Path to War
In 1931, Japan invaded this large, resource-rich region of northeastern China to secure vital supplies of coal and iron.
What is Manchuria?
President Franklin D. Roosevelt described this date as a "Day of Infamy" when Japan launched its surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet.
What is December 7, 1941?
Believed to be an "impregnable fortress," this British territory in Asia fell in just seven days, marking the largest mass surrender in British history.
What is Singapore?
Led by a lieutenant colonel, this April 1942 mission saw sixteen US B-25 bombers launch from a carrier to strike Tokyo, providing a massive psychological boost to America.
What is the Doolittle Raid?
This US strategy involved bypassing heavily fortified Japanese islands and capturing only those crucial for airbases and supply lines to move closer to Japan.
What is Island-Hopping (or leapfrogging)?
This critical resource, essential for modern naval and air forces, was heavily imported by Japan and became the target of a devastating US embargo in July 1941.
What is oil?
The Japanese attack tactically failed to destroy these massive warships serving as mobile airbases because they were out at sea during the raid.
What are aircraft carriers?
To bypass British forces and logistics, the Japanese army used this two-wheeled mode of transport to rapidly move infantry through the Malayan jungle.
What are bicycles?
Fought in May 1942 to defend Port Moresby, this was the first naval battle in history where opposing ships never sighted or fired upon each other.
What is the Battle of the Coral Sea?
Taking place from August 1942 to February 1943 in the Solomon Islands, this was the Allies' first major land offensive against Japan.
What is the Battle of Guadalcanal?
This 1940 agreement signed by Japan, Germany, and Italy officially established the Axis Powers.
What is the Tripartite Pact?
This Japanese naval leader and architect of the Pearl Harbor attack feared that he had only "awaken[ed] a sleeping giant and fill[ed] him with a terrible resolve".
Who is Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto?
The Japanese military adhered to this traditional warrior code that viewed surrender as the ultimate disgrace, resulting in their brutal treatment of prisoners of war.
What is Bushido?
At the Battle of Midway, US dive bombers caught the Japanese fleet at its most vulnerable, sinking this number of irreplaceable Japanese fleet aircraft carriers.
What is four?
Capturing this island just 560 kilometers from Japan provided a crucial airbase for US B-29 bombers, but the ferocious fighting cost 95,000 Japanese and over 20,000 American lives.
What is the Battle of Okinawa?
Japan aimed to seize the Dutch East Indies and Southeast Asia, collectively referred to by this geographic term, to secure resources like oil and rubber.
What is the "Southern Resource Area"?
A major strategic blunder of the attack was the failure to bomb these massive logistical targets, which allowed the US Navy to continue operating freely from the base.
What are oil storage depots (or fuel depots)?
This horrific 65-mile forced trek of 75,000 exhausted US and Filipino prisoners of war occurred after the fall of the Philippines.
What is the Bataan Death March?
The US possessed this critical intelligence advantage after breaking the JN-25 code, allowing them to receive advance warning and set a devastating ambush at Midway.
What is code-breaking (or breaking the Japanese naval code)?
On August 6, 1945, President Harry Truman authorized the dropping of the first atomic bomb on this Japanese city, killing an estimated 66,000 people instantly.
What is Hiroshima?
This propaganda concept claimed to liberate Asian nations from Western imperialism, but in reality, brought brutal military occupation and economic exploitation by the Japanese.
What is the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere?
In the attack on "Battleship Row," the Japanese successfully sank or severely damaged this number of US battleships.
What is eight?
Allied POWs and Asian laborers were worked to death in horrific conditions to build this transportation route, also known as the Death Railway, made famous in the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai".
What is the Burma Railway?
The US victory at Midway forced Japan onto the defensive and halted any plans for an invasion of Hawaii or this large nation to the south.
What is Australia?
Following the atomic bombings, this Japanese Emperor broadcast to his people that the war was over and they must accept defeat.
Who is Emperor Hirohito?