American-Japanese War of 1941-1945 It was very difficult and had serious consequences. What are the causes of this bloody war? How did it go and what consequences did it have? Who won the American-Japanese war? This will be discussed in the article.
US-Japanese Contradictions and the Causes of War
The contradictions between America and Japan have a long history since the 19th century, when the Americans imposed unequal trade treaties on the Japanese. But after the First World War, the situation escalated even more, since there was a struggle between these states for spheres of influence in the Asia-Pacific region. So, since 1931, Japan continues the conquest of China and creates on its territory the state of Manzhou-Guo, which is actually completely controlled by the Japanese. Soon, all American corporations were forced out of the Chinese market, which clearly weakened the position of the United States. In 1940, a trade agreement between the United States and Japan was terminated. In June 1941, Japanese troops captured French Indochina. Soon, in response to the aggression on July 26, the United States imposed an embargo on oil imports to Japan, and England subsequently joined the embargo. As a result, Japan faced a choice: either to continue the redistribution of territories in this region and enter into military conflict with the States, or to retreat and recognize the United States as the leader in this region. The reasons for the US-Japan war are now obvious. Japan, of course, chose the first option.
USA
The American government was considering the option of a war with Japan, in connection with this, active preparations were made for the army and navy. So, a number of military-economic reforms were carried out: a law on military service was adopted, and the military budget increased. On the eve of the war with Japan, the number of personnel in the American army was one million eight hundred thousand people, of which three hundred and fifty fighters were in the navy. The number of ships of the United States Navy was 227 ships of various classes and 113 submarines.
Japan
Japan, in 1941, conducting military operations in China, was already preparing for the outbreak of war with America. Japan's military budget at that time amounted to more than 12 billion yen. The strength of the Japanese army before the war was 1 million 350 thousand in the army and 350 thousand in the navy. The number of the navy increased and amounted to 202 ships and 50 submarines. In aviation, there were one thousand aircraft of various classes.
Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, US entry into World War II: history
The attack on Pearl Harbor is a surprise, without a declaration of war, attack by the aircraft and fleet of the Japanese imperial army on American warships and an air base located on the Hawaiian Islands on December 7, 1941.
The decision to war with the United States was made at a meeting of Japanese ministers at the emperor on December 1, 1941. To actively advance the Japanese army in the Asia-Pacific region, it was necessary to destroy its Pacific Fleet, which was deployed on the island of Oahu in full force. For this purpose, a preemptive strike on the base of the US Navy was chosen. The essence of the attack was to, using the effect of surprise, with the help of aircraft that took off from aircraft carriers, make a powerful raid on the base. As a result, on December 7, 1941, two air raids took place with a total of 440 Japanese aircraft.
Losses of the USA were catastrophic, actually destroyed or incapacitated; 90% of the Pacific fleet of America turned out to be. In total, the Americans lost 18 ships: 8 battleships, 4 destroyers, 3 cruisers, losses in aviation were equal to 188 aircraft. Losses in personnel also amounted to disastrous figures, about 2,400 people were killed and 1,200 injured. Japanese losses were an order of magnitude smaller, 29 aircraft were shot down and about 60 people died.
As a result, on December 8, 1941, the United States, led by President Franklin Roosevelt, declared war on Japan and officially entered WWII.
Stage One: Japan's victory
Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor Base, in the wake of success and taking advantage of the confusion and confusion of the United States, the islands of Guam and Wake, which belonged to America, were captured. By March 1942, the Japanese were already off the coast of Australia, but could not capture it. In general, in the four months of the war, Japan achieved outstanding results. The peninsula of Malaysia was captured, the territories of the Dutch West Indies, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and southern Burma were annexed. Japan’s victories at the first stage can be explained not only by military factors, but successes are largely related to a well-thought-out propaganda policy. Thus, the people of the occupied territories were told that Japan had come to free them from bloody imperialism. As a result, in December 1941 - March 1942, Japan seized territories of more than 4 million square kilometers with a population of 200 million people. At the same time, she lost only 15 thousand people, 400 aircraft and 4 ships. The losses of the United States alone captured amounted to 130 thousand soldiers.
Second stage: a turning point in the war
After the naval battle in May 1942 in the Coral Sea, although it ended with a tactical victory for Japan, which was obtained at a heavy price and was not as obvious as before, a radical change occurred in the war. The battle at Midway Atoll on June 4, 1942 is considered to be his date. On this day, the US Navy won the first serious victory. Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers, against 1 American. After this defeat, Japan no longer undertook offensive operations, but focused on protecting the previously conquered territories.
After winning the battle for six months, the Americans regained control of the island of Guadalcanal. Subsequently, the Aleutian and Solomon Islands, New Guinea, as well as the Gilbert Islands passed under the control of the United States and its allies.
The last stage of the war: the defeat of Japan
In 1944, the outcome of the American-Japanese war was already a foregone conclusion. The Japanese systematically lost their territories. The main task of the Japanese government was to protect China and Burma. But from the end of February to September 1944, Japan lost control of the Marshall, Mariana, Caroline Islands and New Guinea.
The culmination of the American-Japanese war was the victory in the Philippine operation, which began on October 17, 1944. The losses of Japan during the offensive of the United States and its allies were catastrophic, three battleships, four aircraft carriers, ten cruisers, and eleven destroyers were sunk. The loss of personnel amounted to 300 thousand people. Losses of the USA and allies amounted to only 16 thousand and six ships of various classes.
At the beginning of 1945, the theater of operations moved to the territory of Japan itself. On February 19, there was a successful landing on Iwo Jima Island, which was soon captured during fierce resistance. June 21, 1945 the island of Okinawa was captured.
All battles, especially in Japan, were very fierce, since most Japanese soldiers belonged to the samurai class and fought to the end, preferring death to captivity. The most striking example is the use of kamikaze units by the Japanese command.
In July 1945, the Japanese government was asked to surrender, but Japan refused to accept surrender, shortly after which American aircraft launched nuclear attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And on September 2, 1945, an act of surrender of Japan was signed on board the Missouri ship. This was the end of the war between the United States and Japan, as was WWII itself, although officially for Japan WWII ended in 1951 with the signing of the San Francisco Treaty.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
To quickly end the war with Japan, the American government decided to use atomic weapons. There were several possible targets for the bombing, the idea of bombing exclusively military targets was rejected immediately because of the possibility of a miss on a small territory. The choice fell on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, since these territories had a good location, and the features of their landscape provided for an increase in the range of destruction.
The first city to which an eighteen kiloton nuclear bomb was dropped was Hiroshima. The bomb was dropped in the morning on August 6, 1945 from a B-29 bomber. Losses among the population amounted to about 100-160 thousand people. Three days later, on August 9, the city of Nagasaki underwent atomic bombing, now the explosive power was twenty kilotons, according to various estimates, about 60-80 thousand people became victims. The effect of the use of atomic weapons forced the Japanese government to agree to surrender.
Summary and Consequences
After the defeat was recognized on September 2, 1945, the occupation of Japan by American forces began. The occupation lasted until 1952, when the San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed and entered into force. After the defeat of Japan, it was forbidden to have a military and air fleet. All of Japan’s policies and economies were subordinate to the United States. In Japan, a new constitution was approved, a new parliament was formed, the samurai class was liquidated, but imperial power officially remained, since there was a risk of popular unrest. American troops were stationed on its territory and military bases were built, which are still located there.
Loss of parties
The war of Japan and the United States brought enormous losses to the peoples of these countries. The United States lost just over 106 thousand people. Including from 27 thousand prisoners of war of American soldiers 11 thousand were captured. The losses of the Japanese side amounted to about 1 million soldiers and, according to various estimates, 600 thousand civilians.
Interesting Facts
There are many cases when individual Japanese army personnel continued to conduct military operations against the Americans after the end of hostilities. So, in February 1946, 8 American soldiers of the US troops were killed in a shootout on Lubang Island. In March 1947, about 30 Japanese soldiers attacked American troops on the island of Peleliu, but after they were told that the war was long over, the military surrendered.
But the most famous case of this kind is a guerrilla war in the Philippine Islands, Japanese lieutenant Hiro Onoda. For almost thirty years, he made about a hundred attacks on the American military, which killed thirty and injured one hundred people. And only in 1974 he surrendered to the Philippine army - in full uniform and well-armed.