World War II in the Pacific. Pacific theater of military operations of the Second World War. Aggravation of Japanese-American relations

The 1941-1945 war for dominance in the Pacific Ocean for Japan and the United States of America became the main arena of hostilities during the Second World War.

Preconditions for the war

In the 1920s and 1930s, geopolitical and economic contradictions between the gaining strength of Japan and the leading Western powers - the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, which had their colonies and naval bases there (the United States controlled the Philippines, France owned Indochina, Great Britain - Burma and Malaya, Netherlands - Indonesia). The states that controlled this region had access to vast natural resources and sales markets. Japan felt deprived: its goods were ousted from Asian markets, and international treaties imposed serious restrictions on the development of the Japanese fleet. Nationalist sentiments grew in the country, and the economy was transferred to a mobilization track. The course was openly proclaimed to establish a "new order in East Asia" and to create a "great East Asian sphere of common prosperity."

Even before the outbreak of World War II, Japan turned its efforts to China. In 1932, the puppet state of Manchukuo was created in occupied Manchuria. And in 1937, as a result of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the northern and central parts of China were captured. The impending war in Europe fettered the forces of Western states, which limited themselves to verbal condemnation of these actions and the severing of some economic ties.

With the outbreak of World War II, Japan announced a policy of "non-participation in the conflict", but already in 1940, after the stunning successes of German troops in Europe, concluded a "Triple Pact" with Germany and Italy. And in 1941 a non-aggression pact was signed with the USSR. Thus, it became obvious that Japanese expansion was planned not to the west, towards the Soviet Union and Mongolia, but to the south - Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

In 1941, the US government extended the Lend-Lease Act to the Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek opposing Japan and began supplying weapons. In addition, Japanese banking assets were seized and economic sanctions were tightened. Nevertheless, almost all of 1941 there were American-Japanese consultations, and even a meeting was planned between US President Franklin Roosevelt and Japanese Prime Minister Konoe, and later with General Tojo, who replaced him. Until recently, Western countries underestimated the power of the Japanese army, and many politicians simply did not believe in the possibility of war.

Japan's successes at the beginning of the war (late 1941 - mid 1942)

Japan experienced a serious shortage of resources, primarily oil and metal reserves; her government understood that success in the impending war can be achieved only if they act quickly and decisively, without dragging out the military campaign. In the summer of 1941, Japan imposed an agreement on the Joint Defense of Indochina on the collaborationist French Vichy government and occupied these territories without a fight.

On November 26, the Japanese fleet under the command of Admiral Yamamoto went to sea, and on December 7, 1941, attacked the largest American naval base, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack was sudden, and the enemy was almost unable to offer resistance. As a result, about 80% of American ships (including all existing battleships) were disabled and about 300 aircraft were destroyed. The consequences could have been even more catastrophic for the United States, if at the time of the attack their aircraft carriers had not been at sea and, thanks to this, had not survived. A few days later, the Japanese were able to sink the two largest British warships, and for some time secured dominance over the Pacific sea lanes.

In parallel with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese troops landed in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and ground forces launched an offensive in the Malacca Peninsula. At the same time, Siam (Thailand), under the threat of occupation, entered into a military alliance with Japan.

Until the end of 1941, British Hong Kong and an American military base on the island of Guam were captured. In early 1942, General Yamashita's units, making a sudden march through the Malay jungle, took possession of the Malay Peninsula and took British Singapore by storm, capturing about 80,000 people. In the Philippines, about 70,000 Americans were captured, and the commander of the American forces, General MacArthur, was forced, leaving his subordinates, to evacuate by air. In the beginning of the same year, resource-rich Indonesia (which was under the control of the Dutch government-in-exile) and British Burma were almost completely taken over. Japanese troops reached the borders of India. Fighting began in New Guinea. Japan set its sights on conquering Australia and New Zealand.

At first, the population of the western colonies greeted the Japanese army as liberators and provided it with all possible assistance. Especially strong was the support in Indonesia, coordinated by future President Sukarno. But the atrocities of the Japanese military and the administration soon prompted the population of the conquered territories to start guerrilla actions against the new masters.

Battles in the middle of the war and a radical change (mid 1942 - 1943)

In the spring of 1942, American intelligence was able to find the key to the Japanese military codes, with the result that the Allies were well aware of the enemy's future plans. This was especially important during the largest naval battle in history - the Battle of Midway Atoll. The Japanese command expected to carry out a diversionary strike in the north, in the Aleutian Islands, while the main forces would capture the Midway Atoll, which would become a springboard for the capture of Hawaii. When, at the beginning of the battle on June 4, 1942, Japanese aircraft took off from the decks of aircraft carriers, American bombers, in accordance with a plan developed by the new commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Nimitz, bombed the aircraft carriers. As a result, the planes that survived the battle simply had nowhere to land - more than three hundred combat vehicles were destroyed, the best Japanese pilots were killed. The naval battle continued for two more days. After its completion, Japanese superiority at sea and air was finished.

Earlier, on May 7-8, another major naval battle took place in the Coral Sea. The target of the advancing Japanese was Port Moresby in New Guinea, which was to become a staging area for the landing in Australia. Formally, the Japanese fleet was victorious, but the attacking forces were so exhausted that the attack on Port Moresby had to be abandoned.

For a further attack on Australia and its bombing, the Japanese needed to control the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands archipelago. The battles for it lasted from May 1942 to February 1943 and cost huge losses to both sides, but in the end, control over it passed to the Allies.

The death of the best Japanese commander, Admiral Yamamoto, was also of great importance for the course of the war. On April 18, 1943, the Americans conducted a special operation, as a result of which the plane with Yamamoto on board was shot down.

The longer the war went on, the more the economic superiority of the Americans began to affect. By mid-1943, they had set up monthly production of aircraft carriers, and outnumbered Japan in aircraft production three times. All the prerequisites for a decisive offensive were created.

Allied offensive and defeat of Japan (1944-1945)

Since late 1943, the Americans and their allies have consistently squeezed out Japanese troops from the Pacific islands and archipelagos, using a tactic of rapid travel from one island to another, called the "frog jump." The largest battle of this period of the war took place in the summer of 1944 near the Mariana Islands - control over them opened the sea route to Japan for American troops.

The largest land battle, as a result of which the Americans under the command of General MacArthur regained control of the Philippines, took place in the fall of the same year. As a result of these battles, the Japanese lost a large number of ships and aircraft, not to mention numerous casualties.

The small island of Iwo Jima was of great strategic importance. After its capture, the allies were able to carry out massive raids on the main territory of Japan. The worst was the raid on Tokyo in March 1945, as a result of which the Japanese capital was almost completely destroyed, and the losses among the population, according to some estimates, exceeded the direct losses from the atomic bombings - about 200,000 civilians died.

In April 1945, the Americans landed on the Japanese island of Okinawa, but were able to capture it only three months later, at the cost of huge losses. Many ships were sunk or seriously damaged after attacks by suicide pilots - kamikaze. Strategists from the American General Staff, assessing the strength of the Japanese resistance and their resources, planned military operations not only for the next year, but also for 1947. But it all ended much faster due to the advent of atomic weapons.

On August 6, 1945, the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and three days later - on Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese, mostly civilians, were killed. The losses were comparable to the damage from previous bombings, but the use of fundamentally new weapons by the enemy also dealt a huge psychological blow. In addition, on August 8, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan, and the country did not have the resources for a war on two fronts.

On August 10, 1945, the Japanese government made a principled decision to surrender, which was announced by Emperor Hirohito on August 14. On September 2, the act of unconditional surrender was signed aboard the American battleship Missouri. The war in the Pacific, and, along with it, the Second World War, ended.

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In autumn 1942 d. fascist aggression reached its climax. The armed forces of Germany and its allies in Europe and North Africa, and Japan in the Asia-Pacific region captured a huge territory of 12.8 million km2 with a population of over 500 million people. Almost the entire continental Western Europe, the Balkans, the Baltic States, Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, the western regions of Russia, in the north of Africa - part of Libya and Egypt were under the heel of the German invaders. Japan captured a significant part of China, occupied many islands and almost a third of the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to Germany, the fascist bloc at that time included Japan, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria, Thailand and state formations with the puppet governments of Slovakia, Croatia, Manchukuo and Nanking. Of these, eight states, led by Germany in Europe and three, led by Japan in Asia, directly participated in hostilities. They were opposed 34 states that were part of the anti-Hitler coalition. Among them are the USSR, USA, Great Britain, China, Mongolia, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and a number of other countries. However, of the entire composition of the anti-Hitler coalition, only the Soviet Union fully used its military and economic might to fight the enemy. The Soviet-German front remained the most significant in World War II.
The second most important theater of war in 1942 the city was the North African. Here, limited in composition groupings of troops operated, and the operations carried out in terms of scale and results achieved could not be compared with military actions on the Soviet-German front, although they indirectly influenced the general military-political situation in the world. This summer, German-Italian troops under the command of General E. Rommel invaded the northeastern regions of Egypt. The result was a direct threat to Alexandria, Suez and Cairo. In response, the American and British troops under the command of General D. Eisenhower with 8 on 11 November carried out the landing of large assault forces on the coast of North-West Africa in the regions of Casablanca and west of Algeria. Already by 1 December the total number of amphibious forces was brought to 253 thousand people. The position of the German and Italian troops in North Africa was becoming difficult: deprived of support from the European continent, squeezed from the west, south and east, in the conditions of the domination of the aircraft and fleet of the American-British troops in the Mediterranean basin, they were doomed.
At the beginning November 1942 G. 8- I the British army, which included British, Australian, Indian, New Zealand, South African, Greek and French divisions and brigades, in the course of two weeks of offensive battles broke the resistance of the Italo-German forces at El Alamein and drove them out of Egypt. The enemy's losses were: 55 thousand people killed, wounded and taken prisoner, destroyed 320 tanks and about a thousand guns. But this is much less than in the battle of Stalingrad, where during the counteroffensive the losses of the Germans amounted to more than 800 thousand people, 2 thousand tanks, 10 thousand guns and mortars, 3 thousand combat aircraft. 13 May 1943 d. Italo-German troops in Tunisia capitulated. The hostilities in North Africa are over.
July - August 1943 The allies landed on the island of Sicily and captured it. 25 july Mussolini's regime was overthrown and Italy concluded a truce with the Allies, and 13 october declared war on Germany.

The third theater of war was the Asia-Pacific. In the middle 1942 In this theater, Japan dealt a serious blow to the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain. Its troops held the occupied part of China, captured the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands, captured Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, reached the borders of India, and threatened Australia and New Zealand. However, exorbitant territorial conquests only complicated the position of the aggressor. Scattered on numerous fronts and hundreds of islands, the Japanese forces were exhausted. Hopes also melted for the complete conquest of China. It was now difficult for Japan not only to carry out the planned plan to seize India and Australia, but also to keep the conquered.
WITH july 1942 The United States stepped up its fight against German submarines off the coast of North America, which were trying to strike at important coastal targets. Only in the second half of the year did the Germans lose here 66 boats. This forced the German naval leadership to withdraw the main forces of the submarine fleet to the center of the Atlantic. But in this area, too, they faced increased opposition.
In the end, Hitler decided to concentrate the main efforts of the surface and submarine forces in the North Atlantic in order to prevent the expected British invasion of Norway, and most importantly - to disrupt the escort of sea convoys carrying goods under Lend-Lease from England and the United States to the USSR. As a result, the activity of the German fleet in this area increased sharply. It took more than six months to achieve a turning point in the naval war here too.
The situation in the Balkans, where the national liberation struggle intensified, was unfavorable for Germany and its allies. In Yugoslavia alone, the partisan formations of I. Broz Tito, which included 37 infantry brigades, 12 individual battalions and 34 partisan detachment (total 150 thousand people), by the end 1942 controlled a fifth of the country's territory.
Thus, the situation in the world as a whole, and especially on the Soviet-German front, by the beginning of the winter campaign of 1942/43 was complex and contradictory. Overall superiority in armed forces and combat assets has already gone over to the side of the USSR and its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. The enemy was stopped everywhere and experienced great difficulties both at the front and in the rear. But this did not yet predetermine his final defeat, especially since at that moment the states of the anti-Hitler coalition, despite the changed balance of forces, also experienced considerable difficulties.

War in the pacific

Background

Since the late 19th century, Japan has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at dominating the region. In the 1930s, Japan's claims became the cause of an armed conflict with China. In 1937, this conflict escalated into a full-fledged war in which Japan won victory after victory, and China suffered huge losses. Japanese interests extended to almost all of East and South Asia and the Pacific region, which caused tensions with Holland, Great Britain and the United States, which had their own interests there, as well as colonies. In September 1940, Japan signed the Triple Pact with Germany and Italy on cooperation in rebuilding the world order.

Developments

December 7, 1941- Japanese aircraft and navy attacked the American military base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, causing significant damage to it. After that, the United States declared war on Japan and began to take an active part in the battles of World War II.

December 1941 - May 1942- Japan is conducting successful hostilities in Hong Kong, Thailand, the Dutch East Indies, Malaysia, Burma and other regions, defeating local, as well as American, British, Dutch, Australian and Chinese troops. In May 1942, local and American troops surrendered in the Philippines. After that, Japan controlled virtually all of Southeast Asia and northwest Oceania.

June 4-6, 1942- Battle of Midway Atoll. The United States defeated Japan by sinking four Japanese aircraft carriers and destroying some 250 aircraft. This battle is considered by many historians to be a turning point in the Pacific theater of operations, after which Japan lost the initiative.

August 1942 - February 1943- Battle for the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Both the United States and Japan suffered significant losses, however, in general, the United States confirmed its military superiority, after this battle, finally moving from defense to attack.

October 1944- the beginning of the use of kamikaze tactics (suicide pilots who rammed enemy ships).

October 1944 - August 1945- The Philippine operation, which ended with the defeat of the Japanese and the liberation of the Philippines.

March 10, 1945- the bombing of Tokyo with incendiary bombs, which killed about 100 thousand people, mostly civilians.

6 and 9 August 1945- the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed about 200 thousand people, not counting those who died later from the effects of radiation. The first and only use of atomic weapons in history (chronology of events in Hiroshima).

August 9, 1945- fulfilling the promise given to the allies, the USSR declares war on Japan. The Soviet offensive in Manchuria ended in the defeat of the Kwantung Army, sharply worsening the position of Japan.

Conclusion

The events in the Pacific theater of operations were an important part of the Second World War. First of all, they can be described as a confrontation between the United States and Japan. The fate of Japan largely repeated that of Germany: by the beginning of the war, it also had a powerful army and confidence in its right to aggressive territorial expansion, but its resources were not unlimited. At the same time, Japan had no allies in the region, which reduced its chances of success and hastened its defeat.

An important result of the war was the establishment of a democratic order in Japan and the country's abandonment of imperial claims.

Abstract

December 6, 1941 Japanese troops attacked the US naval base in Hawaii Pearl Harbor by destroying the United States Pacific Fleet. The attack was sudden. Following this, the states of the anti-Hitler coalition declare war on Japan. In turn, the United States declares war on Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and a number of countries of the fascist bloc.

The defeat of the American fleet and the absence of large military forces in the colonies of European countries allowed Tokyo to carry out a lightning-fast seizure of the territory of Southeast Asia, Indonesia and launch an offensive against the pearl of the British Empire - India, simultaneously occupying Burma.

By 1942, the Japanese managed to establish control over the overwhelming part of East and Southeast Asia, deploying merciless terror in these territories (especially in China). Continuing territorial conquests, Japanese landings began to land on the islands of Oceania and the Philippines, threatening the security of Australia and New Zealand, which forced the latter to enter the war.

1943 marked by the Battle of the Solomon Islands, which is ultimately won by the United States.

The territories occupied by the Japanese were under constant attacks from partisan detachments, which did not give Tokyo confidence in the safety of its rear. Partisans under the command of a communist put up a fairly powerful resistance to the invaders. Mao Zedong.

The protracted war was draining Japan. She could no longer successfully control the vast occupied territories. Trophies and minerals exported from the occupied lands were constantly bombarded by the allied forces.

At the end of 1944, the Americans make a successful assault on the Philippine Islands.... Striking a blow to the center of the Japanese Empire, they mercilessly sank Japanese ships and submarines, shot down planes and practically did not take prisoners. The Philippines became the home base for the United States Navy and Air Force.

In October 1944, a major naval battle took place in Leyte Gulf, in which the Japanese fleet was practically destroyed.

Beginning in 1945, American aircraft began bombing Japanese cities on a daily basis. The joint actions of the allies made it possible to liberate large territories of Asia and Oceania.

After the end of the war in Europe, following the Yalta agreements, according to which, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the USSR should declare war on Japan, hostilities begin in the Soviet Far East.

Transferred from Europe, battle-hardened Soviet troops formed a powerful fist. In August 1945 several operations began at once - in Northeast China, Korea, on the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Soviet blow was so strong that the Japanese troops were crushed and fled in disarray, leaving vast territories.

6 and 9 August 1945of the year the American command dropped on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki two atomic bombs, wiping them off the face of the earth. The Americans have demonstrated to the whole world that they have a new type of weapon.

On September 2, 1945, the Act of Japan's Unconditional Surrender was signed on the American battleship Missouri.

World War II 1939-1945 ended.

Bibliography

1. A. V. Shubin General history. Recent history. 9th grade: textbook. for general education. institutions. - M .: Moscow textbooks, 2010.
2. Soroko-Tsyupa O.S., Soroko-Tsyupa A.O. General history. Recent history, grade 9. - M .: Education, 2010.
3. Sergeev E.Yu. General history. Recent history. Grade 9. - M .: Education, 2011.

Homework

1. Read §13 of the textbook Shubin A.V., pp. 137-139 and give answers to questions 3 and 4 on p. 142.
2. Why did the USSR enter the war with Japan only after the end of the war in Europe?
3. Was the atomic bombing of Japanese cities necessary at the end of the war?

1. Internet portal Nb-info.ru ().
2. Militarymaps.narod.ru Internet portal ().
3. Internet portal Waralbum.ru ().

The Pacific Ocean was the focus of imperialist, and primarily American - Japanese, contradictions and in the strategic plans of the United States remained the main theater of military operations. It so happened that a continuous stream of American troops and military equipment rushed to the Pacific Ocean, and not to Europe - the main theater of war, where the main forces of the aggressive bloc were located. This is how the main strategic principle - "Germany first", officially recognized by the leaders of Great Britain and the United States, was violated. They undoubtedly considered that victory over the entire fascist coalition was impossible until Germany was defeated, but they strove primarily to satisfy the interests of their monopolies, hoping that the Soviet Union would bind the main force of the aggressive bloc for a more or less long time. The United States strove to restore the lost positions in the Pacific Ocean, to strengthen and expand them, to achieve a dominant position in China. By the time the American armed forces were leaving the first strikes and gained the opportunity to move to a more persistent defense and even to separate active actions, the United States decided not to give up the right to command in the Pacific region to anyone.

Great Britain, interested in establishing control over all North African countries, tried not to attract special attention of the United States to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.

In April 1942, an agreement came into effect between the United States and Great Britain regarding the division of strategic war zones. Under the agreement, the UK was responsible for the Middle East and Indian Ocean (including Malaya and Sumatra) and the United States for the Pacific (including Australia and New Zealand). India and Burma remained under the responsibility of Great Britain, while China remained under the responsibility of the United States. While recognizing the usefulness of restoring US military power in the Pacific for a greater cause, the British government feared completely losing its colonies and influence in Southeast Asia.

The first targets of capture, designated by the Japanese command, were Tulagi Island (Solomon Islands, north of Guadalcanal) and the Australian base in New Guinea, Port Moresby. Having mastered these points, Japan could have strong positions for basing its fleet and aviation and further increasing pressure on Australia. As early as April 17, the American command received information about the intentions of the Japanese to land troops in Port Moresby and began to prepare to repel it.

In the struggle for Guadalcanal in the summer of 1942, the Americans suffered very significant losses in warships. The American command did everything to make up for them. Gradually, in the area of ​​the Solomon Islands, the ratio of forces in the air and at sea changed in favor of the United States.

The Japanese command tried to use the time before the rains began to reach the borders of India and China and create a threat of invasion. The cities of Tengchun and Longling were occupied. Japanese units tried to cross the Saluan River at the Huidong Bridge, but were stopped by six new divisions from the Chinese army. Another part of the Japanese troops by this time occupied Bamo, Myitkyin and several other cities of northern Burma, creating a threat to India.

The Japanese army, after occupying almost all of Burma in May, conducted a series of private offensives in China and consolidated its position in Asia. However, Japan's strategy was not definite and purposeful. The bulk of the ground forces remained in Manchuria and China, while the main forces of the fleet operated in the eastern and southern directions. Adventurism in strategy was the main reason for Japan's failure.

As a result of the battles in the Coral Sea and Midway Atoll, the struggle for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, the initiative in the war was gradually transferred to the Allies. The undivided domination of the Pacific has come to an end.