INDEPTH: HIROSHIMA ANNIVERSARY
Timeline: The United States and Japan in the Second World War
CBC News Online | August 4, 2005
1930: Tensions rise between Japan and the United States. Japan had suffered economically throughout the 1930s, and sets out to claim parts of the east for its economic benefit. It's first conquest is Manchuria, a part of China. The U.S. responds with a series of trade sanctions against Japan. As Japanese aggression increases, its relationship with the Unites Stated deteriorates.
1936: Japan allies with Nazi Germany to form the Axis Alliance. Italy joins one year later. Details of the alliance state that Japan recognizes the leadership of Germany and Italy in the establishment of a new order in Europe, and in turn Germany and Italy support the Japanese goal of establishing a new order in Asia.
1940: In May, part of the U.S. fleet transfers to its new Pearl Harbor naval base. The base holds part of its fleet as well as a maintenance facility and hospital.
Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese forces attack the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. A total of 2,3000 U.S. soldiers are killed and the Pacific Naval fleet is decimated. Counted in the loss is USS Arizona, a naval ship that sank 10 minutes into the attack, taking 1,300 lives.The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares war on Japan.
Within one week of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan invades the Philippines, Burma and Hong Kong.
Dec. 11, 1941: Germany declares war on the United States.
June, 1942: The United States develops a program to create an atomic bomb. Dubbed The Manhattan Project, the project has a staff of 100,000 and takes three years to complete. The bomb was not initially intended for use on Japan, but was in response to reports of Germany developing one. Germany later decides not to build a bomb, saying the cost will be too high for their government to support. The United States is initially unaware of Germany's decision to end their program.
The Battle of Midway is fought in the Central Pacific. The Japanese planned to seize Midway island and use it as an advance base. Until now, the Japanese claim a series of victories in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific, areas rich in natural resources. The U.S. learns about their plans to attack and launch a surprise counterstrike. The Japanese lose a significant portion of their ships, stopping further expansion of the Japanese Empire in the Pacific. The battle is considered a turning point in the conflict between the United States and Japan.
Feb. 19, 1945: U.S. forces attack and claim Iwo Jima, a volcanic island 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo. It is known as in the longest sustained aerial offensive of the Second World War. The U.S. Army sent 110,000 marines in 880 ships. It took them 40 days to sail to Iwo Jima from Hawaii.
April 12, 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage. Harry S. Truman is sworn in as the 33rd president of the United States.
May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders. VE day is celebrated the next day, signalling the end of the war in Europe. The U.S. ponders a massive invasion of Japan, but fears the potential casualties. Instead, Truman gives clearance for use of an atomic bomb against Japan. Truman justifies using the bomb as a way to end the war and save U.S. lives by avoiding a costly invasion of Japan.
Aug. 6, 1945: The United States attacks Hiroshima, Japan, with an atomic bomb. It destroys all buildings within a three-kilometre radius of the epicentre. Approximately 92,000 people die immediately from the bombing. It is later determined that the bomb and the aftermath had by 1950 taken 200,000 lives.
Aug. 9, 1945: The U.S. Air Force drops a bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. This second bomb has a different chemical makeup than the one dropped three days before. The first bomb, called Little Boy was a uranium -based weapon, and Nagasaki's Fat Man has a plutonium core. The attack on Nagasaki kills over 70,000 people.
Aug. 14, 1945: Japan surrenders unconditionally to the United States.
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