War In The Pacific Chapter 5 Analysis

The theater of war with Japan in the Pacific was very different from the theater of war with Germany in Europe as described in Chapter 5, The War against Japan: What Was Needed and What Was Done, in Major Problems in the History of World War I . The Chapter describes the intense military and political disagreements among the Allies over strategic military objectives, the resulting implications, and consequences in fighting the war on post-war diplomacy. The Chapter also describes experiences among those serving in the War in the Pacific.
While the American public overwhelmingly viewed Japan as the predominant enemy, the United States publically supported the Allied Germany-first strategy. However, from 1942 to 1943, the United States sent more forces to the Pacific than were sent to Europe, but they was not successful in preventing Japanese takeover of the Philippines, Burma, Dutch East Indies, and European colonies in Southeastern Asia. Japan suffered setbacks in the naval battles at Midway, Coral Sea, Solomon Islands in 1942, along with many months of fighting on Guadalcanal. It was not until late in 1943, that the tide turned
The first essay by Spector looks at the differing experiences of American service personnel, including black and female service members and prisoners of war. Dower’s essay maintains the war in the Pacific was also a race war that has not been well-studied. Dower evaluates the impact of racial stereotyping and cultural superiority in transforming the war in the Pacific into a conflict without mercy. The third essay by Schaller delves into the political and military impacts and consequences in the China-Burma-India theater of America’s policy towards China and their backing of Chiang Kai-sheck’s forces in China, and the resulting Allied disagreements and impacts in the Asia in the war in the