War in the Pacific

1. What was the importance of the Battle of Midway?
The importance of the Battle of Midway was that it was a turning point in the war. The Allies started "island hopping." Where they went from island to island and gained territory back from Japan. And with every island, the Allied forces got closer to Japan.
2. What strategy did the United States adopt in fighting Japan?
The United States developed an offensive strategy. They leapfrogged across the Pacific toward Japan and attacked in heave numbers. Hundreds of thousands of troops started in the Philippines and they were working their way up. The United states used 738 ships in fighting Japan and fought from the water.
3. Why did the Japanese fight so hard on Iwo Jima?
The Japanese fought so hard in Iwo Jima because other than Iwo Jima, Okinawa was the only other island that stood between the United States and Japan. The United States were advancing quickly and Japan mad a desperate attempt to stop them at Iwo Jima by having 20,700 troops fighting the marines. 6,000 marines died, but only two hundred Japanese were left, the hard fighting did not pay off.

4. Why did the Allies believe Okinawa was a foretaste of an invasion of Japan?
They believed it was a foretaste of an invasion of Japan because so many lives were lost. Churchill predicted the cost would be one million American lives and half that number of British lives. Okinawa was the closest thing to Japan and it was near the same so they thought the battles would be alike.



5. What was the Manhattan Project?
The Manhattan Project was the development of the atomic bomb. More than 600,000 Americans were involved in the project, it was tested in New Mexico for the first time, and it worked.


6. Ultimately, why did President Truman decide to drop atomic bombs on Japan?
To bring an end to the war. Truman did not hesitate on dropping the bombs and he claimed that it was his decision and he had no doubts about it.