Transcript D-DAY

The Bombing of Japan
The Nuclear Era of Warfare Begins
World War II
Battle of
Britain
Poland
Invasion
Pearl
Harbor
Battle of
Stalingrad
&
Operation
Torch
D-Day
<------------------------------------------------->
1939
1940
France
Falls
1941
Invasion
Soviet
Union
1942
1943
Battle of
Midway
1944
1945
Germany
Surrenders
&
Atomic
Bomb ends
Pacific War
U.S. closes in on Japan
March 1945 Marines take Iwo Jima
– Island 660 miles from Tokyo
• April 1945 Marines take Okinawa
– 350 Miles from Japan
– 110,000 Japanese soldiers die, 12,500 Americans
– Over 100,000 civilians die
Okinawa
350 Miles
Iwo Jima
650 Miles
Atomic Bombs
Top secret project known as the
“Manhattan Project”
First bomb exploded in desert in July 1945
Decision: Invade Japan?
• US estimated they would lose 500,000 lives
• The new President, Harry Truman, demanded
unconditional surrender
• Japan did not respond
Atomic Bomb
• Hiroshima August 6th, 1945
– Population 365,000
– 73,000 die
• Nagasaki August 9th
– Population 200,000
– 38,000 die
Some survive—but are
scarred for life!
Thousands die
Japan Surrenders
• Douglas MacArthur accepts surrender
– September 1945
• WORLD WAR II officially ends!
The Decision to drop the Bomb
Was it necessary?
Historical Reading & Analysis