Pacific World War II Timeline
Editor’s note: Contributed by the War in the Pacific National Historical Park. Photos from the Micronesian Area Research Center, National Archives, Naval History and Heritage Command, The Japan Times, War in the Pacific, and Wikimedia Commons collections.
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26 July 1940
Relations between Japan and the United States deteriorate as America initiates first trade embargo on war-related goods to the Asian nation. Image information: Hull, Nomura, and Kurusu.
27 July 1940
Japan declares the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere concept desiring to ensure its dominance in Asia and the Pacific and its ability to take raw materials from its neighbors. Japan’s determination to realize the concept through a policy of expansion through aggression would lead to direct conflict with numerous nations, particularly the United States and Britain. Image information: Map of Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere 1941.
7 December 1941
Aircraft of the Japanese navy launch a surprise strike on US military facilities on Oahu, Hawaii. The attack cripples the navy at Pearl Harbor as the US is thrust into World War II. Killed were more than 2,500 Americans, 21 warships were either destroyed or damaged, 169 aircraft demolished. The attack and others nearly simultaneous across the Pacific, including Guam, and Asia would eventually net Japan an empire of more than 20 million square miles. Image information: USS SHAW Exploding During the Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor.
8 December 1941
Japan declares the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere concept desiring to ensure its dominance in Asia and the Pacific and its ability to take raw materials from its neighbors. Japan’s determination to realize the concept through a policy of expansion through aggression would lead to direct conflict with numerous nations, particularly the United States and Britain. Image information: Map of Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere 1941.
9 December 1941
Japanese aircraft return to Guam to bomb and strafe Hagåtña, Piti, Sumai and other villages. Image information: A 6 M 2 Zeros Japanese Empire During World War Two.
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Relations between Japan and the United States deteriorate as America initiates first trade embargo on war-related goods to the Asian nation. Image information: Hull, Nomura, and Kurusu.
Japan declares the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere concept desiring to ensure its dominance in Asia and the Pacific and its ability to take raw materials from its neighbors. Japan’s determination to realize the concept through a policy of expansion through aggression would lead to direct conflict with numerous nations, particularly the United States and Britain. Image information: Map of Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere 1941.
Aircraft of the Japanese navy launch a surprise strike on US military facilities on Oahu, Hawaii. The attack cripples the navy at Pearl Harbor as the US is thrust into World War II. Killed were more than 2,500 Americans, 21 warships were either destroyed or damaged, 169 aircraft demolished. The attack and others nearly simultaneous across the Pacific, including Guam, and Asia would eventually net Japan an empire of more than 20 million square miles. Image information: USS SHAW Exploding During the Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor.
Across the dateline and shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese dive-bombers from bases in Saipan, the Marshalls and Formosa, strike Guam, Wake Island and the Philippines. On this day in the US mainland, President Roosevelt, elected 5 November, describes the attack on Pearl Harbor as “a date which will live in infamy.” US formally declares war on Japan as do Canada and Great Britain. Image information: Japanese Offensive, December 1941.
Japanese aircraft return to Guam to bomb and strafe Hagåtña, Piti, Sumai and other villages. Image information: A 6 M 2 Zeros Japanese Empire During World War Two.