Nine Power Treaty (1922) to the nation Hitler gave the bloody night its name, privately celebrating its ruthlessness Joseph Stalin, no stranger to mass murder for political ends, admired the verve and decisiveness of the purge While the bloodletting shocked many in the West, the end of Röhm and radical-left Nazism was well-received in certain circles For instance, the Times of London opined that it showed Hitler was moving away from social radicalism toward moderation Many in Germany welcomed the purge as bringing an end to street thuggery by the despised SA, which was thereafter reduced in size and to a mere ceremonial role Instead, Germans found themselves living with much greater terror under the more sinister SS NIMITZ, CHESTER (1885–1966) Nimitz was chief of staff to the U.S submarine fleet during World War I After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was promoted to admiral He was named commander of the Pacific Fleet, replacing Admiral H E Kimmel (1882–1968), who was singled out for official blame for the attack on Pearl Three months later Nimitz was made overall commander of U.S forces in the Pacific theater, including land forces commanded by General Douglas MacArthur, who deeply resented this subordination Although in command of a much smaller battlefleet than Japan’s, Nimitz was highly aggressive He authorized carrier raids and then blocked the Japanese southward advance at the Coral Sea in May His talented subordinates struck a hard blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy at Midway in June, where his battle plan and key trust in ULTRA intelligence bested Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and turned the hinge of the Pacific War There followed tough losses but also learning from the naval battles that accompanied the Guadalcanal campaign (1942–1943) Nimitz’s greatest contribution to victory was insistence upon an island-hopping strategy, which isolated Japanese strong points as his forces advanced through the Gilbert Islands (1943), the Marshalls (1944), and the Marianas (1944) He also wanted to bypass the Philippines and drive straight to Japan, but that prospect appalled MacArthur In the end, Nimitz’s ships carried MacArthur’s invasion force to the Philippines, fighting the desperate Battle of Leyte Gulf Nimitz directed the desperately fought invasions of Iwo Jima in February 1945, and Okinawa on April 1, 1945 He began planning for all-out invasion of the Japanese home islands, but secretly withdrew his support for that option, which was being pushed hard by the U.S Army, in July 1945, after experiencing the carnage of Okinawa The invasion of Kyushu became unnecessary with the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August, followed by Japan’s formal surrender on September 2, 1945 Suggested Reading: Chester Nimitz (with E B Porter), Sea Power: A Naval History (1960) NINE POWER TREATY (1922) Negotiated at the Washington Naval Conference, it internationalized the “Open Door” concerning China, a trade principle long-championed by the United States in the Pacific It was signed by all powers with major Asian interests: Britain, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United States The treaty guaranteed Chinese 787