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131-627: Second Sino-Japanese War Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II . The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the Soviet declaration of war , and the invasion of Manchuria . The operation had two parts: Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet. Set to begin in November 1945, Operation Olympic

262-730: A full-scale battle in which Beijing and its port city of Tianjin fell to invading Japanese forces (July–August 1937). , On 11 July, in accordance with the Goso conference, the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff authorized the deployment of an infantry division from the Chōsen Army , two combined brigades from the Kwantung Army and an air regiment composed of 18 squadrons as reinforcements to Northern China. By 20 July, total Japanese military strength in

393-738: A campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare . In November 1939, Chinese nationalist forces launched a large scale winter offensive , and in August 1940, communist forces launched the Hundred Regiments Offensive in central China. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States. The US increased its aid to China under the Lend-Lease Act , becoming its main financial and military supporter. With Burma cut off,

524-540: A communist victory and the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In China, the war is most commonly known as the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ), and shortened to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" ( Chinese : 抗日 ) or the "War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 抗戰 ). It

655-488: A debate developed" amongst Western Allied political and military leaders, "over the size, mission, equipment, and support of these contingents". Following negotiations, it was decided that Coronet would include a joint Commonwealth Corps , made up of infantry divisions from the Australian, New Zealand , British and Canadian armies. Reinforcements would have been available from those countries, as well as other parts of

786-719: A demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing-Tianjin region. Japan aimed to create another buffer zone between Manchukuo and the Chinese Nationalist government in Nanjing. Japan increasingly exploited China's internal conflicts to reduce the strength of its fractious opponents. Even years after the Northern Expedition, the political power of the Nationalist government was limited to just

917-727: A force of 500–1,000 aircraft, including units dedicated to aerial refueling . Planning was later scaled back to 22 squadrons and, by the time the war ended, to 10 squadrons: between 120 and 150 Avro Lancasters / Lincolns , operating out of airbases on Okinawa. Tiger Force was to have included the elite 617 Squadron , also known as "The Dambusters", which carried out specialist bombing operations. Initially, US planners also did not plan to use any non-US Allied ground forces in Operation Downfall. Had reinforcements been needed at an early stage of Olympic, they would have been diverted from US forces being assembled for Coronet—for which there

1048-757: A joint Canadian–British–American planning team had produced a plan ("Appreciation and Plan for the Defeat of Japan") which did not call for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands until 1947–48. The American Joint Chiefs of Staff believed that prolonging the war to such an extent was dangerous for national morale. Instead, at the Quebec conference, the Combined Chiefs of Staff agreed that Japan should be forced to surrender not more than one year after Germany's surrender . The United States Navy urged

1179-541: A realistic prospect of winning the war, Japan's leaders believed they could make the cost of invading and occupying the Home Islands too high for the Allies to accept, which would lead to some sort of armistice rather than total defeat. The Japanese plan for defeating the invasion was called Operation Ketsugō (ja) ( 決号作戦 , ketsugō sakusen ) ("Operation: Decisive" or "Final Battle"). The Japanese planned to commit

1310-788: A result of Depression -era tariffs ), and a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in Siberia . As a result, the Japanese Army was widely prevalent in Manchuria immediately following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, where Japan gained significant territory in Manchuria. As a result of their strengthened position, by 1915 Japan had negotiated a significant amount of economic privilege in

1441-536: A result of its victory at the end of the war. Japan had also attempted to annex the Liaodong Peninsula following the war, though was forced to return it to China following an intervention by France , Germany , and Russia . The Qing dynasty was on the brink of collapse due to internal revolts and the imposition of the unequal treaties , while Japan had emerged as a great power through its modernization measures. In 1905, Japan successfully defeated

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1572-434: A similar number wounded per sortie —and Kyūshū was likely to be worse. To attack the ships off Okinawa, Japanese planes had to fly long distances over open water; to attack the ships off Kyūshū, they could fly overland and then short distances out to the landing fleets. Gradually, intelligence learned that the Japanese were devoting all their aircraft to the kamikaze mission and taking effective measures to conserve them until

1703-507: A staging ground and a valuable airbase for Operation Coronet. After the name Operation Olympic was compromised by being sent out in unsecured code, the name Operation Majestic was adopted. Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu at the Kantō Plain south of the capital, was to begin on "Y-Day", which was tentatively scheduled for March 1, 1946. Coronet would have been even larger than Olympic, with up to 45 U.S. divisions assigned for both

1834-627: A strong possibility had the Germans proved too powerful on the French coast. In the Mediterranean (a theatre on which Churchill was very keen) they resolved to concentrate more force to remove Italy from the alliance of Axis powers and to occupy it along with Corsica . Churchill and Roosevelt made it clear that they would only accept unconditional surrender from Italy, with a complete and immediate cessation of fighting. News came through of

1965-779: A term used mainly in foreign and Chinese narratives. The origins of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced back to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, in which China, then under the rule of the Qing dynasty, was defeated by Japan and forced to cede Taiwan and recognize the full and complete independence of Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki . Japan also annexed the Senkaku Islands , which Japan claims were uninhabited, in early 1895 as

2096-648: A testing zone for advanced biplane and new-generation monoplane combat-aircraft designs. The introduction of the advanced A5M "Claude" fighters into the Shanghai-Nanjing theater of operations, beginning on 18 September 1937, helped the Japanese achieve a certain level of air superiority . However the few experienced Chinese veteran pilots, as well as several Chinese-American volunteer fighter pilots, including Maj. Art Chin , Maj. John Wong Pan-yang , and Capt. Chan Kee-Wong, even in their older and slower biplanes, proved more than able to hold their own against

2227-515: A total of 900,000 men. Although the Japanese were able to muster new soldiers, equipping them was more difficult. By August, the Japanese Army had the equivalent of 65 divisions in the homeland but only enough equipment for 40 and ammunition for 30. The Japanese did not formally decide to stake everything on the outcome of the Battle of Kyūshū, but they concentrated their assets to such a degree that there would be little left in reserve. By one estimate,

2358-520: Is a period of "total" war. This view of a fourteen-year war has political significance because it provides more recognition for the role of northeast China in the War of Resistance. On the night of 7 July 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops exchanged fire in the vicinity of the Marco Polo (or Lugou) Bridge , a crucial access-route to Beijing. What began as confused, sporadic skirmishing soon escalated into

2489-895: Is known in China as the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression ( simplified Chinese : 抗日战争 ; traditional Chinese : 抗日戰爭 ). On 18 September 1931, the Japanese staged the Mukden incident , a false flag event fabricated to justify their invasion of Manchuria and establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo . This is sometimes marked as the beginning of the war. From 1931 to 1937, China and Japan engaged in skirmishes, including in Shanghai and in Northern China. Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces, respectively led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong , had fought each other in

2620-621: Is most commonly used because of its perceived objectivity. When the invasion of China proper began in earnest in July 1937 near Beijing , the government of Japan used "The North China Incident" (Japanese: 北支事變/華北事變 , romanized:  Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen ), and with the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai the following month, it was changed to "The China Incident" (Japanese: 支那事變 , romanized:  Shina Jihen ). The word "incident" (Japanese: 事變 , romanized:  jihen )

2751-657: The Central Plains War broke out across China, involving regional commanders who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition, and the Nanjing government under Chiang. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) previously fought openly against the Nanjing government after the Shanghai massacre of 1927 , and they continued to expand during this protracted civil war. The Kuomintang government in Nanjing decided to focus their efforts on suppressing

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2882-667: The Chinese Civil War since 1927. In late 1933, Chiang Kai-shek encircled the Chinese Communists in an attempt to finally destroy them, forcing the Communists into the Long March , resulting in the Communists losing around 90% of their men. As a Japanese invasion became imminent, Chiang still refused to form a united front before he was placed under house arrest by his subordinates who forced him to form

3013-818: The German Empire 's sphere of influence in Shandong province, leading to nationwide anti-Japanese protests and mass demonstrations in China. The country remained fragmented under the Beiyang Government and was unable to resist foreign incursions. For the purpose of unifying China and defeating the regional warlords, the Kuomintang (KMT) in Guangzhou launched the Northern Expedition from 1926 to 1928 with limited assistance from

3144-694: The Mariana Islands . Following the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, plans were also made to transfer some of the heavy bomber groups of the veteran Eighth Air Force to airbases on Okinawa to conduct strategic bombing raids in coordination with the Twentieth. The Eighth was to upgrade their B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators to B-29 Superfortresses (the group received its first B-29 on August 8, 1945). In total, General Henry Arnold estimated that

3275-855: The Mukden incident in September 1931. Japanese soldiers set off a bomb on the Southern Manchurian Railroad in order to provoke an opportunity to act in "self defense" and invade outright. Japan charged that its rights in Manchuria, which had been established as a result of its victory in 1905 at the end of the Russo-Japanese War , had been systematically violated and there were "more than 120 cases of infringement of rights and interests, interference with business, boycott of Japanese goods, unreasonable taxation, detention of individuals, confiscation of properties, eviction, demand for cessation of business, assault and battery, and

3406-578: The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s . In addition, due to China's fractured political status, Japan often claimed that China was no longer a recognizable political entity on which war could be declared. In Japanese propaganda , the invasion of China became a crusade (Japanese: 聖戦 , romanized:  seisen ), the first step of the "eight corners of the world under one roof" slogan (Japanese: 八紘一宇 , romanized:  Hakkō ichiu ). In 1940, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe launched

3537-471: The New Guinea and Borneo campaigns , should be appointed. The war ended before the details of the corps were finalized. Figures for Coronet exclude values for both the immediate strategic reserve of 3 divisions as well as the 17 division strategic reserve in the U.S. and any British/Commonwealth forces. Meanwhile, the Japanese had their own plans. Initially, they were concerned about an invasion during

3668-495: The Quebec Agreement , stating that the nuclear technology would never be used against one another, that they would not use it against third parties without the consent of one another, but also that Tube Alloys would not be discussed with third parties. Canada, although not being represented at the particular meeting, played a key role in this agreement as it was a major source of uranium and heavy water, both essential in

3799-657: The Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part of World War II , and often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. It was the largest Asian war in the 20th century and has been described as "the Asian Holocaust ", in reference to the scale of Japanese war crimes against Chinese civilians. It

3930-531: The Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War , gaining Tailen and southern Sakhalin and establishing a protectorate over Korea. In 1911, factions of the Qing Army uprose against the government, staging a revolution that swept across China's southern provinces. The Qing responded by appointing Yuan Shikai , commander of the loyalist Beiyang Army , as temporary prime minister in order to subdue

4061-647: The Second United Front in late 1936 in order to resist the Japanese invasion together. The full-scale war began on 7 July 1937 with the Marco Polo Bridge incident near Beijing , which prompted a full-scale Japanese invasion of the rest of China. The Japanese captured the capital of Nanjing in 1937 and perpetrated the Nanjing Massacre . After failing to stop the Japanese capture of Wuhan in 1938, then China's de facto capital at

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4192-668: The Shanghai French Concession , areas which were outside of China's control due to the treaty port system. Japan moved into these areas after its 1941 declaration of war against the United States and the United Kingdom. Building on the hard-won victory in Shanghai, the IJA advanced on and captured the KMT capital city of Nanjing (December 1937) and Northern Shanxi (September – November 1937). Upon

4323-603: The Soviet Union . The National Revolutionary Army (NRA) formed by the Kuomintang swept through southern and central China until it was checked in Shandong, where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the Jinan incident of 1928, during which time the Japanese military killed several Chinese officials and fired artillery shells into Jinan. According to

4454-731: The Taisei Yokusankai . When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced by " Greater East Asia War " (Japanese: 大東亞戰爭 , romanized:  Daitōa Sensō ). Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents, the word Shina is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions like "The Japan–China Incident" (Japanese: 日華事變/日支事變 , romanized:  Nikka Jiken/Nisshi Jiken ), which were used by media as early as

4585-531: The U.S. Army Air Forces ). At the time, the development of the atomic bomb was a very closely guarded secret (not even then-Vice President Harry Truman knew of its existence until he became president), known only to a few top officials outside the Manhattan Project (and to the Soviet espionage apparatus, which had managed to infiltrate agents into, or recruit agents from within the program, despite

4716-904: The United States Army Air Forces airlifted material over the Himalayas . In 1944, Japan launched Operation Ichi-Go , the invasion of Henan and Changsha . In 1945, the Chinese Expeditionary Force resumed its advance in Burma and completed the Ledo Road linking India to China. China launched large counteroffensives in South China and repulsed a failed Japanese invasion of West Hunan and recaptured Japanese occupied regions of Guangxi . Japan formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, following

4847-414: The United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific (USASTAF)—a formation which comprised the Eighth and Twentieth air forces, as well as the British Tiger Force . USASTAF and Tiger Force were to remain active through Operation Coronet. The Twentieth Air Force was to have continued its role as the main Allied strategic bomber force used against the Japanese home islands, operating from airfields in

4978-426: The abdomen ." They were expected to serve as a "second defense line" during the Allied invasion, and to conduct guerrilla warfare in urban areas and mountains. The Japanese command intended to organize its Army personnel according to the following plan: US military intelligence initially estimated the number of Japanese aircraft to be around 2,500. The Okinawa experience was bad for the US—almost two fatalities and

5109-442: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , Soviet declaration of war and subsequent invasions of Manchukuo and Korea . The war resulted in the deaths of around 20 million people, mostly Chinese civilians. China was recognized as one of the Big Four Allies , regained all territories lost, and became one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . The Chinese Civil War resumed in 1946, ending with

5240-453: The fall of Sicily to Allied forces, an invasion that had taken just 38 days. It was then decided that an invasion of Italy would begin on September 3, 1943. However, an armistice was signed that same day , which officially put Italy out of the war. There were discussions about improving the coordination of efforts by the Americans, British, and Canadians to develop an atomic bomb . Churchill and Roosevelt, without Canadian input, signed

5371-430: The 18 September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria marks the start of the War of Resistance. Although not the conventional Western view, British historian Rana Mitter describes this Chinese trend of historical analysis as "perfectly reasonable". In 2017, the Chinese government officially announced that it would adopt this view. Under this interpretation, the 1931–1937 period is viewed as the "partial" war, while 1937–1945

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5502-417: The 1921 and 1927 Imperial Eastern Region Conferences reconfirmed Japan's commitment to be the dominant power in the Northeast. The 1929 Red Army victory shook that policy to the core and reopened the Manchurian problem. By 1930, the Kwantung Army realized they faced a Red Army that was only growing stronger. The time to act was drawing near and Japanese plans to conquer the Northeast were accelerated. In 1930,

5633-401: The 1930s. The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not commonly used in Japan as the China it fought a war against in 1894 to 1895 was led by the Qing dynasty , and thus is called the Qing-Japanese War (Japanese: 日清戦争 , romanized:  Nisshin–Sensō ), rather than the First Sino-Japanese War . Another term for the second war between Japan and China is the "Japanese invasion of China",

5764-454: The 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria . According to historian Rana Mitter , historians in China are unhappy with the blanket revision, and (despite sustained tensions) the Republic of China did not consider itself to be in an ongoing war with Japan over these six years. It is also referred to as part of the "Global Anti-Fascist War". In Japan, nowadays, the name "Japan–China War" ( Japanese : 日中戦争 , romanized :  Nitchū Sensō )

5895-399: The 1937 " Sword March ", which—with slightly reworked lyrics—became the National Revolutionary Army's standard marching cadence and popularized the racial epithet guizi to describe the Japanese invaders. The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo, content with the gains acquired in northern China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, initially showed reluctance to escalate

6026-422: The Beijing-Tianjin area exceeded 180,000 personnel. The Japanese gave Sung and his troops "free passage" before moving in to pacify resistance in areas surrounding Beijing (then Beiping) and Tianjin. After 24 days of combat, the Chinese 29th Army was forced to withdraw. The Japanese captured Beijing and the Taku Forts at Tianjin on 29 and 30 July respectively, thus concluding the Beijing-Tianjin campaign. However,

6157-412: The Chinese earlier in the war: Second Sino-Japanese War [REDACTED] China [REDACTED]   Japan [REDACTED] 14,000,000 total [REDACTED] 4,100,000 total Second Sino-Japanese War Taishō period Shōwa period Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between

6288-400: The Chinese Communists through the Encirclement Campaigns , following the policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" (Chinese: 攘外必先安內 ). The internecine warfare in China provided excellent opportunities for Japan, which saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excluded from the markets of many Western countries as

6419-401: The Chinese coast, and in the Yellow Sea area. Tactical air support was to be the responsibility of the Fifth , Seventh , and Thirteenth Air Forces . These were responsible for attacking Japanese airfields and transportation arteries on Kyushu and Southern Honshu (e.g. the Kanmon Tunnel ) and for gaining and maintaining air superiority over the beaches. The task of strategic bombing fell on

6550-469: The Chinese to deploy troops in their own city. In Manchukuo there was an ongoing campaign to pacify the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies that arose from widespread outrage over the policy of non-resistance to Japan. On 15 April 1932, the Chinese Soviet Republic led by the Communists declared war on Japan. In 1933, the Japanese attacked the Great Wall region. The Tanggu Truce established in its aftermath, gave Japan control of Rehe Province , as well as

6681-459: The Commonwealth Corps, a combined Commonwealth fleet should be led by Vice-Admiral Sir William Tennant , and that—as Commonwealth air units would be dominated by the RAAF – the Air Officer Commanding should be Australian. However, the Australian government questioned the appointment of an officer with no experience in fighting the Japanese, such as Keightley and suggested that Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead , an Australian who had been carrying out

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6812-508: The Commonwealth. However, MacArthur blocked proposals to include an Indian Army division because of differences in language, organization, composition, equipment, training and doctrine. He also recommended that the corps be organized along the lines of a U.S. corps, should use only U.S. equipment and logistics, and should train in the U.S. for six months before deployment; these suggestions were accepted. The British Government suggested that: Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Keightley should command

6943-423: The IJN still maintained a fleet of thousands of warplanes and possessed nearly 2 million personnel in the Home Islands, ensuring it a large role in the coming defensive operation. In addition, Japan had about 100 Kōryū -class midget submarines , 300 smaller Kairyū -class midget submarines, 120 Kaiten manned torpedoes , and 2,412 Shin'yō suicide motorboats. Unlike the larger ships, these, together with

7074-489: The Japanese Army had been given orders not to advance further than the Yongding River. In a sudden volte-face , the Konoe government's foreign minister opened negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek's government in Nanjing and stated: "Japan wants Chinese cooperation, not Chinese land." Nevertheless, negotiations failed to move further. The Ōyama Incident on 9 August escalated the skirmishes and battles into full scale warfare. The 29th Army's resistance (and poor equipment) inspired

7205-465: The Japanese intercepted most of the attack with A2N and A4N fighters from the aircraft carriers Hosho and Ryujo , shooting down several of the Chinese planes while losing a single A4N in the dogfight with Lt. Huang Xinrui in his P-26/281; the Japanese Army reinforcements succeeded in landing in northern Shanghai. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) ultimately committed over 300,000 troops, along with numerous naval vessels and aircraft, to capture

7336-498: The Japanese military in the Home Islands amounted to 4,335,500, of whom 2,372,700 were in the Army and 1,962,800 in the Navy. The buildup of Japanese troops on Kyūshū led American war planners, most importantly General George Marshall, to consider drastic changes to Olympic, or replacing it with a different invasion plan. Fears of "an Okinawa from one end of Japan to the other" encouraged the Allies to consider unconventional weapons, including chemical warfare. Widespread chemical warfare

7467-468: The Japanese strongholds in Shanghai, leading to bitter street fighting. In an attack on the Japanese cruiser Izumo , Kuomintang planes accidentally bombed the Shanghai International Settlement , which led to more than 3,000 civilian deaths. In the three days from 14 August through 16, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sent many sorties of the then-advanced long-ranged G3M medium-heavy land-based bombers and assorted carrier-based aircraft with

7598-415: The Japanese-backed East Hebei Autonomous Council and the Hebei–Chahar Political Council were established. There in the empty space of Chahar the Mongol military government was formed on 12 May 1936. Japan provided all the necessary military and economic aid. Afterwards Chinese volunteer forces continued to resist Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan . Some Chinese historians believe

7729-406: The League of Nations. No country took action against Japan beyond tepid censure. From 1931 until summer 1937, the Nationalist Army under Chiang Kai-shek did little to oppose Japanese encroachment into China. Incessant fighting followed the Mukden Incident. In 1932, Chinese and Japanese troops fought the January 28 Incident battle. This resulted in the demilitarization of Shanghai , which forbade

7860-409: The Navy's losses at Okinawa. Allied counter- kamikaze preparations were known as the Big Blue Blanket . This involved adding more fighter squadrons to the carriers in place of torpedo and dive bombers , and converting B-17s into airborne radar pickets in a manner similar to present-day AWACS . Nimitz planned a pre-invasion feint, sending a fleet to the invasion beaches a couple of weeks before

7991-464: The Quebec Citadelle was important. Sgt. Maj. Émile Couture (then 25 years of age) of the Canadian Army was responsible for cleaning the offices at both of these locations after the Conference had ended. Couture found a leather portfolio with a gold inscription "Churchill-Roosevelt, Quebec Conference, 1943." on the exterior and kept it as a souvenir not realizing that it contained nearly complete plans for Operation Overlord . That evening Couture discovered

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8122-502: The area of the Yangtze River Delta . Other sections of China were essentially in the hands of local Chinese warlords. Japan sought various Chinese collaborators and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. This policy was called the Specialization of North China ( 華北特殊化 ; huáběitèshūhùa ), more commonly known as the North China Autonomous Movement. The northern provinces affected by this policy were Chahar , Suiyuan , Hebei , Shanxi , and Shandong. This Japanese policy

8253-443: The atomic bomb. It was decided that operations in the Balkans should be limited to supplying guerrillas , whereas operations against Japan would be intensified in order to exhaust Japanese resources, cut their communications lines, and secure forward bases from which the Japanese mainland could be attacked. In addition to the strategic discussions, which were communicated to the Soviet Union and to Chiang Kai-shek in China ,

8384-413: The battle. An Army estimate in May was 3,391 planes; in June, 4,862; in August, 5,911. A July Navy estimate, abandoning any distinction between training and combat aircraft, was 8,750; in August, 10,290. By the time the war ended, the Japanese actually possessed some 12,700 aircraft in the Home Islands, roughly half kamikazes . Ketsu plans for Kyushu envisioned committing nearly 9,000 aircraft according to

8515-510: The beaches of the Kantō Plain (both southwest and southeast of Tokyo ) were realistic invasion zones. The Allies decided to launch a two-stage invasion. Operation Olympic would attack southern Kyūshū. Airbases would be established, which would give cover for Operation Coronet, the attack on Tokyo Bay . While the geography of Japan was known, the U.S. military planners had to estimate the defending forces that they would face. Based on intelligence available early in 1945, their assumptions included

8646-452: The bomb tonnage dropped in the Pacific Theater by USAAF aircraft alone would exceed 1,050,000 tons in 1945 and 3,150,000 tons in 1946, excluding the blast yields of nuclear weapons. Before the main invasion, the offshore islands of Tanegashima , Yakushima , and the Koshikijima Islands were to be taken, starting on X−5. The invasion of Okinawa had demonstrated the value of establishing secure anchorages close at hand, for ships not needed off

8777-420: The buildings. First Quebec Conference Although Churchill suggested that Mackenzie King be involved in all discussions, Roosevelt vetoed the idea owing to concern that future conferences would be burdened by all of the Allied nations demanding seats. As a result, Mackenzie King's hospitality was almost purely for ceremonial purposes. Joseph Stalin , leader of the Soviet Union , had been invited to join

8908-404: The capture of Nanjing, Japanese committed massive war atrocities including mass murder and rape of Chinese civilians after 13 December 1937, which has been referred to as the Nanjing Massacre . Over the next several weeks, Japanese troops perpetrated numerous mass executions and tens of thousands of rapes. The army looted and burned the surrounding towns and the city, destroying more than a third of

9039-411: The city's large foreign community and increase China's foreign support. On 13 August 1937, Kuomintang soldiers attacked Japanese Marine positions in Shanghai, with Japanese army troops and marines in turn crossing into the city with naval gunfire support at Zhabei , leading to the Battle of Shanghai. On 14 August, Chinese forces under the command of Zhang Zhizhong were ordered to capture or destroy

9170-402: The city. After more than three months of intense fighting, their casualties far exceeded initial expectations. On 26 October, the IJA captured Dachang, a key strong-point within Shanghai, and on 5 November, additional reinforcements from Japan landed in Hangzhou Bay. Finally, on 9 November, the NRA began a general retreat. Japan did not immediately occupy the Shanghai International Settlement or

9301-666: The combat effectiveness of many units. The Australian government had asked at an early stage for the inclusion of an Australian Army infantry division in the first wave (Olympic). This was rejected by U.S. commanders and even the initial plans for Coronet, according to U.S. historian John Ray Skates, did not envisage that units from Commonwealth or other Allied armies would be landed on the Kantō Plain in 1946. The first official "plans indicated that assault, followup, and reserve units would all come from US forces". By mid-1945—when plans for Coronet were being reworked—many other Allied countries had, according to Skates, "offered ground forces, and

9432-590: The conference also issued a joint statement on Palestine , intended to calm tensions as the British occupation was becoming increasingly untenable. The conference also condemned German atrocities in Poland . In the Pacific theater the conference decided to bypass and isolate Rabaul rather than proceed with the original plan of taking Rabaul. This decision fulfilled General Douglas MacArthur's plan to neutralize

9563-451: The conference, but he did not attend for military reasons. The Allies agreed to begin discussions for the planning of the invasion of France , codenamed Operation Overlord , in a secret report by the Combined Chiefs of Staff . It was agreed that Overlord would commence on May 1, 1944, but this was subsequently disregarded, and a later date was finalised. However, Overlord was not the only option; for example, Operation Jupiter remained

9694-563: The conflict into a full-scale war. Following the shooting of two Japanese officers who were attempting to enter the Hongqiao military airport on 9 August 1937, the Japanese demanded that all Chinese forces withdraw from Shanghai; the Chinese outright refused to meet this demand. In response, both the Chinese and the Japanese marched reinforcements into the Shanghai area. Chiang concentrated his best troops north of Shanghai in an effort to impress

9825-606: The contents of the portfolio and, realizing the extremely sensitive nature of those documents, hid the portfolio under his mattress until he could return the portfolio in the morning. Couture was investigated by Scotland Yard and the FBI to ensure none of the information had been leaked. At the Second Quebec Conference Couture was awarded the British Empire Medal for his silence though it

9956-516: The country. China was reduced to a fractured state. As a result, China's prosperity began to wither and its economy declined. This instability presented an opportunity for nationalistic politicians in Japan to press for territorial expansion. In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to extort further political and commercial privilege from China, which was accepted by the regime of Yuan Shikai. Following World War I , Japan acquired

10087-618: The country. Yuan's attempts at restoring the monarchy triggered the National Protection War , and Yuan Shikai was overthrown after only a few months. In the aftermath of Shikai's death in June 1916, control of China fell into the hands of the Beiyang Army leadership. The Beiyang government was a civilian government in name, but in practice it was a military dictatorship with a different warlord controlling each province of

10218-491: The destroyers and fleet submarines, were expected to see extensive action defending the shores, with a view to destroying about 60 Allied transports. The Navy trained a unit of frogmen to serve as suicide bombers, the Fukuryu . They were to be armed with contact-fuzed mines , and to dive under landing craft and blow them up. An inventory of mines was anchored to the sea bottom off each potential invasion beach for their use by

10349-473: The entire population of Japan to resisting the invasion, and from June 1945 onward, a propaganda campaign calling for "The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million" commenced. The main message of "The Glorious Death of One Hundred Million" campaign was that it was "glorious to die for the holy emperor of Japan, and every Japanese man, woman, and child should die for the Emperor when the Allies arrived". Although it

10480-545: The expectation of destroying the Chinese Air Force . However, the Imperial Japanese Navy encountered unexpected resistance from the defending Chinese Curtiss Hawk II / Hawk III and P-26/281 Peashooter fighter squadrons; suffering heavy (50%) losses from the defending Chinese pilots (14 August was subsequently commemorated by the KMT as China's Air Force Day ). The skies of China had become

10611-541: The fall of 1944, which would leave just Japan remaining among the Axis powers. Following the conference, Churchill was on holiday at a fishing camp and then, on August 31, 1943, delivered a radio address before travelling by a special train that was going to Washington, D.C., to resume talks with Roosevelt. Given the highly secret topic under discussion at the conference, security at the Château Frontenac and

10742-574: The fire-bombing campaign against Japanese cities and the blockade of food and supplies until the Japanese surrendered. However, General Marshall argued that forcing surrender that way might take several years, if ever. Accordingly, Marshall and United States Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox concluded the Americans would have to invade Japan to end the war, regardless of casualties. Despite the shattering damage it had absorbed by this stage of

10873-584: The following sequence: The Japanese planned to commit the majority of their air forces to action within 10 days after the Allied fleet's arrival off Kyūshū. They hoped that at least 15 to 20% (or even up to a half) of the US transport ships would be destroyed before disembarkation. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey subsequently estimated that if the Japanese managed 5,000 kamikaze sorties, they could have sunk around 90 ships and damaged another 900, roughly triple

11004-416: The following: Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyūshū, was to begin on "X-Day", which was scheduled for November 1, 1945. The combined Allied naval armada would have been the largest ever assembled, including 42 aircraft carriers , 24 battleships , and 400 destroyers and destroyer escorts . Fourteen U.S. divisions and a "division-equivalent" (two regimental combat teams ) were scheduled to take part in

11135-834: The forces in Kyūshū had 40% of all the ammunition in the Home Islands. In addition, the Japanese had organized the Volunteer Fighting Corps , which included all healthy men aged 15 to 60 and women 17 to 40 for a total of 28 million people, for combat support and, later, combat jobs. Weapons, training and uniforms were generally lacking: many were armed with nothing better than antiquated firearms, molotov cocktails , longbows , swords, knives, bamboo or wooden spears, and even clubs and truncheons: they were expected to make do with what they had. One mobilized high school girl, Yukiko Kasai, found herself issued an awl and told, "Even killing one American soldier will do. ... You must aim for

11266-487: The heavily fortified fortress of Rabaul in New Britain . MacArthur's Operation Cartwheel led to the creation of a de facto prisoner-of-war camp of over 100,000 Japanese troops who were cut off from the rest of their forces. It was clear that eliminating Italy from the war was the Allies' main priority; this was expected to be done by the end of 1943. Following this, the next hope was that Germany would be defeated by

11397-412: The impressment of wood and fabric airframe training aircraft into the kamikaze role which would have been difficult for Allied radar systems of the time to detect and track), they hoped to raise that to one for six by overwhelming the US defenses with large numbers of kamikaze attacks within a period of hours. The Japanese estimated that the planes would sink more than 400 ships; since they were training

11528-807: The initial landing and follow-up (The Overlord invasion of Normandy , by comparison, deployed 12 divisions in the initial landings.). In the initial stage, the First Army would have invaded at Kujūkuri Beach , on the Bōsō Peninsula , while the Eighth Army invaded at Hiratsuka , on Sagami Bay ; these armies would have comprised 25 divisions between them. Later, a follow-up force of up to 20 additional U.S. divisions and up to 5 or more British Commonwealth divisions would have landed as reinforcements. The Allied forces would then have driven north and inland, encircling Tokyo and pressing on toward Nagano. Olympic

11659-716: The initial landings. Using Okinawa as a staging base, the objective would have been to seize the southern portion of Kyūshū. This area would then be used as a further staging point to attack Honshu in Operation Coronet. Olympic was also to include a deception plan, known as Operation Pastel . Pastel was designed to convince the Japanese that the Joint Chiefs had rejected the notion of a direct invasion and instead were going to attempt to encircle and bombard Japan. This would require capturing bases in Formosa , along

11790-430: The invasion planners assumed that the Americans would outnumber the Japanese by roughly three to one. In early 1945, Miyazaki was virtually undefended, while Ariake, with its good nearby harbor, was heavily defended. The invasion was not intended to conquer the entire island, just the southernmost third of it, as indicated by the dashed line on the map labeled "general limit of northern advance". Southern Kyūshū would offer

11921-472: The invasion, and air strength had been increasing in preparation for the all-out assault on Japan. In preparation for the invasion, an air campaign against Japanese airfields and transportation arteries had commenced before the Japanese surrender. Through April, May, and June, Allied intelligence followed the buildup of Japanese ground forces, including five divisions added to Kyūshū, with great interest, but also some complacency, still projecting that in November

12052-657: The investigation results of the Association of the Families of the Victims of the Jinan massacre, it showed that 6,123 Chinese civilians were killed and 1,701 injured. Relations between the Chinese Nationalist government and Japan severely worsened as a result of the Jinan incident. As the National Revolutionary Army approached Beijing, Zhang Zuolin decided to retreat back to Manchuria, before he

12183-550: The landing beaches and for ships damaged by air attack. Kyūshū was to be invaded by the Sixth United States Army at three points: Miyazaki , Ariake , and Kushikino . If a clock were drawn on a map of Kyūshū, these points would roughly correspond to 4, 5, and 7 o'clock, respectively. The 35 landing beaches were all named for automobiles: Austin , Buick , Cadillac , and so on through to Stutz , Winton , and Zephyr . With one corps assigned to each landing,

12314-469: The largest amphibious operation in history, surpassing D-Day . Japan's geography made this invasion plan obvious to the Japanese as well; they were able to accurately predict the Allied invasion plans and thus adjust their defensive plan, Operation Ketsugō (ja) , accordingly. The Japanese planned an all-out defense of Kyūshū, with little left in reserve for any subsequent defense operations. Casualty predictions varied widely, but were extremely high: into

12445-541: The largest landing. In March 1945, there was only one combat division in Kyūshū. Four veteran divisions were withdrawn from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria in March 1945 to strengthen the forces in Japan, and 45 new divisions were activated between February and May 1945. Most were immobile formations for coastal defense, but 16 were high quality mobile divisions. By August, the formations, including three tank brigades, had

12576-621: The millions, depending on the extent of resistance by Japanese civilians. Responsibility for the planning of Operation Downfall fell to American commanders Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz , General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs of Staff —Fleet Admirals Ernest King and William D. Leahy , and Generals of the Army George Marshall and Hap Arnold (the latter being the commander of

12707-431: The mission. More than 10,000 aircraft were ready for use in July (with more by October), as well as hundreds of newly built small suicide boats to attack Allied ships offshore. Up to 2,000 kamikaze planes launched attacks during the Battle of Okinawa, achieving approximately one hit per nine attacks. At Kyūshū, because of the more favorable circumstances (such as terrain that would reduce the Allies' radar advantage, and

12838-404: The most defensible terrain. For the defense of Kyūshū, the Japanese took an intermediate posture, with the bulk of their defensive forces a few kilometers inland, back far enough to avoid complete exposure to naval bombardment, but close enough that the Americans could not establish a secure foothold before engaging them. The counteroffensive forces were still farther back, prepared to move against

12969-570: The oppression of Korean residents". After five months of fighting, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, and installed the last Emperor of China, Puyi , as its puppet ruler. Militarily too weak to challenge Japan directly, China appealed to the League of Nations for help. The League's investigation led to the publication of the Lytton Report , condemning Japan for its incursion into Manchuria, causing Japan to withdraw from

13100-465: The pilots to target transports rather than carriers and destroyers, the casualties would be disproportionately greater than at Okinawa. One staff study estimated that the kamikazes could destroy a third to half of the invasion force before landing. Admiral King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, was so concerned about losses from kamikaze attacks that he and other senior naval officers argued for canceling Operation Downfall and for instead continuing

13231-456: The potential to deploy ten. "These [six] divisions have since made their appearance, as predicted," he observed, "and the end is not in sight." If not checked, this threatened "to grow to [the] point where we attack on a ratio of one (1) to one (1) which is not the recipe for victory." By the time of surrender, the Japanese had over 735,000 military personnel either in position or in various stages of deployment on Kyushu alone. The total strength of

13362-487: The real invasion, to lure out the Japanese on their one-way flights, who would then find ships bristling with anti-aircraft guns instead of the valuable, vulnerable transports. The main defense against Japanese air attacks would have come from the massive fighter forces being assembled in the Ryukyu Islands . The US Army Fifth and Seventh Air Forces and US Marine air units had moved into the islands immediately after

13493-477: The region by pressuring Yuan Shikai , the president of the Republic of China at the time. With a widened range of economic privileges in Manchuria, Japan began focusing on developing and protecting matters of economic interests. This included railroads, businesses, natural resources, and a general control of the territory. With its influence growing, the Japanese Army began to justify its presence by stating that it

13624-406: The revolution. Yuan, wanting to remain in power, compromised with the revolutionaries, and agreed to abolish the monarchy and establish a new republican government, under the condition he be appointed president of China. The new Beiyang government of China was proclaimed in March 1912, after which Yuan Shikai began to amass power for himself. In 1913, the parliamentary political leader Song Jiaoren

13755-584: The same orders would have been given in the home islands. The Japanese were secretly constructing an underground headquarters in Matsushiro, Nagano Prefecture, to shelter the Emperor and the Imperial General Staff during an invasion. In planning for Operation Ketsugo, IGHQ overestimated the strength of the invading forces: while the Allied invasion plan called for fewer than 70 divisions, the Japanese expected up to 90. Admiral Matome Ugaki

13886-568: The sleek A5Ms in dogfights , and it also proved to be a battle of attrition against the Chinese Air Force. At the start of the battle, the local strength of the NRA was around five divisions, or about 70,000 troops, while local Japanese forces comprised about 6,300 marines. On 23 August, the Chinese Air Force attacked Japanese troop landings at Wusongkou in northern Shanghai with Hawk III fighter-attack planes and P-26/281 fighter escorts, and

14017-511: The strategic use of chemical weapons on a massive scale was not seriously studied or proposed by any senior American leader; rather, they debated the tactical use of chemical weapons against pockets of Japanese resistance. Although chemical warfare had been outlawed by the Geneva Protocol , neither the United States nor Japan was a signatory at the time. While the US had promised never to initiate gas warfare, Japan had used gas against

14148-540: The suicide divers, with up to 10,000 mines planned. Some 1,200 suicide divers had been trained before the Japanese surrender. The two defensive options against amphibious invasion are strong defense of the beaches and defense in depth . Early in the war (such as at Tarawa ), the Japanese employed strong defenses on the beaches with little or no manpower in reserve, but this tactic proved vulnerable to pre-invasion shore bombardment . Later at Peleliu , Iwo Jima , and Okinawa, they switched strategies and dug in their forces in

14279-500: The summer of 1945. However, the Battle of Okinawa went on for so long that they concluded the Allies would not be able to launch another operation before the typhoon season , during which the weather would be too risky for amphibious operations. Japanese intelligence predicted fairly closely where the invasion would take place: southern Kyūshū at Miyazaki, Ariake Bay and/or the Satsuma Peninsula . While Japan no longer had

14410-608: The tensions in the Northeast that led to the Mukden Incident and eventually the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Soviet Red Army victory over Xueliang's forces not only reasserted Soviet control over the CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note. The Soviet Red Army performance also stunned the Japanese. Manchuria was central to Japan's East Asia policy. Both

14541-436: The tight security around it), and the initial planning for the invasion of Japan did not take its existence into consideration. Once the atomic bomb became available, General Marshall envisioned using it to support the invasion if sufficient numbers could be produced in time. The Pacific War was not under a single Allied commander-in-chief (C-in-C). Allied command was divided into regions: by 1945, for example, Chester Nimitz

14672-727: The time, the Nationalist government relocated to Chongqing in the Chinese interior. After the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact , Soviet aid bolstered the National Revolutionary Army and Air Force . By 1939, after Chinese victories at Changsha and with Japan's lines of communications stretched deep into the interior, the war reached a stalemate. The Japanese were unable to defeat Chinese Communist Party forces in Shaanxi , who waged

14803-406: The total for Kyūshū would be about 350,000 servicemen. That changed in July, with the discovery of four new divisions and indications of more to come. By August, the count was up to 600,000, and Magic cryptanalysis had identified nine divisions in southern Kyūshū—three times the expected number and still a serious underestimate of the actual Japanese strength. Estimated troop strength in early July

14934-525: The use of a blockade and airpower to bring about Japan's capitulation. They proposed operations to capture airbases in nearby Shanghai , China , and Korea , which would give the United States Army Air Forces a series of forward airbases from which to bombard Japan into submission. The Army, on the other hand, argued that such a strategy could "prolong the war indefinitely" and expend lives needlessly, and therefore that an invasion

15065-744: The war, the Imperial Japanese Navy , by then organized under the Navy General Command, was determined to inflict as much damage on the Allies as possible. Remaining major warships numbered four battleships (all damaged), five damaged aircraft carriers, two cruisers, 23 destroyers, and 46 submarines. However, the IJN lacked enough fuel for further sorties by its capital ships and planned instead to use its anti-aircraft firepower to defend naval installations while docked in port. Despite its inability to conduct large-scale fleet operations,

15196-617: Was assassinated by the Kwantung Army in 1928. His son, Zhang Xueliang , took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique in Manchuria. Later in the same year, Zhang declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government in Nanjing under Chiang Kai-shek , and consequently, China was nominally reunified under one government. The July–November 1929 conflict over the Chinese Eastern Railroad (CER) further increased

15327-580: Was 350,000, rising to 545,000 in early August. The intelligence revelations about Japanese preparations on Kyushu emerging in mid-July transmitted powerful shock waves both in the Pacific and in Washington. On 29 July, MacArthur's intelligence chief, Major General Charles A. Willoughby , was the first to note that the April estimate allowed for the Japanese capability to deploy six divisions on Kyushu, with

15458-480: Was also called the "Eight Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 八年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 八年抗戰 ), but in 2017 the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a directive stating that textbooks were to refer to the war as the "Fourteen Years' War of Resistance" (simplified Chinese: 十四年抗战 ; traditional Chinese: 十四年抗戰 ), reflecting a focus on the broader conflict with Japan going back to

15589-406: Was assassinated ; it is generally believed Yuan Shikai ordered the assassination. Yuan Shikai then forced the parliament to pass a bill to strengthen the power of the president and sought to restore the imperial system , becoming the new emperor of China. However, there was little support for an imperial restoration among the general population, and protests and demonstrations soon broke out across

15720-409: Was considered against Japan's population and food crops. While large quantities of gas munitions were manufactured and plans were drawn, it is unlikely they would have been used. Richard B. Frank states that when the proposal reached Truman in June 1945, he vetoed the use of chemical weapons against personnel; their use against crops, however, remained under consideration. According to Edward J. Drea ,

15851-538: Was intended to capture the southern third of the southernmost main Japanese island, Kyūshū , with the recently captured island of Okinawa to be used as a staging area. In early 1946 would come Operation Coronet, the planned invasion of the Kantō Plain , near Tokyo , on the main Japanese island of Honshu . Airbases on Kyūshū captured in Operation Olympic would allow land-based air support for Operation Coronet. If Downfall had taken place, it would have been

15982-575: Was most effective in the area of what is now Inner Mongolia and Hebei. In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the He–Umezu Agreement , which forbade the KMT to conduct party operations in Hebei. In the same year, the Chin–Doihara Agreement was signed expelling the KMT from Chahar. Thus, by the end of 1935 the Chinese government had essentially abandoned northern China. In its place,

16113-509: Was necessary. They supported mounting a large-scale thrust directly against the Japanese homeland, with none of the side operations that the Navy had suggested. Ultimately, the Army's viewpoint prevailed. Physically, Japan made an imposing target, distant from other landmasses and with very few beaches geographically suitable for sea-borne invasion. Only Kyūshū (the southernmost island of Japan) and

16244-500: Was not realistic that the entire Japanese population would be killed off, both American and Japanese officers at the time predicted a Japanese death toll in the millions. From the Battle of Saipan onward, Japanese propaganda intensified the glory of patriotic death and depicted the Americans as merciless "white devils." During the Battle of Okinawa, Japanese officers had ordered civilians unable to fight to commit suicide rather than fall into American hands, and all available evidence suggests

16375-599: Was recalled to Japan in February 1945 and given command of the Fifth Air Fleet on Kyūshū. The Fifth Air Fleet was assigned the task of kamikaze attacks against ships involved in the invasion of Okinawa, Operation Ten-Go , and began training pilots and assembling aircraft for the defense of Kyūshū, the first invasion target. The Japanese defense relied heavily on kamikaze planes. In addition to fighters and bombers, they reassigned almost all of their trainers for

16506-453: Was simply protecting its own economic interests. However militarists in the Japanese Army began pushing for an expansion of influence, leading to the Japanese Army assassinating the warlord of Manchuria, Zhang Zuolin . This was done with hopes that it would start a crisis that would allow Japan to expand their power and influence in the region. When this was not as successful as they desired, Japan then decided to invade Manchuria outright after

16637-495: Was so serious that it threatened to derail planning. Ultimately, the Navy partially conceded, and MacArthur was to be given total command of all forces if circumstances made it necessary. The primary considerations that the planners had to deal with were time and casualties—how they could force Japan's surrender as quickly as possible with as few Allied casualties as possible. Before the First Quebec Conference ,

16768-718: Was the Allied C-in-C Pacific Ocean Areas , while Douglas MacArthur was Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area , and Admiral Louis Mountbatten was the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia Command . A unified command was deemed necessary for an invasion of Japan. Interservice rivalry over who it should be (the United States Navy wanted Nimitz, but the United States Army wanted MacArthur)

16899-633: Was to be a massive redeployment of units from the US Army's Southwest Pacific , China-Burma-India and European commands, among others. These would have included spearheads of the war in Europe such as the US First Army (15 divisions) and the Eighth Air Force. These redeployments would have been complicated by the simultaneous demobilization and replacement of highly experienced, time-served personnel, which would have drastically reduced

17030-541: Was to be mounted with resources already present in the Pacific, including the British Pacific Fleet , a Commonwealth formation that included at least eighteen aircraft carriers (providing 25% of the Allied air power) and four battleships. Tiger Force, a joint Commonwealth long-range heavy bomber unit, was to be transferred from RAF , RAAF , RCAF and RNZAF units and personnel serving with RAF Bomber Command in Europe. In 1944, early planning proposed

17161-425: Was used by Japan, as neither country had made a formal declaration of war . From the Japanese perspective, localizing these conflicts was beneficial in preventing intervention from other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States, which were its primary source of petroleum and steel respectively. A formal expression of these conflicts would potentially lead to an American embargo in accordance with

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