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World War II: Pacific Theater

79 cards · 🇺🇸 English

The Second World War in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to VJ Day.

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When did the Pacific War begin and end?

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1When did the Pacific War begin and end?
7 December 1941 (Attack on Pearl Harbor) to 2 September 1945 (formal Japanese surrender document signed)
2What was the Pacific War?
The theater of World War II fought between Japan and the Allies in East and Southeast Asia, the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and Oceania - geographically the largest theater of the war
3What were the major Allied participants in the Pacific War?
China (since 1937), United States, United Kingdom, British Empire (including Australia, India, New Zealand, Canada), and the Netherlands (Dutch East Indies)
4Who were the main Allied leaders in the Pacific War?
Chiang Kai-shek (China), Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), and Winston Churchill (UK)
5When did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
7 December 1941 (8 December in Asian time zones)
6What were the results of the Pearl Harbor attack?
Eight American battleships knocked out of action, 188 American aircraft destroyed, and 2,403 Americans killed
7What key American assets survived the Pearl Harbor attack?
The three American aircraft carriers were at sea, vital naval infrastructure including Honolulu's submarine base, and signals intelligence units were unscathed
8What was Japan's official name for the Pacific War?
Greater East Asia War (大東亜戦争, Dai Tō-A Sensō), chosen by cabinet decision on 10 December 1941
9What was the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere?
Japan's concept for achieving Asian nations' independence from Western powers through Japanese-led expansion
10When did the Second Sino-Japanese War begin?
1937, with hostilities dating back to Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931
11What was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident?
The event on 7 July 1937 that provoked full-scale war between China and Japan
12What was the Nanjing Massacre?
Atrocities committed after Japan captured Nanjing in mid-December 1937, including rape, murder and torture, with 200,000 to 300,000 civilians and POWs murdered
13What was the Battle of Khalkhin Gol?
In 1939, Japanese forces were defeated by a mixed Soviet and Mongolian force led by Georgy Zhukov, causing Japan to abandon attempts to expand northward
14What was the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact?
A pact signed in April 1941 under which the Soviet Union remained neutral until August 1945 when it invaded Manchuria
15What was the Three Alls Policy?
'Kill all, Burn all, Loot all' - Japan's retaliation policy in occupied areas after the Chinese Hundred Regiments Offensive in 1940, killing at least 2.7 million civilians
16What was the ABCD line?
Japanese media term for embargoes by American-British-Chinese-Dutch powers that stopped selling oil, iron ore, and steel to Japan
17Why were the embargoes crucial to Japan?
Imported oil made up about 80% of Japan's domestic consumption; without it, Japan's economy would grind to a halt
18What was Japan's Southern Plan?
The plan to seize economic resources in the Dutch East Indies and Malaya to alleviate the effects of the Allied embargo
19What was Japan's strategic belief about defeating the United States?
Japan believed total military victory was impossible; instead, rapid aggressive conquest would force the US to agree to a negotiated peace recognizing Japanese hegemony in Asia
20What territories did Japan attack on 7-8 December 1941?
Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand
21When did Hong Kong fall to Japan?
25 December 1941, after being attacked on 8 December
22What major British warships were sunk by Japanese air attack?
The battlecruiser HMS Repulse and battleship HMS Prince of Wales, sunk off Malaya on 10 December 1941
23When did Singapore fall to Japan?
15 February 1942, with about 130,000 Indian, British, Australian and Dutch personnel becoming Japanese prisoners of war
24What was ABDACOM?
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command - a supreme command for Allied forces in Southeast Asia established on 1 January 1942, led by British General Archibald Wavell
25What was the Bombing of Darwin?
A Japanese air raid on Darwin, Australia on 19 February 1942 that killed at least 243 people - the first foreign attack on the Australian mainland
26What was the Battle of the Java Sea?
In late February and early March 1942, the IJN defeated the main ABDA naval force under Admiral Karel Doorman
27What happened during the Indian Ocean Raid?
In March-April 1942, a Japanese carrier force attacked British Royal Navy bases in Ceylon, sank HMS Hermes, and forced the Royal Navy to withdraw to the western Indian Ocean
28When did Japan occupy Rangoon (Yangon)?
8 March 1942, as part of the Burma campaign
29What was the Burma Road?
The western Allies' supply line to Chinese Nationalist troops, cut by Japanese capture of Lashio
30When did the Philippines fall to Japan?
Bataan fell on 9 April 1942; Corregidor surrendered on 5-6 May 1942; remaining forces in southern Philippines surrendered on 9 May 1942