DK - World War II Map by Map

AMERICA AND JAPAN GO TO WAR 105

DEC DEC

Nov 26, 1941

US demands Japanese

withdrawal from

China and Indochina

Dec 7, 1941

Japanese attack

Pearl Harbor

Dec 22, 1941

Japanese

forces

attack Luzon

May 6, 1942

Japanese take

Corregidor

May 20, 1942

Japanese complete

conquest of Burma

Jul 29, 1942

Japanese push

Australians off

Kokoda Trail in

New Guinea

Mar 9,

1942 Dutch

East Indies

surrenders

to Japanese

Dec 31, 1942

Japanese decide

to abandon

Guadalcanal

Jul 26, 1941

After Japanese

enter southern

Indochina, US

imposes oil

blockade

Oct 17, 1941

General Tojo

becomes

Japanese prime

minister

Dec 10, 1941

Prince of Wales

and Repulse

sunk off

Malaysia

Dec 25, 1941

Hong Kong

surrenders

to Japanese

Feb 15, 1942

Fall of Singapore

May 4–8, 1942

Battle of the

Coral Sea

Jun 3–6, 1942

Battle of Midway

Feb 19, 1942

Japanese bomb

Darwin; Japanese-

Americans declared

enemy aliens

“We will gain the inevitable triumph—

so help us God.”

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT, DECEMBER 8, 1941

by Japanese aggression, he decided to prioritize the struggle

against Germany in Europe, which slowed the American

fight in the Pacific.

In contrast to the Western Allies, who established joint

commands and strategies, Japan and Germany fought two

totally separate wars. Japan remained at peace with the

Soviet Union, Germany’s bitterest enemy, until August

1945, when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan after

Japan refused to capitulate.

Successes and failures

The initial Japanese offensives in Southeast Asia were very

successful against the colonial empires, which lacked both

morale and military strength. The spectacle of the British

surrender at Singapore, in particular, delivered a fatal blow

to European racial prestige. However, in British India only

a minority of activists in the nationalist independence

movement sided with Nazi Germany and Japan. Overall,

the Japanese failed to capitalize on potential support from

their fellow Asians, proving at least as exploitative and

oppressive as the European colonialists they supplanted.

▽ Disaster at Pearl Harbor

Fire spreads through the battleship USS

West Virginia during the Japanese air

strike at Pearl Harbor. Four American

battleships were sunk in the attack.

▷ Zero fighter plane

In 1941, the Japanese A6M Zero was

probably the world’s finest carrier-

borne fighter, outclassing any aircraft

operated by the US Navy.

Aug 7, 1942

American landings

on Guadalcanal

JUN 1942

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