Editing Guadalcanal campaign (section)

===Strategy===
While the Battle of Midway is viewed as a turning point in the Pacific War, Japan remained on the offensive, as shown by its advances down the Solomon Islands. Only after the Allied victories in Guadalcanal and New Guinea (at [[Battle of Milne Bay|Milne Bay]] and Buna–Gona)<ref>Dean 2013, p. 236; Keogh 1965, p. 249; James 2012, p. 213.</ref> were these large-scale Japanese offensive actions stopped. Strategic initiative passed to the Allies, as it proved, permanently. The Guadalcanal campaign ended all Japanese expansion attempts in the Pacific and placed the Allies in a position of clear supremacy.<ref>Willmott, ''Barrier and the Javelin'', pp. 522–523; Parshall and Tully, ''Shattered Sword'', pp. 416–430.</ref> The Allied victory at Guadalcanal was the first step in a long string of successes that eventually led [[surrender of Japan|to the surrender]] and [[occupation of Japan]].<ref>Hough, p. 350</ref><ref>Hough, p. 372; Miller, p. 350; Zimmerman, p. 166.</ref>

The "[[Europe first]]" policy agreed to by the Allies had initially only allowed for defensive actions against Japanese expansion in order to focus resources on defeating Germany. However, Admiral King's argument for the Guadalcanal invasion, as well as its successful implementation, convinced Roosevelt that the Pacific Theater could be pursued offensively as well.<ref>Hornfischer, Neptune's Inferno, pp. 11–15</ref> By the end of 1942, it was clear that Japan had lost the Guadalcanal campaign, a serious blow to Japan's strategic plans for the defense of their empire and an unanticipated defeat at the hands of the Americans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Willmott |first1=H. P. |first2=Robin |last2=Cross |first3=Charles |last3=Messenger |editor-first=Dennis |editor-last=Cowe |title=World War II |orig-year=2004 |year=2006 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |isbn=1-4053-1262-9 |pages=208 |chapter=American Offensives in the Pacific}}; Miller, p. 350; Shaw, p. 52; Alexander, p. 81.</ref>

Perhaps as important as the military victory for the Allies was the psychological victory. On a level playing field, the Allies had beaten Japan's best land, air, and naval forces. After Guadalcanal, Allied personnel regarded the Japanese military with much less fear and awe than previously. In addition, the Allies viewed the eventual outcome of the Pacific War with greatly increased optimism.<ref>Murray p. 215</ref>

<blockquote>Tokyo Express no longer has terminus on Guadalcanal.
: —Major General [[Alexander Patch]], USA, Commander, U.S. Forces on Guadalcanal<br /></blockquote>

<blockquote>Guadalcanal is no longer merely a name of an island in Japanese military history. It is the name of the graveyard of the Japanese army.
:— Major General [[Kiyotake Kawaguchi]], IJA, Commander, 35th Infantry Brigade at Guadalcanal<ref>Quoted in Leckie (1999) p. 9 and others</ref></blockquote>

Beyond Kawaguchi, several Japanese political and military leaders, including [[Naoki Hoshino]], Nagano, and [[Torashirō Kawabe]], stated shortly after the war that Guadalcanal was the decisive turning point in the conflict. Said Kawabe, "As for the turning point [of the war], when the positive action ceased or even became negative, it was, I feel, at Guadalcanal."<ref>Zimmerman p. 167</ref>