Transcript WWII Winning the War

World War II: The “Big Three” Turn the Tide
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• In 1940, FDR viewed Germany as the greatest threat to U.S.
security and the future of democracy
• By giving material aid to GB, the U.S. would act as “the
great arsenal of democracy”
• Wished to defend the “four freedoms” = freedom of speech,
freedom of religion, freedom from want, freedom from fear.
• Lend-Lease Act (1941) permitted GB to obtain all the U.S.
arms it needed on credit
• The Atlantic Charter (1941) with Churchill affirmed their
peace objectives
-self-determination for all people, no territorial
expansion, and free trade
• Goal = defeat Germany first with fewest U.S. casualties
The Big Three meet at the Yalta Conference, February 1945
Winston Churchill
• Prime Minister of Great Britain
• Believed that German defenses were too strong in northern and
western Europe
• Supported an Allied strategy of first attacking German troops in North
Africa
• Goal = move on the attack Germany from the south through the “soft
underbelly” of Europe = Italy
Joseph Stalin
• Leader of the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)
• The Soviets faced a brutal attack from Germany
• Death rates were extremely high among Russian forces and civilians
(outnumbered that all Allied deaths combined)
• Goal = open up a second front in western Europe
-promised a 2nd front early in war, didn’t come until 1944
World War II: The Battlefronts
Fighting Germany
Coordinating their military strategy, the British and
Americans concentrated on two objectives in 1942:
1. Overcome the threat of German submarines in the
Atlantic
2. Begin the bombing campaign of German cities
Battle of the Atlantic
Naval war to control the shipping lanes of the Atlantic
German submarine warfare contained through
developments in the use of radar, sonar, and the
bombing of naval bases
Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942-January 1943)
Very bloody fighting between German and
Russian forces
Russian forces defeated the Germans and forced
them to retreat
Importance
Turning point in the fighting of the war in Europe
Proximity to Russian oil fields made this a
strategic location for the war effort
D-Day Invasion (June 6, 1944)
Allied invasion of Normandy in western France
Largest invasion by sea in world history
Involved over 200,000 Allied troops, 11,000 aircraft, and
4,000 vessels
General Dwight Eisenhower commanded troops from the
U.S., G.B., France, and Canada
Within six weeks over one million more Allied troops
landed in western France
Allied offensive moved quickly to push back the German
occupying forces
August 1944 = Allied troops had liberated Paris
September 1944 = Allied troops had crossed the German
border for the final push to Berlin
World War II in Europe and North Africa
Yalta Conference (February 1945)
The Big Three met to discuss the future of Europe
after the defeat of Germany
1. Germany would be divided into occupation
zones
2. Free elections would be held in the liberated
countries of Eastern Europe
3. The Soviets would enter the war against Japan
4. The Allied Powers would create a new world
peace organization = the United Nations
Germany’s Defeat
Allied bombing raids over Germany had reduced the
nation’s industrial capacity and ability to continue
fighting
Hitler committed suicide and the Nazi army surrendered
a week later
V-E Day = May 8, 1945 the Allies accepted the
unconditional surrender of Germany
U.S. troops witnessed the horrifying extent of the Nazi
concentration camps
-more than 6 million Jewish civilians had been
murdered
-Soviet prisoners of war, Polish and Soviet civilians,
homosexuals, people with disabilities, and other
political and religious opponents were targeted
The War in the Pacific
Fighting Japan
The war in the Pacific was dominated by naval
forces battling over a vast area
Turning points in halting the Japanese advance:
1. Battle of the Coral Sea (May 1942) U.S.
aircraft carriers stopped a Japanese invasion of
Australia
2. Battle of Midway (June 1942) U.S. destroyed
four aircraft carriers and 300 planes = major
turning point
Island Hopping Strategy
Campaign to get within striking distance of Japan
by seizing strategic islands in the Pacific
Bypassed strongly held Japanese islands and
isolated them with naval and air power
1. Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 1944) the
Japanese navy was nearly destroyed, kamikaze
attacks were used
2. Battle of Iwo Jima (Feb-March 1945) bloody
battle with 27,000 U.S. casualties = 1/3 of all
Marines killed in the Pacific
World War II in the Pacific
Bombing of Tokyo (March 1945)
Over 80,000 Japanese killed = mostly civilians
200,000 buildings destroyed
16 square mile section of the city was targeted for
destruction
The Japanese continued to fight even after this serious
loss of life and property
Potsdam Conference (July-August 1945)
Stalin was the only remaining member of the Big Three =
Harry Truman (U.S.), Clement Atlee (G.B.)
1. Issued a declaration to Japan to surrender
unconditionally or face “prompt and utter destruction”
2. Pledged to hold war-crime trials of military leaders
Atomic Warfare (1945)
Hiroshima (Aug. 6) & Nagasaki (Aug. 9)
Nearly 160,000 were killed or injured from bombing
Possibly 100,000 later died of burns and exposure to
radiation
Japanese Surrender
V-J Day = August 14, 1945
Japan’s formal surrender (Sept. 2) aboard the
battleship Missouri in Tokyo harbor was received
by General MacArthur
The Legacy of World War II
1. Approximately 300,000 Americans lost their lives in
battle, and another 800,000 were wounded
2. 50 nations met to draft a charter for a new
international peacekeeping organization = United
Nations
3. France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, China, Japan,
and the Soviet Union had all suffered extensive
damage from the war
4. American cities had remained unscarred and after the
war the U.S. was the most prosperous and powerful
nation in the world
5. While people looked forward to a more peaceful and
democratic world, tensions with the Soviet Union and
the threat of nuclear war would affect this sense of
optimism