Major Battles in WWII

The Philippine Islands

Conflict in the Philippine Islands began with the invasion of Japan, in December of 1941. This was shortly after the Japanese Empire declared war on America. The Japanese invaded the Philippines because the United States had control over the islands with large military bases there. Capture of the Philippine Islands was crucial to Japan's effort to control the Southwest Pacific. Unlike the air strike on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which was to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet in its home port, the attack on the Philippines was meant to be full-scale invasion and occupation. From the very beginning the Japanese overwhelm the unprepared American troops in Philippines. The significance of the campaigns in the Philippines was that after the American and Filipino soldiers stop the advancement of the Japanese, they would soon gain control over the Pacific. Besides this another leading significances of this campaign was that I allow General Douglas MacArthur to escape form the Philippines to Australia. MacArthur was the man in charge of operations in the Philippines, and he left saying that he will return.