Key Events in the Pacific PDF

Australia’s involvement in World War II Fellow Australians. It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of the persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war on her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war… There was...

Australia’s involvement in World War II Fellow Australians. It is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of the persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war on her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war… There was never any doubt as to where Great Britain stood in regard to them. There can be no doubt that where Great Britain stands, there stands the people of the entire British world Prime Minister Robert Menzies, 3 September 1939, announcing Australia’s entry into the war against Nazi Germany Australia’s involvement in World War II Loyalty to Britain meant that Australia declared war on Germany alongside Britain in September 1939 However, men did not rush to enlist as they had in 1914. The Labor Party even declared its opposition to Australians serving outside Australian territory. The war was seen as distant and as a European concern However, this attitude changed as Japan became increasingly involved in the war and looked to advance through Asia Australia’s involvement in World War II During the six years of conflict from 1939 to 1945, nearly one million Australians participated in military campaigns against: ○ German and Italian forces in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East ○ Japanese forces in South-East Asia and the Pacific The Australian mainland also came under direct attack when the Japanese bombed towns in northern Australia (including Darwin) and Japanese midget submarines attacked ships in Sydney Harbour Japan’s Expansion in the Pacific During the late 1800s, Japan had become a modern industrial power with a strong army, navy, and air force However, it had very few natural resources needed to power an empire: oil, coal, rubber and iron ore (used to make steel) all had to be imported Japan felt the full extent of the Great Depression from 1929 and its military leadership began to demand expansion in order to secure these resources In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria (in northern China) which was rich in both coal and iron ore Britain and France took little real action: when the LoN complained about the occupation of Manchuria in 1933, Japan simply withdrew from the League Japan’s Expansion in the Pacific In 1937, Japan invaded large areas of mainland China, again with little response from other world powers The US was not willing to use military force against Japan, but in 1941 it did ban oil sales to Japan, which severely hampered Japan’s military campaign in China Japan was an ally of Nazi Germany and the swift success of the Nazis in Europe in 1940 gave Japan an opportunity to claim more territory in South-East Asia (particularly useful for alternative sources of oil) while Europe was distracted (France and the Netherlands had already been defeated by the Nazis and the British were fighting alone) Much of South-East Asia was rapidly occupied by Japan during 1940-42 in Most of Asia had previously been divided into European colonies: East Indies (Indonesia) – Dutch Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) – French Burma (Myanmar), Borneo (Indonesia), Singapore, Malaya (Malaysia) – British The Europeans, busy fighting the Nazis, were not able to protect their colonies from Japan’s aggressive invasions Japan’s rise as a major power This map on the left shows the height of Japanese expansion by 1942 The Two Theatres of War There were two main ‘theatres’ of war (areas where the war took place) In the European theatre, the major Allied Powers (Britain, the USA and the USSR) fought two of the Axis powers, Germany and Italy In the Pacific theatre, the third Axis power Japan, fought Britain, the USA, Australia, China and the Netherlands ‘The Doormat’ By David Low (1933) Summarise the main message of the cartoon in your own Japan’s rise as a major power https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/japans-territorial-expansion- 1931-1942 Read the article and answer the following: 1. Why were the Japanese specifically interested in claiming the Dutch East Indies, British Malaya, and Burma? 2. Describe the initial success of the Japanese conquest of the Pacific 3. Why did the Japanese decide not to invade Australia? 4. Why did Japanese expansion come to an end? Pearl Harbor Knowing that the US would oppose their move towards occupying South-East Asia, the Japanese decided on a pre-emptive attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour (Hawaii) – home to all US warships in the Pacific They believed that knocking out the USA’s naval presence in the Pacific would deter the USA from responding to Japan’s expansion Without declaring war, Japan made a surprise attack on early Sunday morning, 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor The air strike badly damaged or destroyed 17 vessels, eight of which were battleships, and nearly 180 planes 2300 American military personnel were killed The USA’s aircraft carriers were not in-port and so were not damaged (this would prove important later) Japan’s leaders hoped that this major blow to US naval power would make the US reluctant to fight a long war and agree on a settlement favourable to Japan Pearl Harbor However, the attack on Pearl Harbor created a unity of purpose within the American people, which enabled President Roosevelt to revoke the country’s isolationist policy and join the war Immediately after Pearl Harbor, the US declared war on Japan and then Italy and Germany Although the US had to deal with Japanese aggression closer to home, it made an agreement to tackle Germany and Italy in Europe first It sent a large air force to bomb Germany from Britain and thousands of troops in preparation for an Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe Americans united against Japan in response to calls to ‘Remember Pearl Harbor’ ‘Britain can’t save us now’ Prime Minister John Curtin was certain that Japan’s expansion south would eventually result in attacks on Australia’s territory and he called on all Australians to prepare for the struggle ahead In late 1941, the British navy was unable to protect the Pacific (being too busy fighting the Germans in Europe) Australia’s trained troops were all serving overseas, leaving the country defenceless Against Britain’s wishes, Prime Minister John Curtin transferred two AIF divisions from the Middle East to serve closer to home and announced the need for Australia to look to the United States for assistance Summarise the main message of the cartoon in your own ‘Britain can’t save us now’ ‘Britain can’t save us now’ Answer these questions: 1. What do you think is meant by the sentence, ‘Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom’? 2. What does this speech say about future relations between Australia and the USA? War in the Pacific During 1942, Japan appeared to have the upper hand Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces quickly occupied Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island Japan also conquered Burma in the west, and pushed south through French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) and the Dutch East Indies to reach Australia’s doorstep in New Guinea Britain and the USA had seriously underestimated Japan’s military ability The Fall of Singapore The main British base in the Pacific was located in Singapore It was believed that this base was impenetrable and that the British would stop the Japanese from expanding any further south Singapore surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942, and more than 130,000 Allied troops, including 15,000 Australians, became Japanese prisoners of war The fall of Singapore caused great concern in Australia – Singapore had been regarded as almost impossible to invade and strong British presence there had meant that Australia felt protected Now, there was nothing to stop the Japanese advance into Australia The Bombing of Darwin From December 1941, there began an evacuation of women and children from Darwin and surrounding areas in fear of a Japanese attack On 19 February 1942, Japan launched an assault on Darwin Officially, around 250 people were killed, although the real death toll continues to be debated: the government played down the attack to avoid panic By November 1943, Darwin had suffered 64 air raids Other towns in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia were also struck In total, there were 97 airborne attacks on northern Australia and approximately 900 Allied troops and civilians were killed The Bombing of Darwin Contrary to widespread belief at the time, the attacks were not a precursor to an invasion The Japanese were preparing to invade Timor, and anticipated that a disruptive air attack would hinder Darwin’s potential as a base from which the Allies could launch a counter-offensive, and at the same time would damage Australian morale The Japanese also planned to take New Guinea, cutting Australia off from US support Denying Darwin’s ability to act as a base would help achieve that aim The fear of Japanese invasion was prominent in Australia during this time War propaganda used this fear to encourage all Australians to contribute to the war effort