Transcript WWII - XMission

World War
Introduction:
• Most devastating war in human history
• 55 million dead
• 1 trillion dollars
• Began in 1939 as strictly a European
Conflict
• Widened to include most of the world
How It Began:
• WWI leftovers
• Defeated Germany had to pay the cost of war.
• Restrictions from the Treaty of Versailles prevents
Germany from rebuilding their military
• Italy victorious but wanted more territory
• Japan victorious but wanted China
• Outside factors…
What Were These Outside
Factors?
• Germany reduced size
• Organized League of Nations
• France and Britain unsure, scared of another
war
• U.S. isolationist, also scared of another war
Rise of Hitler
• Nazi Party organized, 1920s
• Nazi party largest in Germany, 1932
• Hitler voted as chancellor, 1933
• New parliament created
• 450, 000 members
• Larger than German army
Hitler Gets Busy
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Gestapo Created -- April, 1933
Jewish Boycott – April, 1933
Jewish Books Banned & Burned – May, 1933
27,000 People in Camps – July, 1933
60,000 People in Camps – 1938
Illegal to Leave Germany – October, 1941
German Territorial Gains
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Austria – March, 1938
Border of Czechoslovakia – Sept., 1938
All of Czechoslovakia – March, 1939
Poland – Sept., 1939
By Summer of 1940, Germany Controlled
Most of Europe
• World shocked as France falls to Germans
Making Friends With Hitler
• Stalin and the Soviet
Union, 1939
• Betrayed by 1941
• Mussolini and Italy,
1939
• Until Italian overthrow
of Mussolini in 1943
Japan
• Japan is also in
economic crisis
• Japan was “China
Hungry”
• Japanese angry over
U.S. support of China
• Officially allied itself
with Germany in 1940
Pearl Harbor
Dec. 7, 1941
Damages
U. S. Involved In War
• “A date which will
live in infamy,”
• Congress declares war
Dec. 8, 1941 – hours
after Roosevelt speaks
• Germany and Italy
declare war on the
U.S. Dec. 11
Allies United:
U.S.S.R, England and The U.S.
Invasion of Normandy
D-Day, June 6, 1944
“There were bodies
bobbing in the
water, even out
three or four
miles.”
--Lieutenant Robert Edlin
D-Day
Landing on Normandy Beach
D-Day Invasion, June 6, 1944
• Allied troops landed at Omaha Beach.
• Allies suffered over 2,000 casualties.
• Within one week, ½ million men came
ashore.
• By late July, Allies had over 2 million
troops in France
Liberating France
• Ground gained at
Normandy
• General Patton pushes
through northern France
• Uprising started by the
French Resistance frees
Paris
War in Europe Ends
• In March 1945 Allied bombers increase
strikes of German cities
• Soviet forces advance from the east
• April 25, 1945 – Soviet forces meet up with
American forces
• Hitler commits suicide in an underground
bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945
V-E Day
• V-E (Victory in
Europe Day)
• May 8, 1945,
Germany surrenders
• Celebration is quickly
quelled by the
discovery of The
Holocaust
War in the Pacific
• Attack on Pearl Harbor just the beginning…
• Hours after Pearl Harbor, Japanese
warplanes bombed Clark Field, an
American air base in the Philippines.
• Japanese attack American bases on Wake
Island on Dec. 8
• Bases in Guam are attacked Dec. 10
WHY???
• Attacks were designed
to gain control of the
Western Pacific.
• Hoped to shatter
American forces
• Hoped for American
withdrawal from the
area.
The Philippines Fall
• Over 11,000 Americans and Filipinos
surrender to invading Japanese on May 6.
• 76,000 Filipinos and Americans in total
were captured and held as prisoners of war.
• Japanese split these POWs into groups of
500-1,000 to be moved into an army camp.
Bataan Death March
• POWs were forced to march many miles.
• During the march they were denied water
and rest.
• Those who could not keep up were beaten,
tortured, and often shot.
• At least 10,000 POWs died during the 6-12
day march.
• Those who survived were sent to prison
camps where an additional 15,000 died.
China Enters the War
• Officially joins Allies on
Dec. 9, 1941
• Chinese armies were
poorly trained and
quickly lost control of
the Burma Road to the
Japanese.
Doolittle Raid
• In April 1942, American B-25 bombers took
off, lead by Lieutenant Colonel James
Doolittle.
• The planes flew 650 miles to Japan to carry
out a counterattack.
• Dropped bombs on Tokyo and other cities
before crash landing in China.
• Little damage but boosted morale.
Battle of Midway
• Began June 4, 1942.
• Key island about 1,100 miles northwest of
Hawaii.
• Fought entirely from the air.
• Americans sank 4 Japanese carriers and
downed 250 planes killing most of Japan’s
most skilled naval pilots.
• American victory was due to break of
Japanese code JN-25.
Battle of Guadalcanal
• Allies finally have offensive in the Pacific.
• First goal is to take Guadalcanal where
Japanese were building an airfield.
• More than 11,000 marines landed on the
island in August 1942.
• The 2,200 Japanese who were defending the
island fled into the jungle.
“Jungle Warfare”
• Americans were forced to fight in
the jungle.
• Marines were easy targets for
snipers.
• Both sides landed thousands of
reinforcements.
• After 5 months of fighting, Japan’s
forces left the island in Feb. 1943.
Island-Hopping
• Americans selectively
attacked key islands, cutting
off other islands.
• This helped Americans
move closer to their
ultimate goal…
• JAPAN!!
Iwo Jima
• One of the bloodiest battles of the war.
• Tiny island, 700 miles from Japan.
• Steep, rocky slopes were covered with
caves and tunnels controlled by the
Japanese.
• For 74 days, American planes poured nearly
7,000 tons of bombs on the island.
Iwo Jima
• Americans stormed the beaches in Feb.
1945 encountering fierce resistance.
• After 3 days of combat, Americans had
advanced only about 700 yards inland.
• Eventually nearly 110,000 Americans were
on the island fighting only 25,000 Japanese.
• After 1 month, Americans secured the
island. Only 216 Japanese were captured.
Casualties of Iwo Jima
• Americans suffered an
estimated 25,000
casualties.
• 27 Medals of Honor
were awarded.
• This photo came to
symbolize the
struggles and
sacrifices of American
troops.
Battle of Okinawa
• Small island, 350 miles
from Japan
• Fought from April to June
of 1945
• Final obstacle to a
Japanese invasion.
• Over 100,000 defenders
pledged to fight to the
death
• Allies send 1,300 warships
and over 180,000 troops to
invade the island.
• Effort is second only to DDay.
• Japanese flew nearly
2,000 kamikaze attacks.
• Defenders used banzai
charges to keep U.S. out.
Casualties of Okinawa
• Japanese surrender
after 3 months.
• 7,200 Japanese
remained to surrender.
• Nearly 50,000
Americans died.
• Deadliest battle of the
Pacific war.
“We would attack during
the day, dig in for the
night – not for sleep
but for safety… And
then, at night, they
would come a
screaming banzai or a
single shadow.”
-An American GI at Okinawa
The Invasion of Japan?
• After grueling battles
at Iwo Jima and
Okinawa, Americans
are aware of how
costly an invasion
would be.
• Japanese had proven
their willingness to die
for their cause.
The Manhattan Project
• In August 1939, Einstein
sends a letter to
Roosevelt warning of a
new bomb Germans
could build.
• Roosevelt creates a team
of scientists to build the
atomic bomb first.
• Called the Manhattan
Project.
The Atomic Bomb
• July 16, 1945, scientists
field test the first atomic
bomb in New Mexico.
“Now I am become Death,
the destroyer of worlds.”
Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy book
(Recalled by J. Robert Oppenheimer)
Possible Scenarios to End the War
1. Massive invasion of
Japan, expected to
cost millions in
Allied casualties.
2. Naval blockade to
starve Japan, along
with conventional
bombing.
1. Demonstration of the
new weapon on a
deserted island to
pressure Japan to
surrender.
2. Softening of Allied
demands for an
unconditional
surrender.
What To Do???
• Roosevelt dies suddenly in April 1945,
making Harry S. Truman President.
• An advisory group of scientists, military
leaders, and government officials met to
debate the options.
• The final decision, however, rested with
President Truman.
Truman Decides
• Easy decision for Truman
• Bomb is a military weapon,
made to be used.
“You should do your weeping
at Pearl Harbor.”
Truman to his critics, 1963
August 6, 1945
The Enola Gay dropped a single bomb on
Hiroshima, a city in southern Japan and the site of
a large army base.
August 9, 1945
A second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki.
Japan Surrenders
• August 14, 1945, the
government of Japan
accepts American terms for
surrender.
• The next day, Americans
celebrated V-J Day
• Formal surrender was
signed September 2, 1945.
World War II Ends
After 6 years of
fighting, the second
World War finally
comes to an end.
And the world lived
happily ever
after…or did it?