The World War II was the largest and most brutal conflict in the history of mankind. Now almost seven decades later, the repercussions of the conflict still exacts a toll on our collective awareness. During the six years that this massive war waged, several areas of battle emerged; often referred to as theaters. Of particular significance to the US involvement then were two theaters; the Pacific and the Europe wars. While these two theaters had the United States’ attention; there are numerous similarities and notable differences. The geographical location, the epicenters of the conflict, and the significant players; are some of the notable difference of these two theatres. On the other hand, there were similarities; the significant antagonists in both wars were similar, Axis powers in both theaters were driven by similar objective of territorial increase.
Similarities between the European and Pacific theaters
On 7 December 1941, while the German were making an onslaught to Moscow, Japan suddenly shoved the United States into the war through the attack launched on the American naval base situated at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Hitler then declared war on the United States four days after, marking the entry of the United States to the war that had been raging in the world for a while.
The significant motivation for warmongers in both theaters was territorial expansion. The Pacific theater provided a background on Japanese expansion in the Pacific, from the first decade of the 20th century. Germany, on the other hand, lays its footprints in European from 1900 leading to the First World War and subsequently to Hitler’s expansionist agenda for the German ‘super race’.
Germany and Japan sets the way in motion backed by the superior war machinery than their unsuspecting neighbors. It is an endeavor to gain geographical expansion in order to provide land for settlement for their growing populations.
Differences between the European and Pacific Theaters
There are numerous differences in these two theater of significance is first of all the geographical locations. While the Pacific theater was mainly in a tropical zone, the European zone was fought in the temperate region during winter. These two different geographical regions meant different tactical approaches in terms of delivery of weapons, food and medical supplies. In Europe, fighting was primarily land-based, as it extended deep into continental European with the notable battle fronts being Stalingrad, Moscow, France and Belgium. On the other hand, the war in the Pacific fought mainly at sea or launched from sea. It involved a series of island hopping and island invasions. Also of note was the number of countries involved on both sides. While the Pacific war was mainly the United States fighting Japan, in Europe it was an organized number of counties for both the Allies and the Axis. It is also noteworthy that these two counties did not really experience war on their mainland. After the Doolittle raid, Japan did not experience much of the war at home until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For the United States, Pearl Harbor was the closest it could get to them. It has also been reported that the Japanese fought to the last man, thus there were only few prisoners of war. The Germans on the other-hand surrendered, leading to the high number of prisoners.
In general, the World War II had impacts that resonated throughout the world. It was a war that had the highest number of civilian casualties in history. The differences would only come from the different motivations, geographical locations and the main players.
Bibliography
Duiker, William , and Jackson Spielvogel . World History, 7th ed. New York: Cengage Learning, 2012.
Kuehn, John. "Truman and MacArthur: Policy, Politics and the Hunger for Honor and Renown." Military Review, 2009: 131.
