 Complete the following phrase:  The Empire of Japan was the leader of the Axis powers in the Pacific Theatre. Some scholars consider the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began when Japan invaded China after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, to be the true beginning of World War II. This conflict merged with the world war following Japans attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, which was immediately followed by a series of coordinated attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island; on the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong; and on the Kingdom of Thailand. During 1942 Japan launched offensives in the China, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Theatres of the war. By late 1942 Japan was on the defensive as the Allies reversed its earlier gains. The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States, together with the 