Pacific Theater
There were two major places where World War II took place. These places are sometimes called "theaters" of war.
One theater of World War II was in Europe....remember Germany forcibly took over Poland and France and then attacked England? Well, war also raged in the Pacific Ocean.
This Pacific "theater" included Japan, China, Korea, the Philippines, and many more islands and countries in Southeast Asia.
Most of us know our geography when we look at Hawaii on a map and look West (towards North America) but we don't really know the islands and countries to the East. So, today you will familiarize yourself with the areas of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Japan.
On December 7, 1941 Japan did not just attack Pearl Harbor but also other island countries in the Pacific.
Look the following website. Make sure you click on the white arrow at the bottom of the page so screens change and show you how the battles went down. These are short animations that won't take long to watch so make sure you also read the little bit of text on each page.
Do this interactive Battle of Pearl Harbor.
Check out this map showing how Japan's plan to control the islands in the South Pacific included the Hawaiian Islands.
Watch this video about the Japanese Attack of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This one shows you what a total surprise this attack was to the soldiers stationed at the Harbor.
Watch this short video on the Battle of Iwo Jima.
On December 7, 1941 Japan did not just attack Pearl Harbor but also other island countries in the Pacific.
The following sites look like a lot ... however they will take you a total of fifteen minutes or less so please do them all.
Look the following website. Make sure you click on the white arrow at the bottom of the page so screens change and show you how the battles went down. These are short animations that won't take long to watch so make sure you also read the little bit of text on each page.
Do this interactive Battle of Pearl Harbor.
Check out this map showing how Japan's plan to control the islands in the South Pacific included the Hawaiian Islands.
Watch this video about the Japanese Attack of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This one shows you what a total surprise this attack was to the soldiers stationed at the Harbor.
Watch this short video on the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Comment on the Blog:
There are over 13 island countries in the South Pacific. Can each of you name Island without repeating what someone else has said?
Also, what was the Japanese objective in controlling these territories?
The island I want to mention is Wake Island. Some of the objectives of the Japanese wanting to control these islands in WWII was so they had more places to refuel and attack from.
ReplyDeleteAn island I'm going to mention is Hong Kong. One of the objectives of controlling this island is so they could destroy allied sea power.
ReplyDeletemy favorite island was iwo jima [i dont know id that was an island that we were supposed to say].then then i agree with evans answer also they had more places to go and fight
ReplyDeleteI liked fiji. Some of the objectives were to get closer to Pearl Harbor and attack it with a surprise attack and devastate all of america and send the USA into WWII.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteFun fact about Fiji! I read that Fiji is made up of 333 islands with only 106 of those islands containing human inhabitants! That's less than 1/3!...Anyone want their own island? :D Haha.
DeleteI claim this on!(Follow the link for an image) Lol
http://40.media.tumblr.com/1ae59fbe8e0c664b0ec12cbd8a5572dd/tumblr_n7u9uvFiRB1szqwnwo1_500.jpg
That's a beautiful island! I would totally buy Fiji! It's where I want to go more than anywhere in the world! Now where can I get a ton of money.... Thanks for the info! 😊
DeleteMy island is Guam. The reasons why they wanted control of the territories was:
ReplyDelete1. They needed to build a sea base in Tulagi
2. They wanted to gain superiority over the Allies Navy
3. Port Moresby was a much-needed base. The Allies were racing for it, and Japan attempted to gain it. It was important because any Allied attack north through New Guinea required Port Moresby as a base. Same for Japan; for any attack south through Australia, the Japanese needed Port Moresby. It ultimately failed for Japan.
A island I want to mention is Singapore and how causal some of the people were during Japan's attack, some were in line for the movies! Japan's objective to control theses territories is for more natural resources for themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs for Japan's objectives to take and control these masses of land. There were actually a few reasons! An appearent one would be the fact that they wanted the land for themselves (as the comment above stated) for natural resources, also for more battle ground, and in this case... land was equivalent to power. By having more territory you would literally have more ground over your enemies. They could use this ground for whatever they wanted really. A place to hide, refuel (as Evan said), and build up their army. It was a big step for them!
ReplyDeleteOh! The island I chose is Tahiti. :)
ReplyDeleteThe island i wanted to say was Tulagi. Japan's objective in controlling this island in particular was to set up a seaplane base, but as for the other islands, they had many reasons for controlling them, as previous comments have said, like having more ground to fight on, natural recourses, refueling, and ultimately more power.
ReplyDeleteThe Island I chose was Formosa. The Japanese's main objective was to gain more battle land, and build up their army. In my opinion this was a terrible idea because they had enough land as it was, and it lead to America joining the war and defeating them.
ReplyDeleteThe island I choose is Tuvalu. The Japanese’s main objective was to gain more land and more control over other countries. They could make their army bigger and have more places to launch ships from if they had more territory.
ReplyDeleteThe island I choose is Saipan. And the objective of the Japanese taking over the territories was to get more islands to attack Australia from all around.
ReplyDeleteI choose the Solomon Islands. Japan wanted to use these islands not only to get more territory, but to use them as home bases while fighting the USA. Japan wanted to get control over all the islands so that they could also then make a huge invasion to Australia. I think it was a pretty risky plan for Japan, considering the time they would have to have in order to successfully take over entire islands without some other country opposing them.
ReplyDeleteThe island I choose is "Bora Bora" :)
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese objective in controlling the territories were a few different reasons, but two being that they could extend their power and also have it act as a base to start the invasion into Australia.
They took over these islands to trap Australia and invade it. I chose the island "Ford".
ReplyDelete