In August 1945, the explosions of two nuclear bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the 4-year-long war in the Pacific, in which America and Japan were the main opponents. The confrontation between these two powers became an important component of the Second World War and had a significant impact on its outcome. At the same time, the current alignment of forces in the international arena is largely a consequence of those long-standing events.
What caused the fire in the Pacific
The reason for the war between the United States and Japan lies in the conflict between these states, which escalated by 1941, and Tokyo's attempt to resolve it militarily. The greatest contradictions between these powerful world powers arose in matters related to China and the territory of French Indochina - a former French colony.
Rejecting the "open door" doctrine proposed by the American government, Japan sought its complete control over these countries, as well as over the territory of Manchuria that it had previously captured. Due to Tokyo's persistence on these issues, the talks held in Washington between the two states did not bring any results.
But Japan's claims were not limited to this. Tokyo, considering the USA, Great Britain and other colonial powers as its rivals, tried with all its might to oust them from the South Seas and Southeast Asia, thus capturing the sources of food and raw materials located on their territories. It was about 78% of the world rubber production produced in these areas, 90% of tin and many other riches.
The beginning of the conflict
By the beginning of July 1941, despite the protests coming from the governments of America and Great Britain, it captured the southern part of Indochina, and after a short time came close to the Philippines, Singapore, the Dutch Indies and Malaya. In response, it imposed a ban on the import of all strategic materials into Japan and at the same time froze Japanese assets in its banks. Thus, the war that soon broke out between Japan and the United States was the result of a political conflict that America tried to resolve with economic sanctions.
It should be noted that Tokyo's military ambitions extended all the way to the decision to seize part of the territory of the Soviet Union. This was announced in July 1941 at the imperial conference by the Minister of War of Japan, Tojo. According to him, a war should have been started in order to destroy the USSR and gain control over its rich natural resources. True, at that time these plans were clearly unrealistic due to the lack of forces, the bulk of which was sent to the war in China.
Pearl Harbor tragedy
The war between the United States and Japan began with a powerful attack on Pearl Harbor, inflicted by aircraft from the ships of the United Japanese Navy, commanded by Admiral Yamamoto Isoroko. It happened on December 7, 1941.
Two air raids were made on the American base, in which 353 aircraft took off from 6 aircraft carriers. The result of this attack, the success of which was largely predetermined by its surprise, was so devastating that it disabled a significant part of the American fleet and became a truly national tragedy.
In a short time, enemy aircraft destroyed 4 of the most powerful battleships of the US Navy directly at the berths, of which only 2 were restored with great difficulty after the end of the war. Another 4 ships of this type were seriously damaged and were put out of action for a long time.
In addition, 3 destroyers, 3 cruisers and one mine layer were sunk or seriously damaged. As a result of enemy bombing, the Americans also lost 270 aircraft that were at that moment on the coastal airfield and on the decks of aircraft carriers. To top it all off, torpedo and fuel depots, piers, a ship repair yard and a power plant were destroyed.
The main tragedy was the significant loss of personnel. As a result of the Japanese air raid, 2,404 people were killed and 11,779 were wounded. After this dramatic event, the United States declared war on Japan and officially joined the anti-Hitler coalition.
Further advance of the Japanese troops
The tragedy that unfolded at Pearl Harbor disabled a significant part of the US Navy, and since the British, Australian and Dutch fleets could not seriously compete with the Japanese navy, it gained a temporary advantage in the Pacific region. Tokyo conducted further military operations in alliance with Thailand, a military treaty with which was signed in December 1941.
The war between the United States and Japan was gaining momentum and at first brought a lot of trouble to the government of F. Roosevelt. So, on December 25, the joint efforts of Japan and Thailand managed to suppress the resistance of British troops in Hong Kong, and the Americans were forced, abandoning their equipment and property, to urgently evacuate from their bases located on nearby islands.
Until the beginning of May 1942, military success invariably accompanied the Japanese army and navy, which allowed Emperor Hirohito to take control of vast territories, including the Philippines, Java, Bali, part of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. About 130,000 British troops were then in Japanese captivity.
Fracture in the course of hostilities
The US war against Japan took a different turn only after the naval battle between their fleets, which took place on May 8, 1942 in the Coral Sea. By this time, the United States was already fully supported by the forces of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition.
This battle went down in world history as the first in which the enemy ships did not approach each other, did not fire a single shot, and did not even see each other. All combat operations were carried out exclusively by naval aircraft based on them. It was, in essence, a clash of two aircraft carrier groups.
Despite the fact that none of the opposing sides managed to win a clear victory during the battle, the strategic advantage, nevertheless, turned out to be on the side of the allies. Firstly, this naval battle stopped the successful, so far, advancement of the Japanese army, with the victories of which the war between the USA and Japan began, and, secondly, it predetermined the defeat of the Japanese fleet in the next battle, which took place in June 1942 in the area of the atoll Midway.
In the Coral Sea, 2 main Japanese aircraft carriers, Shokaku and Zuikaku, were sunk. This turned out to be an irreparable loss for the imperial fleet, as a result of which the victory of the United States and its allies in the next naval battle turned the tide of the entire war in the Pacific.
Attempts to hold on to past gains
Having lost 4 more aircraft carriers, 248 combat aircraft and its best pilots near Midway Atoll, Japan was no longer able to operate effectively at sea outside the coverage areas of coastal aviation, which became a real disaster for it. After that, the troops of Emperor Hirohito could not achieve any serious success, and all their efforts were directed to holding the previously conquered territories. Meanwhile, the war between Japan and the United States was still far from over.
During the bloody and heavy fighting that lasted over the next 6 months, in February 1943, American troops managed to capture the island of Guadalcanal. This victory was part of a strategic plan to protect the sea convoys between America, Australia and New Zealand. Later, before the end of the year, the United States and allied states took control of the Solomon and Aleutian Islands, the western part of the island of New Britain, the southeast of New Guinea, and were also part of the British colony.
In 1944, the war between the United States and Japan became irreversible. Having exhausted its military potential and not having the strength to continue offensive operations, the army of Emperor Hirohito concentrated all its forces on the defense of the previously captured territories of China and Burma, giving further initiative to the enemy. This caused a number of defeats. So, in February 1944, the Japanese had to retreat from the Marshall Islands, and six months later - from the Mariana Islands. In September they left New Guinea, and in October they lost control of the Caroline Islands.
The collapse of Emperor Hirohito's army
The war between the USA and Japan (1941-1945) reached its climax in October 1944, when the victorious Philippine operation was undertaken by the joint efforts of the allies. In addition to the American army, Mexico also took part in it. Their common goal was to liberate the Philippines from the Japanese.
As a result of the battle that took place on October 23-26 in Leyte Gulf, Japan lost the main part of its navy. Her losses were: 4 aircraft carriers, 3 battleships, 11 destroyers, 10 cruisers and 2 submarines. The Philippines was completely in the hands of the allies, but separate clashes continued until the end of World War II.
In the same year, having a significant superiority in manpower and equipment, American troops successfully carried out an operation to capture the island of Iwo Jima from February 20 to March 15, and Okinawa from April 1 to June 21. Both of them belonged to Japan, and were a convenient springboard for air strikes on its cities.
Particularly devastating was the raid on Tokyo, carried out on March 9-10, 1945. As a result of the massive bombardment, 250 thousand buildings were turned into ruins, and about 100 thousand people were killed, most of whom were civilians. In the same period, the war between the United States and Japan was marked by the offensive of the allied forces in Burma, and its subsequent liberation from Japanese occupation.
The first atomic bombing in history
After the Soviet troops launched an offensive in Manchuria on August 9, 1945, it became quite obvious that the Pacific campaign, and with it the war (1945) between Japan and the United States, was completed. However, in spite of this, the American government undertook an action that had no analogues either in previous or subsequent years. On his orders, a nuclear bombardment of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was carried out.
The first atomic bomb was dropped on the morning of August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima. She was delivered by a US Air Force B-29 bomber, named Enola Gay in honor of the mother of the crew commander, Colonel Paul Tibets. The bomb itself was called Little Boy, which means “Baby”. Despite its affectionate name, the bomb had a capacity of 18 kilotons of TNT and claimed the lives of, according to various sources, from 95 to 160 thousand people.
Three days later, another atomic bombing followed. This time, her target was the city of Nagasaki. The Americans, who are inclined to give names not only to ships or planes, but even to bombs, called her Fat Man - "Fat Man". Delivered this killer, whose power was equal to 21 kilotons of TNT, bomber B-29 Bockscar, piloted by a crew under the command of Charles Sweeney. This time between 60,000 and 80,000 civilians became victims.
Japanese surrender
The shock of the bombing, which ended the years of the US war with Japan, was so great that Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki turned to Emperor Hirohito with a statement about the need for a speedy cessation of all hostilities. As a result, already 6 days after the second atomic strike, Japan announced its surrender, and on September 2 of the same year, an appropriate act was signed. The signing of this historical document ended the US-Japan War (1941-1945). It also became the final act of the entire Second World War.
According to reports, US losses in the war with Japan amounted to 296,929 people. Of these, 169,635 are soldiers and officers of ground units, and 127,294 are military sailors and infantrymen. At the same time, 185,994 Americans were killed in the war with Nazi Germany.
Did America have the right to launch nuclear strikes?
Throughout all the post-war decades, disputes over the expediency and legitimacy of nuclear strikes carried out at a time when the war (1945) between Japan and the United States was almost over have not ceased. As most international experts note, in this case, the fundamental question is whether the bombings, which claimed tens of thousands of lives, were necessary to conclude a treaty on the surrender of Japan on terms acceptable to the government of President Harry Truman, or were there other ways to achieve the desired result?
Supporters of the bombing claim that thanks to this extremely cruel, but, in their opinion, justified measure, it was possible to force Emperor Hirohito to surrender, while avoiding the mutual sacrifices inevitably associated with the upcoming American invasion of Japan and the landing of troops on the island of Kyushu.
In addition, they cite statistical data as an argument, from which it is clear that every month of the war was accompanied by a mass death of residents of the countries occupied by Japan. In particular, it has been calculated that for the entire period of the stay of Japanese troops in China from 1937 to 1945, about 150,000 people perished among the population every month. A similar picture can be traced in other zones of Japanese occupation.
Thus, it is easy to calculate that without the nuclear strike that forced the Japanese government to surrender immediately, each subsequent month of the war would have claimed at least 250,000 lives, which far exceeded the number of victims of the bombing.
In this regard, the now living grandson of President Harry Truman - Daniel Truman - in 2015, on the day of the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, recalled that his grandfather until the end of his days did not repent of the order given to him and declared the undoubted rightness of the decision. According to him, it greatly accelerated the end of the military confrontation between Japan and the United States. The World War could also last for several more months, if not for such decisive measures by the American administration.
Opponents of this point of view
In turn, opponents of the bombings say that even without them, the United States and Japan suffered significant losses in World War II, increasing which due to civilian casualties of the two cities subjected to nuclear attacks is a war crime, and can be equated with state terrorism.
Many American scientists who personally took part in the development of this deadly weapon made statements about the immorality and inadmissibility of nuclear bombing. Its earliest critics are the prominent American atomic physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard. Back in 1939, they wrote a joint letter to US President Roosevelt, in which they gave a moral assessment of the use of nuclear weapons.
In May 1945, seven leading American experts in the field of nuclear research, led by James Frank, also sent their message to the head of state. In it, scientists pointed out that if America was the first to use the weapons they developed, this would deprive her of international support, become an impetus for an arms race and undermine the chances of establishing world control over this type of weapon in the future.
The political side of the issue
Leaving aside the arguments concerning the military expediency of inflicting an atomic strike on the cities of Japan, one more probable reason why the American government decided to take this extreme step should be noted. We are talking about a demonstration of force in order to influence the leadership of the Soviet Union and Stalin personally.
When, after the end of World War II, the process of redistribution of spheres of influence between the leading powers, which had defeated Nazi Germany shortly before, was going on, H. Truman considered it necessary to clearly demonstrate to the world who at the moment had the most powerful military potential.
The result of his actions was an arms race, the beginning of the Cold War and the notorious Iron Curtain that divided the world into two parts. On the one hand, official Soviet propaganda intimidated the people with a threat allegedly coming from "world capital", and created the United States, on the other hand, they did not get tired of talking about the "Russian bear" that encroached on universal and Christian values. Thus, the atomic explosions that thundered over Japanese cities at the end of the war echoed around the world for many decades to come.
Before the war, Japan had a merchant fleet, which included transport ships with a total displacement of about 6 million tons. This was extremely small, given that the island metropolis was completely dependent on overseas supplies of industrial raw materials and food. The Japanese had long communications, but there was nothing to protect them. Japan did not build warships adapted to export convoys. It was believed that export aircraft carriers and anti-submarine ships would not be needed. All forces were thrown into the construction of the "fleet of the general battle."
The Americans destroy the Japanese transport fleet. The Americans took advantage of this. During 1943-1944. their submarines launched 9/10 of the Japanese transport fleet to the bottom. The Mikado industry was left without raw materials of all kinds, including oil. The Japanese aviation was left without gasoline. I had to refuel planes for a one-way flight. So there were "kamikaze". Let's take into account that their efficiency is no higher than that of a conventional aircraft, even lower, since suicide pilots were taught only to take off, and then theoretically. The use of combat suicides did not justify itself, there was simply no other way out. By the way, not only planes, but entire squadrons were sent one way.
The Americans capture the Japanese islands in the Pacific. Under such conditions, the Americans, having built aircraft carriers, quickly melted the main part of the main forces of the Japanese fleet. Then another round began. Taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese fleet was either sunk or was in ports without fuel, the Americans conducted a series of landing operations on the Pacific islands. Landing objects were chosen wisely. So that from there strategic bombers could fly to Japan with a full load and could return back. Since the autumn of 1944, the Americans had bases on Saipan and Tinian. Then they got closer, capturing Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Japanese understood why the Yankees needed these islands, and defended them with the desperation of the doomed, but courage and fanaticism did not help. The Americans were slowly grinding through isolated enemy garrisons. Having completed this process, they began to build excellent airfields. They built better than they fought, and soon all the Japanese islands were within range of American strategic bombers.
Raids on Japanese cities. Massive raids of "super-fortresses" on Japanese cities began. Everything was like in Germany, only worse, the air defense of the islands did not have the means to deal with raids at all. Another distinctive feature that mattered was the type of building in Japanese cities, where the main building material is plywood. It has several properties that distinguish wood fiber from stone, in particular, it burns well and is not as strong under the influence of a shock wave. The pilots of the "fortresses" did not need to carry super-heavy "fugas" with them, there were enough small-caliber incendiary bombs. Fortunately, a novelty arrived, napalm, which gives temperatures that allow you to burn not only plywood, but also soil, and stones, and everything else.
Napalm bombing of Tokyo. By the summer of 1945, almost all major Japanese cities had survived the raids. What came out of this becomes clear on the example of Tokyo, which experienced a massive blow on March 9, 1945. On that day, 300 "fortresses" filled to capacity with napalm entered the city. The huge area of the city ruled out the possibility of misses. The carpet of "lighters" was spread precisely, despite the night hours. The Sumida that flowed through the city was silvery in the moonlight, and visibility was excellent. The Americans were flying low, only two kilometers above the ground, and the pilots could distinguish every house. If the Japanese had gasoline for fighters or shells for anti-aircraft guns, they would have to pay for such impudence. But the defenders of the Tokyo sky had neither one nor the other.
Houses in the city were packed tightly, napalm burned hot. That is why the fiery channels left by bomb flows quickly merged into a single sea of fire. Air turbulence spurred on the elements, creating a huge fiery tornado. Those who were lucky said that the water in Sumida boiled, and the steel bridge thrown over it melted, dropping drops of metal into the water. The Americans, embarrassed, estimate the loss of that night at 100,000 people. Japanese sources, without showing exact figures, believe that the value of 300,000 burnt will be closer to the truth. Another one and a half million were left without a roof over their heads. American losses did not exceed 4% of the vehicles involved in the raid. Moreover, their main reason was the inability of the pilots of the terminal machines to cope with the air currents that arose over the dying city.
Agony. The raid on Tokyo was the first in a series of others that finally destroyed Japan. People fled the cities, leaving jobs for those who still had them. Although work became a rarity, by April 1945 some 650 industrial sites had been destroyed. Only 7 aircraft manufacturing enterprises operated, hidden in advance in deep adits and tunnels. Rather, they were inactive, lacking components. Useless aircraft bodies, stripped of their filling, were piled up in factory warehouses with no hope of breathing life into their engines. There was absolutely no gasoline, or rather it was, but several thousand liters were saved for the "kamikaze" that were to fall on the American invasion fleet if it appeared off the Japanese coast. This strategic reserve could be enough for a hundred or two sorties, no more. Japanese scientists were definitely not up to nuclear research. Scientific luminaries switched to the extraction of combustible materials from pine roots, which supposedly contained alcohol suitable for combustion in engine cylinders. Of course, he was not there, but the Japanese were looking to distract themselves from bad thoughts about tomorrow.
Then it was the turn of the US Navy. Aircraft carriers snooped around the very coast of Japan. The pilots of their air groups complained to their superiors about the lack of targets. Everything that kept afloat was already sunk. Training ships that remembered Tsushima, the skeletons of giant aircraft carriers unfinished due to lack of iron, coastal boats, railway ferries - all this rested at the bottom. Communication between the islands of the Japanese archipelago was destroyed. Squadrons of American torpedo bombers chased fishing boats, and bombers bombed villages of 10 houses. It was agony. The imperial government announced a total mobilization, calling under the banner of all men and some of the women. The army turned out to be large, but useless; there were no firearms, let alone scarce ammunition for most of the fighters. They were given bamboo lances without iron tips, with which they were supposed to throw themselves at the American marines.
The question arises, perhaps the Americans did not know about bamboo peaks? It is unlikely that they flew low, and they saw a lot of the cockpits of their aircraft. And the US strategic services had data on the stocks of Japanese gasoline as early as 1940. So it is better not to remember the danger of huge casualties during the landing for the historians of the country that managed to knock the Nazis off the coast of Normandy. And then it turns out some kind of racism. Like, a Japanese with a pike is stronger than an American at the helm of an attack aircraft. Is it possible to imagine that the American guys who passed through the fires and waters of Omaha and Iwo Jima were afraid of Japanese girls with bamboo sticks. They weren't afraid. In paying tribute to the US Army and Navy, it must be remembered that the responsible commanders of the Pacific theater were against the atomic bombing. Among those who objected were serious people: the chief of staff of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Georges Legy, Chester Nimitz, the hero of Midway, Halsey, and dozens of other decent or simply smart military leaders. They all believed that Japan would surrender before the fall from the effects of a naval blockade and air strikes by conventional means. Scientists joined them. Dozens of creators of the "Manhattan offspring" signed an appeal to the US President with a request to abandon the nuclear demonstration. These unfortunates did not understand that Truman needed to report on the spending of state funds so that "the mosquito would not undermine the nose"; yes, in addition, exclude Stalin's participation in the Far Eastern "settlement".
pacificaNew Campsaresearch institutes 1941-45, hostilities between the armed forces of Japan and the United States and their allies in the Pacific, as well as in Indochina, Burma and China.
In 1941, Japan decided to resolve the conflicts with the United States and Great Britain by force and achieve a dominant position in TO.
The 1941-42 campaign began on December 7, 1941 with sudden Japanese air strikes against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, against American military installations in the Philippines, and the invasion of Japanese troops into Thailand and Malaya. As a result, the US Pacific Fleet suffered heavy losses and was disabled.
The Southern Army Group was created for operations in the Western Pacific and in the South Seas.
December 8, 1941 The 15th Japanese army, concentrated in Indochina, crossed the border of Thailand. On December 21, the Thai government entered into an alliance with Japan and in January 1942 declared war on the United States and Great Britain. December 8, 1941 - February 15, 1942 The 25th Japanese Army, in cooperation with the Malayan Fleet Task Force, conducted the Malay (Singapore) operation.
On December 10, Japanese aircraft sank an English battleship, which provided the Japanese fleet with dominance in the spare parts of the TO, the army on December 8 on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, occupied it by the end of January 1942 and launched an attack on Singapore. the Japanese army, together with the Philippine fleet formation, carried out the Philippine operation (December 8, 1941 - May 6, 1942).
The army landed on the island of Luzon in December and occupied Manila on January 2. On May 6, 1942, the American-Filipino troops blocked on the Bataan Peninsula capitulated. During the Burma operation (January 20 - May 20, 1942), Japanese troops occupied Rangoon on March 8,
and then threw back the Anglo-Indian and Chinese troops behind the Burmese-Indian and Burmese-Chinese borders.
Javanese operation (February 18 - March 10, 1942) 1942 the Japanese occupied the islands of Borneo Bali. On March 1, Japanese troops landed on the island of Java and occupied it by March 10.
In the naval battle in the Coral Sea (May 7-8), American carrier aircraft forced the Japanese landing force to withdraw. The Japanese command decided to shift efforts in the central and northern parts of the Pacific Ocean and capture the US base and the Aleutian Islands.
The massive losses of the Japanese navy during 1941-42 resulted in the loss of naval and air superiority, while the United States began to build up its forces.
Campaign 1942-43.
In the second half of 1942, neither side had the necessary forces for a major offensive, and only partial operations were carried out in order to improve the front line.
The Japanese offensive in the southeastern part of New Guinea at Port Morebi in August - October 1942 ended in failure.
Allied armed forces from August 1942 fought stubborn battles for (the Solomon Islands), which ended in February 1943 with the capture of the island, and conducted an offensive with limited forces in the southeastern part of New Guinea.
in June 1943 and by the end of the year, Allied forces occupied the Solomon Islands after fierce fighting. In the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, American troops returned the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Kyska) in May-August 1943.
In 1943 there was a turning point in the course of the Pacific War. The United States and Great Britain seized the strategic initiative. The defeats of fascist Germany on the Soviet-German front and the capitulation of fascist Italy contributed to a change in the situation in the Pacific theater as well.
Campaign 1944-45.
On February 1-23, 1944, American troops captured the Marshall Islands, June 15 - August 10 - the Marianas and September 15 - October 12 - the western part of the Caroline Islands. The struggle for the northern part of New Guinea lasted from January to September 1944.
In Burma, in March 1944, Japanese troops launched an offensive against Assam, which ended in failure, and the Allied forces, having launched a counteroffensive, occupied most of northern Burma by the end of the year.
in general, the strategic situation by the end of 1944 changed dramatically in favor of the allies. The troops of the Japanese armies were blocked on the islands in the central and southwestern parts of the Pacific Ocean.
On October 17, 1944, the Allied forces launched the Philippine landing operation. On October 20, an amphibious landing began on the island of Leyte. During the battles for Leyte on October 23-25, naval battles took place in the Philippine region, in which the Japanese fleet suffered heavy losses. On January 9, 1945, American troops landed on the island of Luzon and occupied Manila. By mid-May, the fighting in the Philippines was effectively over.
Possessing great superiority in forces, the American armed forces broke the resistance of the Japanese troops and captured the islands of Iwo Jima (February 19 - March 16) and Okinawa (April 1 - June 21).
In the first half of 1945, the Allied forces were successfully advancing in Burma. The entry of the USSR into the war against Japan on August 9, 1945, put her in a hopeless situation and made it impossible to continue the war.
On August 6 and 9, American aircraft dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the Manchurian operation of 1945, Soviet troops defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army in a short time. Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. The act of surrender is on board the battleship Missouri. (Japan shall be subject to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, give such orders and take such actions as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers or any other representative appointed by the Allied Powers, for the purpose of carrying out this declaration, requires. The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to govern the state will be subordinate to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, take such steps as he deems necessary to carry out these terms of surrender.
question 34.
1. The first and main result of the Second World War is the world-historical victory over fascism. Germany, Italy, Japan were defeated by their policies, their ideology suffered a complete collapse.
2. The Second World War was the most cruel and bloody in the history of mankind. The war devastated entire countries, turned many cities into ruins.
3. The war showed the ability of the democratic forces of the Earth to unite in the face of a common mortal danger. During the war, an anti-Hitler coalition was created, which at the beginning of 1942 included 25 states, and at the end of the war - 56.
5. During the Second World War, the collapse of the colonial system began. Many colonial countries - Syria, Lebanon, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Burma, Philippines, Korea - declared themselves independent, we strongly demanded the independence of the patriots of India and Malaysia. 4. World War II was one of the turning points in the history of the modern world. The political map of the world has changed, an international organization has appeared - the UN, which proclaimed that its main goal is to maintain international peace and security.
In total, during the war of 1939-1945. 64 states were involved. More than 50 million people died, and if we take into account the constantly updated data on the losses of the USSR (they range from 21.78 million to about 30 million),
1. the third world war should not happen, since there will be no winners in it, only the ruins of human civilization will remain
2. the politics of Munich, i.e. \"appeasement \" of the aggressor, misunderstanding of the difference between democracy and fascism does not lead to anything good. On the contrary, it creates the conditions for the outbreak of war.
3. The presence of totalitarian regimes with their ideology and practice and militarism, the formation of aggressive military blocs can lead to a big world fire, as happened in 1939-1945.
territories:
According to the 1947 peace treaty with Finland, the Soviet Union retained the Petsamo (Pechenga) region, which the USSR acquired after the Soviet-Finnish war of 1940, the Vyborg region was ceded to Russia.
The territory of the former German East Prussia was divided between Poland and the USSR. Koenigsberg with (the current city of Kaliningrad and the Kaliningrad region) and the city of Memel with the surrounding areas (the Klaipeda region) went to the Soviet Union. The western part of East Prussia, the city of Danzig (present Gdansk) entered Poland. These changes have not been formalized.
The Soviet-Polish border was pushed back: Western Belarus and Western Ukraine with Lvov remained behind the USSR. Also remained in the USSR (the city of Vilnius), included in the Lithuanian SSR.
Pomerania became part of Poland.
Cieszyn Silesia remained part of Czechoslovakia.
Czechoslovakia got back the Sudetenland. Czechoslovakia transferred the Transcarpathian Ukraine to the USSR,
The peace treaty of 1947 with Romania confirmed the rights of the USSR to the possession of Northern Bukovina (Chernivtsi), as well as Bessarabia. Northern Bukovina became part of the Ukrainian SSR, Bessarabia became a separate union republic - the Moldavian SSR (modern Republic of Moldova),
Hungary obtained from Romania the transfer of Northern Transylvania to it. Romania retained all of Transylvania and Eastern Banat
Yugoslavia received the Istrian peninsula from Italy
Serbia secured the transfer of Kosovo to it. Yugoslavia united the lands of Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina into a single Yugoslav state.
The French border with Germany was restored to its pre-war form. France separated the Saar region from Germany, which it began to regard as an autonomous entity in relation to Germany. France retained its control over the Saarland until 1958, after which, following a referendum, the Saar region was again included in Germany.
Americans really do not like to remember March 17, 1942. On this day, 120 thousand US citizens - ethnic Japanese or half-breeds - began to be sent to concentration camps.
Not only ethnic Japanese were subject to forced deportation, but even those American citizens who had only a great-grandmother or great-grandfather of Japanese nationality among their ancestors. That is, who had only 1/16 of the "enemy" blood.
It is less known that people who had the misfortune of being of the same nationality as Hitler and Mussolini fell under the Roosevelt Decree: 11,000 Germans and 5,000 Italians were placed in camps. About 150,000 more Germans and Italians received the status of "suspect persons", and throughout the war they were under the supervision of special services and had to report on all movements in the United States.
Approximately 10,000 Japanese were able to prove their worth to America at war - they were mostly engineers and skilled workers. They were not placed in the camp, but also received the status of "suspect person".
Families were given two days to prepare. During this time, they had to settle all material matters and sell their property, including cars. It was impossible to do this in such a short time, and the unfortunate people simply abandoned their houses and cars.
Their American neighbors took this as a signal to loot the property of the "enemy". Buildings and shops were set on fire, and several Japanese were killed - until the army and police intervened. The inscriptions on the walls "I am an American" did not save, under which the rioters wrote: "A good Japanese is a dead Japanese."
On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The next day, the United States declared war on the aggressor. During the first five days of the war, about 2,100 ethnic Japanese were arrested or interned as suspected spies, and on February 16, about 2,200 more Japanese were arrested and interned.
The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Hawaii and the East Coast of the United States 60 years before Pearl Harbor, in 1891. These early immigrants, the "issei," were drawn here by the same things that all other emigrants were: freedom, both personal and economic; hope for a better life than at home. By 1910, there were 100,000 such “issays” in the United States. They were not stopped even by the slingshots that the American bureaucracy put on them, for example, in obtaining American citizenship, nor by the anti-Japanese hysterical campaign that - without a shadow of the political correctness that exists today - was waged against them by American racists (the American Legion, the League - with the exception of the Japanese and other organizations ).
The state authorities clearly listened to these voices, and therefore all legal opportunities for the continuation of Japanese immigration were blocked back in 1924 under President Coolidge. Nevertheless, many "Issei" were delighted with America, which did not close the paths and loopholes in front of them, at least for their economic growth. Moreover, “Nisei” appeared in America: the Japanese are American citizens. Indeed, according to the American Constitution, the children of even the most disenfranchised immigrants are equal American citizens if they were born in the United States.
Moreover, by the time the war broke out, the Nisei were a large majority among Japanese Americans, and the general loyalty of the Japanese community was confirmed by the authoritative report of the Kurisa Munson Commission established by the US Department of Foreign Affairs: there is no internal Japanese threat and no uprising is to be expected in California or the Hawaiian Islands. have to!
In the media, however, different music was heard. Newspapers and radio spread opinions about the Japanese as a fifth column, about the need to evict them from the Pacific coast as far and as soon as possible. This chorus was soon joined by high-profile politicians such as Governor Olson of California, Mayor Brauron of Los Angeles, and, most notably, US Attorney General Francis Biddle.
On January 5, 1942, all American servicemen of Japanese origin were discharged from the army or transferred to auxiliary work, and on February 19, 1942, that is, two months and nine days after the start of the war, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order No. 9066 on the internment and deportation of 110 thousand Japanese Americans from the first category operational area, that is, from the entire western coast of the Pacific Ocean, as well as along the border with Mexico in the state of Arizona. The following day, Secretary of War Henry L. Simpson placed Lieutenant General John de Witt in charge of carrying out this order. To help him, the National Committee for the Study of Migration in the Name of National Security (the "Tolan Committee") was formed.
At first, the Japanese were offered to deport ... themselves! That is, to move to their relatives living in the central or eastern states. While it turned out that practically no one had such relatives, most remained at home. Thus, at the end of March 1942, more than 100 thousand Japanese still lived within the first operational zone forbidden for them, then the state came to the rescue, hastily creating two networks of camps for Japanese internees. The first network is 12 collection and distribution camps, guarded and with barbed wire. They were relatively close: most of the camps were located right there - in the depths of the states of California, Oregon, Washington and Arizona.
What happened to the Japanese on the American continent was pure racism, there was no military need for this. It's funny that the Japanese who lived in Hawaii, one might say, in the frontline zone, were never resettled anywhere: their economic role in the life of the Hawaiian Islands was so important that no amount of speculation could overcome it! The Japanese were given one week to arrange their affairs, but the sale of a house or property was not a prerequisite: the institution of private property remained unshakable. The Japanese were taken to the camps by buses and trains under guard.
I must say that the living conditions there were very deplorable. But already in June-October 1942, most of the Japanese were moved to a network of 10 stationary camps, which were already located much further from the coast - in the second or third row of the western American states: in Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and two camps - even in Arkansas, in the southern part of the central belt of the United States. Living conditions were already at the level of American standards, but the climate for the new settlers was difficult: instead of even California weather, there was a harsh continental climate with significant annual temperature differences.
In the camps, all adults were required to work 40 hours a week. The Japanese were mainly employed in agricultural work and crafts. Each camp had a cinema, a hospital, a school, a kindergarten, a House of Culture - in general, a typical set of social and cultural life for a small town.
As the camp inmates later recalled, the administration treated them normally in most cases. There were also incidents - several Japanese were killed while trying to escape (American historians give figures from 7 to 12 people during the entire existence of the camps). Violators of the order could be put in a guardhouse for several days.
The rehabilitation of the Japanese began almost simultaneously with the deportation - from October 1942. The Japanese, recognized after verification (and each was given a special questionnaire!) as loyal to the United States, returned personal freedom and the right to free settlement: everywhere in the United States, except for the zone from which they were deported. Those deemed disloyal were taken to a special camp at Tulle Lake in California, which lasted until March 20, 1946.
Most Japanese accepted their deportation with humility, believing that this was the best way to show loyalty. But some refused to recognize the deportation as legal and, challenging Roosevelt's order, went to court. So, Fred Korematsu flatly refused to voluntarily leave his home in San Levandro, and when he was arrested, he filed a lawsuit about the incapacity of the state to relocate or arrest people on the basis of race. The Supreme Court reasoned that Korematsu and the rest of the Japanese were being persecuted not because they were Japanese, but because the state of war with Japan and martial law necessitated their temporary separation from the west coast. Jesuits, be jealous! Luckier was Mitsue Endo. Her claim was more subtle: the government has no right to move loyal citizens without giving reasons for such a move. And she won the process in 1944, and with her all the other "nisei" (US citizens) won. They were also allowed to return to their places of pre-war residence.
In 1948, Japanese internees were paid partial compensation for the loss of their property (between 20 and 40% of the value of the property).
Rehabilitation was soon extended to the Issei, who, beginning in 1952, were allowed to apply for citizenship. In 1980, Congress created a special commission to study the circumstances of the appearance of Order No. 9066 and the circumstances of the deportation itself. The commission's conclusion was clear: Roosevelt's order was illegal. The commission recommended that each former Japanese deportee be paid $20,000 in compensation for illegal and forced displacement. In October 1990, each of them received an individual letter from President Bush Sr. with words of apology and condemnation of past lawlessness. And soon came and checks for compensation.
A little about the origins of the conflict between Japan and the United States
Roosevelt began to eliminate a powerful competitor in the Pacific region from the moment when, in 1932, the Japanese created the puppet state of Manchukuo in northern China and squeezed American companies out of there. After that, the American president called for the international isolation of the aggressors who encroached on the sovereignty of China (or rather, on the interests of US business).
In 1939, the United States unilaterally denounced the 28-year trade treaty with Japan and thwarted attempts to negotiate a new one. This was followed by a ban on the export of American aviation gasoline and scrap metal to Japan, which, in the conditions of the war with China, was in dire need of fuel for its aircraft and metal raw materials for the defense industry.
Then the American military was allowed to fight on the side of the Chinese, and soon an embargo was announced on all Japanese assets in the formally neutral United States. Left without oil and raw materials, Japan had to either negotiate with the Americans on their terms, or start a war against them.
Since Roosevelt refused to negotiate with the Japanese Prime Minister, the Japanese tried to act through their ambassador, Kurusu Saburo. In response, US Secretary of State Cordell Hull presented them with counter-proposals resembling an ultimatum in form. For example, the Americans demanded the withdrawal of Japanese troops from all occupied territories, including China.
In response, the Japanese went to war. After the aircraft of the Naval Forces of the Land of the Rising Sun sank four battleships, two destroyers and one minelayer in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, destroyed about 200 American aircraft, Japan suddenly gained air supremacy and the Pacific Ocean as a whole. .
Roosevelt was well aware that the economic potential of the United States and its allies did not leave Japan a chance to win a big war. However, the shock and anger from Japan's unexpectedly successful attack on the States was too great in the country.
Under these conditions, a populist step was required from the government, which would demonstrate to the citizens the irreconcilable determination of the authorities to fight the enemy - external and internal.
Roosevelt did not reinvent the wheel and in his decree relied on an old document of 1798, adopted during the war with France - the law on hostile foreigners. It allowed (and still allows) US authorities to place anyone in prison or a concentration camp on suspicion of being associated with a hostile state.
The country's Supreme Court in 1944 upheld the constitutionality of internment, stating that if "public necessity" required it, the civil rights of any national group could be curtailed.
The operation to evict the Japanese was assigned to General John Dewitt, commander of the Western Military Region, who told the US Congress: “It doesn't matter if they are American citizens - they are still Japanese. We must always be concerned about the Japanese until they are wiped off the face of the earth."
He repeatedly stressed that there is no way to determine the loyalty of a Japanese American to the Stars and Stripes, and therefore, during a war, such people are a danger to the United States and should be immediately isolated. In particular, after Pearl Harbor, he suspected immigrants of communicating with Japanese ships by radio.
Dewitt's views were typical of the US military leadership, which was dominated by overtly racist sentiments. The Military Movement Directorate, which was led by Milton Eisenhower, the younger brother of the commander of Allied forces in Europe and future US President Dwight Eisenhower, was responsible for the movement and maintenance of the deportees. This department built ten concentration camps in the states of California, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, to which the displaced Japanese were taken.
The camps were located in remote areas - as a rule, on the territory of Indian reservations. Moreover, this was an unpleasant surprise for the inhabitants of the reservations, and subsequently the Indians did not receive any monetary compensation for the use of their lands.
The created camps were surrounded by a barbed wire fence around the perimeter. The Japanese were ordered to live in hastily knocked together wooden barracks, where it was especially hard in winter. It was strictly forbidden to go outside the camp, the guards shot at those who tried to break this rule. All adults were required to work 40 hours a week - usually in agricultural work.
The largest concentration camp was considered Manzaner in California, where more than 10 thousand people were rounded up, and the most terrible was Tulle Lake, in the same state, where the most “dangerous” hunters, pilots, fishermen and radio operators were placed.
Japan's almost lightning conquest of vast territories in Asia and the Pacific Ocean made its army and navy an almost invincible force in the eyes of the American inhabitants and greatly stirred up anti-Japanese hysteria, which was actively fueled by the newspapers. Thus, the Los Angeles Times called all Japanese vipers and wrote that a Japanese-American will definitely grow up to be a Japanese, but not an American.
Calls were made to remove the Japanese as potential traitors from the east coast of the United States, inland. At the same time, columnist Henry McLemore wrote that he hated all the Japanese.
The resettlement of "enemies" was enthusiastically received by the population of the United States. The inhabitants of California were especially jubilant, where an atmosphere similar to the racial laws of the Third Reich had long reigned. In 1905, mixed marriages between whites and Japanese were banned in the state. In 1906, San Francisco voted to segregate schools along racial lines. Appropriate sentiments were also fueled by the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924, thanks to which immigrants had almost no chance of obtaining US citizenship.
The shameful decree was canceled only many years later - in 1976 by then US President Gerald Ford. Under the next head of state, Jim Carter, the Wartime Relocation and Internment Commission was established. In 1983, she concluded that the deprivation of Japanese Americans of freedom was not due to military necessity.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a written apology on behalf of the United States to those who survived the internment. They were paid $20,000 each. Subsequently, already under Bush Sr., each of the victims received another seven thousand dollars.
Compared to how people of the same nationality were treated with the enemy at that time, the US authorities treated the Japanese humanely. For example, in neighboring Canada, the Japanese, Germans, Italians, Koreans and Hungarians had a different fate.
In the Canadian town of Hastings Park, by Decree of February 24, 1942, the Center for the Temporary Detention System was established - in fact the same concentration camp, to which by November 1942 12,000 people of Japanese origin were forcibly moved. They were allocated 20 cents a day for food (2-2.5 times less than Japanese campers in the USA). Another 945 Japanese were sent to high-security labor camps, 3991 people to sugar beet plantations, 1661 Japanese to colony settlements (mainly in the taiga, where they were engaged in logging), 699 people were interned in prisoner of war camps in the province of Ontario , 42 people were repatriated to Japan, 111 were taken into custody in a prison in Vancouver. In total, about 350 Japanese died while trying to escape, from disease and ill-treatment (2.5% of the total number of Japanese who were struck in their rights - the mortality rate was similar to the same indicators in Stalin's camps in non-war times).
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney on September 22, 1988 also apologized to the Japanese, Germans and so on deported during the war. All of them were entitled to compensation for suffering in 21 thousand Canadian dollars per person.
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Books
- , Pauwels Jacques R. In a book that has become a world bestseller and is published for the first time in Russian, Canadian historian Jacques R. Pauwels analyzes the true role and goals of the United States in World War II and openly answers ...
- The US in World War II: Myths and Reality, J. R. Powels. In a global best-seller book published for the first time in Russian, Canadian historian Jacques R. Powels analyzes the true role and goals of the United States in World War II and openly answers ...
