Rebuilding Japan Discovery Ticket #2 Re-Performance Lesson

South and East Asia Historical Understandings: Rebuilding Japan

​Discovery Ticket #2 Re-Performance Lesson

•On December 7, 1941, Japanese airplanes made a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

•More than 2,400 people were killed, and many US battleships and airplanes were destroyed.

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Pearl Harbor Attack

•The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

•They agreed and the US officially entered WWII on December 8, 1941.

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​U.S. Enters WWII

•The Allies thought about invading Japan, but were worried that too many soldiers would die.

•President Harry Truman made a difficult decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan.

•He warned the Japanese government to surrender, but they refused to give up.

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​Truman's Difficult Decision

•On August 6, 1945, an American bomber plane dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

•A few days later, the US dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki.

•Both cities were completely devastated, and the Japanese finally agreed to surrender.

•Japan is the only country in the world that has been attacked by nuclear weapons.

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​ Atomic Bombs:

"Little Boy" and "Fat Man"

•After Japan’s surrender, Japan’s economy and government were devastated.

•The country’s infrastructure (transportation, communication, sewage, water, and electric systems) was demolished.

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Destruction

•The US had a plan to occupy and rebuild Japan in a way that would guarantee the country would not pose a military threat to others in the future.

•General Douglas MacArthur, who had commanded the Allied forces in the Pacific, was sent to oversee Japan’s restoration.​

U.S. Occupation in Japan

•MacArthur decided that Japan would be a constitutional monarchy in order to preserve the emperor’s role in the country’s culture.

•He wrote Japan’s constitution, the MacArthur Constitution, which is still considered one of the most democratic documents in the world today.

• Japanese citizens were granted many of the same rights as American citizens

​Government

•Japan’s constitution also prevents the country from declaring war or fighting with other countries (unless they are attacked first).

•After signing the new constitution, the Japanese government pledged to pay reparations to the countries that they harmed during WWII.

•The Japanese were also not allowed to rebuild their military in any way.​

​Reparations

•The United States offered financial support to help kick start Japan’s economy after World War II.

•The US invested several billion dollars into rebuilding Japan.

•Not all Americans supported the expense, but the government had its reasons to help Japan rebuild.

•The US government knew that a friendly Japan would be a valuable trading partner in the future.

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​U.S. Support

•The US government also wanted a democratic government to counteract the spread of Communism in Southern and Eastern Asia because communism was getting more popular in China, Korea, and Vietnam.

•The US government saw this as a threat to democracy, and desired to keep the Japanese from being drawn to Communism.

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Communism

Multiple Choice

With Japan’s new government and constitution, citizens were granted ___________________________.

• the right to rebuild an army

• the right to carry weapons

• diplomatic immunity

• the same rights as American citizens

Multiple Choice

What type of government did Japan have after WWII? (And still has today)

• Presidential Democracy

• Dictatorship

• Constitutional Monarchy

• Absolute Monarchy

Multiple Choice

What was one reason that the U.S. helped Japan rebuild after WWII?

• The U.S. wanted to create a strong democracy in the region (against communist China).

• The U.S. wanted to take all of Japan's resources.

• The U.S. wanted to create a strong communist nation to compete with the Soviet Union in Asia.

• The U.S. did not want Japan to drop atomic bombs on the U.S.

Multiple Choice

As part of Japan’s new constitution, Japan was prevented from _____________________.

• Importing goods from other countries

• expanding their land beyond the islands of Japan

• Declaring war unless they were attacked first

• Exporting goods to other countries