Empire of Japan

====Tide turns====
[[File:Battle of Midway.jpg|thumb|A model representing the attack by dive bombers from {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} and {{USS|Enterprise|CV-6|6}} on the Japanese aircraft carriers {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Sōryū||2}}, {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}} and {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}} in the morning of June 4, 1942, during the [[Battle of Midway]]]]

Japanese military strategists were keenly aware of the unfavorable discrepancy between the industrial potential of Japan and the United States. Because of this they reasoned that Japanese success hinged on their ability to extend the strategic advantage gained at [[Naval Station Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] with additional rapid strategic victories. The Japanese Command reasoned that only decisive destruction of the United States' Pacific Fleet and conquest of its remote outposts would ensure that the Japanese Empire would not be overwhelmed by America's industrial might.

In April 1942, Japan was bombed for the first time in the [[Doolittle Raid]]. During the same month, after the Japanese victory in the Battle of Bataan, the [[Bataan Death March]] was conducted, where 5,650 to 18,000 Filipinos died under the rule of the imperial army.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/254296/lifestyle/artandculture/ww2-historical-markers-remind-pinoys-of-bataan-s-role-on-day-of-valor/ |title=WW2 historical markers remind Pinoys of Bataan's role on Day of Valor |website=GMA News Online|date=April 9, 2012 }}</ref> In May 1942, failure to decisively defeat the Allies at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], in spite of Japanese numerical superiority, equated to a strategic defeat for the Japanese. This setback was followed in June 1942 by the catastrophic loss of four fleet carriers at the [[Battle of Midway]], the first decisive defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It proved to be the turning point of the war as the Navy lost its offensive strategic capability and never managed to reconstruct the "'critical mass' of both large numbers of carriers and well-trained air groups".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://combinedfleet.com/battles/Battle_of_Midway |title=Battle of Midway – Nihon Kaigun |website=combinedfleet.com}}</ref>

Australian land forces defeated Japanese Marines in New Guinea at the [[Battle of Milne Bay]] in September 1942, which was the first land defeat suffered by the Japanese in the Pacific. Further victories by the Allies at [[Guadalcanal campaign|Guadalcanal]] in September 1942 and [[New Guinea]] in 1943 put the Empire of Japan on the defensive for the remainder of the war, with Guadalcanal in particular sapping their already-limited oil supplies.<ref name="combinedfleet.com"/> During 1943 and 1944, Allied forces, backed by the industrial might and vast raw material resources of the United States, advanced steadily towards Japan. The [[Sixth United States Army]], led by [[General MacArthur]], landed on [[Leyte Island|Leyte]] on October 20, 1944. The [[Palawan massacre]] was committed by the imperial army against Filipinos in December 1944.<ref>Wilbanks, Bob (2004). Last Man Out. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. pp. 45, 53, 56, 68–69, 80–81, 84–85, 92, 98–99, 100, 102, 106–107. {{ISBN|9780786418220}}.</ref> In the subsequent months, during the [[Philippines campaign (1944–45)]], the Allies, including the combined United States forces together with the native guerrilla units, recaptured the Philippines.