 1 1941, Hirohito approved war
against the USA.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● The Japanese gov’t believed they
would soon run out of raw materials.
● They put focus on territories such as
Britain’s Malaya and Burma which had
rubber, oil and tin.
● Also they looked to the Dutch East
Indies, which was also rich in oil.
● Since both Britain and Holland were
not fit to defend their possessions, the
Japanese were prepared to attack.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● However, Japan would have still
preferred to avoid war with the
USA.
● Nonetheless, relations between the
2 sides deteriorated quickly.
● The Americans assisted the
Chinese in the 2nd Sino-Japanese
War whilst the Japanese
persuaded Vichy France to set up
military bases in Indo-China.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● The Americans insisted on Japanese
withdrawal from Indo-China and from China
itself.
● General Hideki Tojo came to power on 16 Oct
1941. War seemed inevitable as he had an
aggressive, expansionist policy.
● Admiral Yamamoto carried out the attack on
Pearl Harbor. It was brilliantly organized.
● There was no declaration of war: 353
Japanese planes arrived undetected at Pearl
Harbor.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● In 2 hours, Japan had destroyed 350
aircraft and 5 battleships;
● 3700 men were killed or seriously injured.
Roosevelt called 7 Dec ‘a date which will
live in infamy’.
● Pearl Harbor had important results:
● It gave Japan control of the Pacific. By
May 1942, they had captured Malaya,
Singapore, Hong Kong and Burma – all
part of the British Empire.
Pearl Harbor and the Outbreak of War – 1941
(cont-d)
● Japan also controlled the Dutch East Indies, the
Philippines, and 2 American possessions – Guam
and Wake Island.
● It also led Hitler to declare war on the USA.
● The behaviour of the Japanese on their
conquered territories was ruthless and brutal.
● Japan hoped to organise their new territories into
the “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere”
● However, harsh treatment by the Japanese
turned most Asians against rule from Tokyo.
US-Japanese Views of each other
● The US View
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uVilRbthuc
● The Japanese View
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZE0uOOXT9
w
Pearl Harbor Questions
1. What were some of the main reasons for
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor?
2. Look at Roosevelt’s and Hirohito’s quotes on
Slide 15. What were their similarities and/or
differences in their attitudes towards the
attack or war in general?
3. Why was the oil embargo on Japan started by
the US? What were its impacts on Japan?
4. What were the major outcomes of Pearl
Harbor?
WW2 in Hong Kong
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45)
● 1941 – HK suffered through full-scale
invasion by the Japanese empire.
Japanese occupation may have
destroyed the myth and supremacy of
the British empire.
● Japan’s invasion of China in July
1937, British did not feel up to task to
meet the rising challenge of Germany
at the time.
● British Prime Minister was quoted ‘that
to pick a quarrel with Japan at the
present moment was suicidal’.
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45-cont-d)
● Winston Churchill, who took over as
Prime Minister in May 1940 at the
critical time of the Dunkirk
evacuation, accepted that HK would
fall to the Japanese.
● HK’s defence of HK in 1941 included
4 regular infantry, 4 regiments of
artillery, 3 Wildembeeste torpedo
bombers, 2 Walrus amphibian
planes, 4 destroyers, gunboats, 8
torpedo boats and the local naval
reserve.
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45-cont-d)
● 8 am, 8 Dec 1941, 4 hours after the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbour, Japanese bombers
destroyed British airfleet in one attack.
● 6 Japanese battalions successfully crossed
Victoria Harbour at its eastern side on 18 Dec,
marking ‘the beginning of the end’.
● HK defenders were ‘inadequately trained and
poorly prepared’ though they were instructed by
PM Churchill to ‘resist with utmost stubborness in
spirit and to the letter’.
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45-cont-d)
● The Japanese invasion finished
successfully for the Japanese on
Christmas Day 1941, also known
as Black Christmas.
● Human cost to the battle was high
– British suffered 2232
deaths/missing persons and 2300
wounded.
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45-cont-d)
● Japanese sought to destroy British presence
in HK, renaming streets and places,
removing old records, replacing the currency
and substituting Japanese for English in
school curriculum.
● Japanese found hardship in the logistics of
feeding a population 1.5 million after its
economy was broken and worked
incessantly to reduce it.
● By February 1943, population had dropped
to 969,000, and a further 500,000 after the
Japanese surrendered in Aug 1945.
WW2 in Hong Kong (1939-45-cont-d)
The Japanese enforced a
‘reign of terror’ by the
Japanese police. For example,
people who failed to bow in the
‘proper’ manner to Japanese
police or military might be hurt
or killed.
Japanese Occupation in HK Footage
War in Pacific Map Worksheet Task - Hong Kong 1941
Using the World War 2: War in Pacific video as your guide, fill in the accompanying map of HK with the following
information:
1. Label the approximate HK location of your house, ICS, and what and where your favorite place is in the city.
2. Label at least 5 areas of conflict on your map during the Battle of HK.
3. Trace the line of movement of the Japanese army between the areas of conflict. Describe the reasoning behind
these tactics by the Japanese.
Comment / Separate section – likely needs to be on a separate piece of paper to avoid cluttering your map.
4. Note the name of the armies (eg: 23rd Army) , numbers of soldiers, types of weaponry (eg: K-32 light bombers),
leading commanders (eg: Sakai Takashi) involved in the battles. Describe some of the highlights of each battle.
5. Describe the aftermath of the Battle of Hong Kong. (eg: number of casualties suffered by HK etc) . Evaluate HK
under Japanese rule as well. Refer to the Green River COlumn SCMP video as well to add detail on this - write
2-3 sentences on the resistance to the Japanese, and the occupation generally.
War in Pacific Map Worksheet Task - Hong Kong 1941
Standards targeted:
D2.Geo.3.6-8. Use paper based and electronic mapping and graphing techniques to represent and
analyze spatial patterns of different environmental and cultural characteristics.
D2.Geo.12.6-8. Explain how global changes in population distribution patterns affect changes in land
use in particular places.
RTHK TV Interview of Donald Chan (HERO) on Escape from Hong Kong during World War II
Questions
1. How many British and Chinese officers escaped Japanese occupation of
HK? Where did they go? How long did it take?
2. What was the means of escape? Where were these located?
3. What was the situation like when they got off the boat?
4. What did Ronald’s father say to him was the only way to survive the
attack?
5. What kinds of sacrifices did his father make during the battle?
6. Where did they find the boats? What happened to them?
7. Where did they end up? How did the Japanese try to capture them?
8. What happened to Donald’s Chan’s father many years later?
9. What does ‘HERO’ stand for? Why is it significant?
RTHK TV Interview of Donald Chan (HERO) on Escape from Hong Kong during World War II
East River Column - HK Guerrilla Fighters in WW2
