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The Pacific Theater of Operations,
or PTO, was the term used by the
United States in
World War II to refer to all military activity in the
Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it.
Because of the nearly equal roles of the
Army and the
Navy in conducting war in the Pacific, there was never a single
commander comparable to
Eisenhower in the
ETO. Indeed, the
organization chart was rather
tangled, with the
Joint Chiefs of Staff frequently required to be involved, and the Army
and Navy commanders reporting to both the
Secretary of the Navy and the
Secretary of War. (No doubt the attendant difficulties helped motivate
the formation of the
Department of Defense in
1947.)
The main commands in the PTO were the
Pacific Fleet, commanded by Admiral
Chester Nimitz and the
Southwest Pacific Area command, run
by General
Douglas MacArthur.
Japanese Nomenclature covering at least PTO:
- At least initially in
World War II, the official
Japanese name for the war was Dai toua sensou
(大東亜戦争,
Greater East Asia War). This name was chosen by a
cabinet decision on
December 10,
1941, to refer to both the war with the
United States and the ongoing war in
China, which began with the China Incident (or
Mukden Incident). The name was released to the public two days later,
on
December 12, with a government explanation that it referred to the
motivation of Asian nations to achieve independence from the Western
nations - it was not intented to set parameters for the battlefield. Soon
after the start of the war with the USA, this term was prohibited in
official documents, though some say its use continued.
- The war was from this point called
Taiheiyo sensou (太平洋戦争)
literally meaning the Pacific War. This latter term has been in
use since that time.
- Less often,
Jyugonen'sensou (十五年戦争
15 Year War) is used to
refer to the war, beginning with the Japanese invasion of China in
1931 (also called the
Sino-Japanese War) to the end of
World War II in
1945. The term is used to highlight the rule of militarism over the
years.
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