Transcript Slide 1
Victory in Europe and the Pacific Why it Matters In 1942 and 1943 the Allies turned back Axis advances In 1944 and 1945 they attacked Germany from the west and east U.S. advanced across the Pacific and created a new weapon that would change warfare and global politics Planning Germany’s Defeat Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed starting a second front in France In November 1943, they met in Teheran, Iran Agreed upon opening a second front in France and defeating Germany by Land, Sea, and Air Given the code name Operation Overlord D-Day Invasion of Normandy Eisenhower served as supreme commander Landing on a 50 mile stretch of beaches in Normandy Allies created a fictional army at Calais, west of Normandy, to deceive the Germans It worked, Hitler sent his top tank division to Calais Beaches Code Named Heroes Storm the Beaches June 6, 1944- D-Day- Allies hit Germany in force Attempted to destroy Nazi transportation and communication and soften beach defenses Four of the beaches saw low casualties Omaha- an American assigned beach- had tough opposition Omaha The Germans dug trenches and structures to fire heavy artillery The beach was covered with deadly guns and mines Some soldiers were dropped too far from the beach and drowned from heavy packs Others were met with a rainstorm of bullets, shells, and death Allies were able to gain a toehold in France Liberation of Europe Germany was now facing a two front war and losing lands they once dominated August 1944- Allies liberate Paris Hitler ordered the city be destroyed but his troops left the “City of Lights” Rommel and other leading generals planned to overthrow Hitler, but the plot failed Hitler refused to surrender Battle of the Bulge Hitler’s counter attack Hitler did take the Americans by surprise by creating a bulge in the American line, but they were able to hold on When the weather cleared, Allied forces were able to attack back and began pushing the Germans out of France Allies Push to Victory 1945- Mussolini tries to flee to Switzerland but was captured and executed Soviets, U.S., and British were making their way to Berlin Positioned for an all out assault on the capital Hitler was a physical wreck He and his closest associates committed suicide on April 30, 1945 Victory in Europe FDR did not live to see the day He died April 12, 1945 Harry S. Truman became the new President • Germany surrendered May 7 • Americans celebrated V-E day (Victory in Europe) Advancing in the Pacific American strategy of island hopping Capturing some Japanese held islands and ignoring others on a steady path toward Japan Each island was a struggle to take Rather than surrender, many Japanese killed themselves Kamikaze pilots deliberately crashed planes into American ships The U.S. and MacArthur still pushed forward Iwo Jima U.S. marines faced a determined enemy 36 days of fighting left 23,000 marines dead But the U.S. was successful in taking the island Okinawa Even deadlier than Iwo Jima Contained a vital air base necessary for a planned invasion of Japan Most complex and costly operation of island hopping strategy 50,000 casualties Japan was low of fuel and ammunition and virtually defenseless The Atomic Bomb Albert Einstein wrote to FDR about the need to proceed with atomic development The Manhattan Project- code name for the program of development of an atomic bomb J. Robert Oppenheimer- ran the scientific aspect of the project July 16, 1945 the first atomic bomb was tested Truman Makes His Decision Truman understood the ethical issues of using the bomb Axis powers also had nuclear capabilities and no way to tell how close they were to developing a bomb Chief priority was to save American lives the current campaign could cost up to 1,000,000 lives The decision was not difficult for Truman Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6, 1945- U.S. pilots drop the first bomb on Hiroshima Within 2 minutes more than 60,000 residents were dead or missing August 9, 1945- Soviet Union declares war on Japan AND the U.S. drops the 2nd bomb on Nagasaki killing 35,000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t 19kvUiHvAE&feature=fvst https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= NF4LQaWJRDg Victory in the Pacific On August 15, 1945 the Allies celebrate V-J Day (Victory in Japan) Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945 The most costly war in history was over As many as 60,000,000 people, mostly civilians, had died in the conflict