Pacific War
Midway's larger struggle
The Pacific War is the theater of World War II fought across the Pacific Ocean and East Asia, primarily between Japan and the Allied powers—especially the United States.
It began with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and ended with Japan's surrender in August 1945 following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The term distinguishes this conflict from the European theater of the same war.
Hawaiian military port attacked 1941
- MidwayFair's entertainment corridor
- GuadalcanalMelanesian island, fierce 1942 fighting
- Iwo JimaJapanese volcanic island battlefield
- OkinawaJapanese island, martial-arts origin
Coral Sea · Bataan · Saipan · Manila · Singapore · New Guinea · Solomon Islands · firebombing
First nuclear-struck city
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
- atomic bombFission-triggered mass destruction device
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
- V-J DayImperial capitulation commemoration
Manhattan Project · USS Missouri · occupation · Tokyo Bay · Enola Gay · Fat Man · Little Boy · unconditional surrender
East Asian archipelago nation
- United StatesNorth American federal republic
- ChinaEast Asian superpower
- AustraliaSouthern Hemisphere continent-country
- PhilippinesSoutheast Asian archipelago nation
Burma · Dutch East Indies · New Zealand · India · Thailand · Indochina · Korea · Taiwan
Warship with flight deck
- battleshipArmored naval capital vessel
- submarineUnderwater naval craft
- destroyerOne that ruins completely
- fleetVehicles under unified command
torpedo · amphibious assault · convoy · kamikaze · USS Enterprise · USS Missouri · PT boat · naval aviation
1937 mass atrocity against Chinese civilians
- comfort womenEuphemism for wartime sex slaves
- POW campsDetention sites for captured combatants
- internment campsFacilities for confining civilians
- war crimes trialsProsecution of combat atrocities
Government debt for combat
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- internmentWartime civilian imprisonment
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
Rosie the Riveter · mobilization · women workers · Manzanar · civil defense · wartime production · morale · blackouts
Pearl Harbor
Hawaiian military port attacked 1941
- MidwayFair's entertainment corridor
- GuadalcanalMelanesian island, fierce 1942 fighting
- Iwo JimaJapanese volcanic island battlefield
Okinawa · Coral Sea · Bataan · Saipan · Manila · Singapore · New Guinea · Solomon Islands · firebombing · atomic bombings
Hiroshima
First nuclear-struck city
- NagasakiSecond city bombed atomically
- atomic bombFission-triggered mass destruction device
- surrenderCease resistance, yield
V-J Day · Manhattan Project · USS Missouri · occupation · Tokyo Bay · Enola Gay · Fat Man · Little Boy · unconditional surrender · demilitarization
Japan
East Asian archipelago nation
- United StatesNorth American federal republic
- ChinaEast Asian superpower
- AustraliaSouthern Hemisphere continent-country
Philippines · Burma · Dutch East Indies · New Zealand · India · Thailand · Indochina · Korea · Taiwan · Indonesia
aircraft carrier
Warship with flight deck
- battleshipArmored naval capital vessel
- submarineUnderwater naval craft
- destroyerOne that ruins completely
fleet · torpedo · amphibious assault · convoy · kamikaze · USS Enterprise · USS Missouri · PT boat · naval aviation · seaplane
Douglas MacArthur
- Hirohito
- Chiang Kai-shekChinese Nationalist leader
Nanking Massacre
1937 mass atrocity against Chinese civilians
- comfort womenEuphemism for wartime sex slaves
- POW campsDetention sites for captured combatants
- internment campsFacilities for confining civilians
war bonds
Government debt for combat
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- internmentWartime civilian imprisonment
Rosie the Riveter · censorship · mobilization · women workers · Manzanar · civil defense · wartime production · morale · blackouts · draft
- naval historybattleships, naval battles, naval history, admiral, battleship
- Asian Warfaresamurai, ninja, katana, shogun, bushido
- Asian WarsKorean War, Vietnam War, Russo-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, Opium Wars
- Imperial JapanEmperor Hirohito, Hirohito, Rising Sun, Meiji, kamikaze
- Japanese Empireimperial expansion, Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, China
- Pacific WarPearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Midway, Okinawa, Guadalcanal
Pacific WarEuropean Theater
WWII's western combat zone
Western Front · Eastern Front · Battle of the Atlantic · Battle of Britain · Operation Barbarossa