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Japan attacks Pearl Harbor
While Japan was in war with China, the United States placed an oil embargo on Japan and demanded their withdrawal from China. Because of this, Japanese forces decided to bring the United States into World War II. Japan decided that bombing Pearl Harbor in Hawaii was the best strategy to cripple the United States so that Japan could build up its empire and create buffer zones. This plan failed, though, and there was no significant effect on the United States' Navy. -
Battle of Hong Kong
Four hours after the attack in Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941 Japan launched an attack on what was then the British colony of Hong Kong. This attack broke international law because Japan had not formally declared war on Britain. The defenders of Hong Kong had no significant air protection and they were outnumbered by the Japanese. On December 25, Hong Kong surrendered to Japan. This was the first time a British colony had surrendered to invaders. -
Fall of the Philippines
On December 8, 1941 Japan launched an offensive against the Philippines, which was still under United States' directions. Although the defense outnumbered the Japanese, many of them were untrained soldiers. Japan eventually succeeded in gaining the territory. This attack was one of the worst losses of the United States, where 70,000 Americans and Filipinos became prisoners of war under the Japanese. -
Liberation of the Philippines
The American and Filipino forces began to fight back against the control of Japan. The United States Army landed on Leyte on October 20, 1944. The consequential battles showed the changing of the tide for Japanese forces. They began to lose many of the battles and suffered significant casualties. On August 15, 1945, Japan was forced to surrender after the atomic bombs were dropped in Japan. -
Atomic Bombings on Japan
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Then, just three days later, another was dropped on Nagasaki. Before this, the United States had attempted to persuade Japan to surrender by attacking them with incendiary bombs and cutting off their coastal trade. Because these efforts did not work, the United States used atomic bombs for the first and only time in history against another country. 140,000 died in Hiroshima and 80,000 died in Nagasaki. -
Soviet-Japanese War
At the Yalta agreement in February, the USSR agreed to go to war with Japan after the defeat of Germany. In August, the Soviets launched an offensive against Japan in China. The Soviets were able to take back much of China and successfully defeated the Japanese army. This was a major factor in the surrender of Japan in World War II. -
Surrender of Japan
After the atomic bombings and losing the Soviet-Japanese War, Japan decided to surrender from World War II. This led to a period of Occupied Japan, in which the Allies revised much of the Japanese government. They de-militarized Japan and changed their constitution as to reform their politics.
