What is pacific theater

The Japanese caused more damage, but the battle was the first time the Allies were able to stop an enemy advance. On June 4th, , the two navies fought again, this time in the Battle of Midway. During the war in the Pacific, the United States and Japan fought in almost twenty different battles. The bloodiest were the battles fought on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Though the United States won the battle of Okinawa, the American government decided that to keep fighting Japan would cause too many additional deaths. To try and end the war, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The blasts killed over , people and left behind radiation that affected the cities for years after.

On August 15th, , Japan surrendered and, on September 2nd, signed the formal documents to put an end to the war. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer.

If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. Click through this timeline to better understand how the Axis and Allies engaged in conflict in Europe between and Students analyze borders that have changed and others that have remained the same.

Students look for political borders that have changed and others that have remained the same, and compare those to what they know about cultural and physical geography in Europe and in their own state or local area. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. July September 14, US sailors struggle to contain damage from Kamikaze attacks during the US invasion of Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands the islands closest to the Japanese home islands.

May 11, Japanese pilots used the tactic of Kamikaze suicidal dive-bombing attacks on enemy warships in and The "USS Nevada," despite an escort and efforts to fight off a Kamikaze attack, sustained such a hit in early off the coast of Japan.

The impact of Kamikaze attacks decreased during the final months of the war in the Pacific, in part because of an improvement in Allied evasion tactics. Japanese forces took the Philippine islands between December and May In October , US forces began the liberation of the Philippines. The campaign on Luzon, largest and most northern of the islands, began in December This battle footage shows many Japanese soldiers being taken as prisoners of war.

General Douglas MacArthur accepted the surrender on behalf of the Allies.