Transcript Multiple Front war

WWII was fought on multiple
fronts.
Multiple Front war
A
multiple front war divided the
U.S. war efforts and fighting
forces. The forces of the U.S.
were divided between confronting
Germany and Italy in North Africa
and Europe and confronting
Japan in the Pacific.
Multiple Front War
A
multiple front war created a huge
demand for wartime supplies and
resources. The demand for men and
supplies on all fronts challenged the
resources of the United States and made
the U.S. the major supplier for all the Allied
Powers.
Strategic Objective
1. Hitler
first: Churchill &
FDR wanted to concentrate on
defeating Germany before
giving Japan higher priority.
Axis Powers & Leaders
Axis
Powers - Germany, Italy,
Japan. Axis Leaders:
• Adolf Hitler - Fascist dictator
of Germany.
• Benito Mussolini - Fascist
dictator of Italy.
• Hirohito - Emperor of Japan.
Allied Powers & Leaders
 Allied
Powers - Great Britain, France, the
U.S.S.R, and the United States [after 1941].
Allied Leaders:
 • Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of Great
Britain.
 • Josef Stalin - Communist dictator of the
U.S.S.R.
 • Franklin D. Roosevelt - President of the
United States, President Harry Truman after
Roosevelt’s death in 1945
Advantages to the Allied
Powers with the United States
involved in the war
 1.
The capacity for war production of the
United States provided a significant
advantage.
 2. Fresh troops could be obtained from the
United States. The Allied countries were
tired because they had been fighting
somewhere in Europe since 1939.
Allied Turning Points in the War
Battle
of Stalingrad (Sept.
1942)
 First major German defeat on
land.
D-Day June 6, 1944

D-Day (June 6, 1944): Invasion of Normandy -"Operation Overlord"

a. Perhaps war’s most important battle
b. Commanded by General Dwight D.
Eisenhower
c. 120,000 troops left England and
stormed 5 beachheads at Normandy Coast.
i. 800,000 more men within 3 weeks;
3 million total
 Signaled the beginning of the liberation of
Europe
Liberation of Europe
 Invasion
of Germany
a. Pre-invasion bombing
i. Hamburg all but wiped out in
summer 1943
ii. Berlin and other major cities
and targets hit repeatedly
especially factories and oil refineries.
Europe surrenders May 8, 1945
The Pacific Front
of Midway (June 4-7, 1942) –
turning point in the Pacific war
Japan never won another battle
in the Pacific after the defeat at
Midway.

The US began Island Hopping
towards the Japanese mainland
 Battle
Island Hopping
Island
Hopping military
strategy began in 1943 and
involved the US forces
attacking islands randomly as
they made their way towards
Japan. Allowed us to break
through Japanese defenses
and get closer to Japan
Island Hopping
The bombing of Japan
.
Bombing of Japan resulted in destruction
of most major cities
-- March 1945, 100,000 die in a
single Tokyo raid; 60% of buildings
destroyed.
 At this point it did not look like the
Japanese would surrender any time
soon
Death of FDR
 Election
of 1944 and death of FDR
A. FDR, with running-mate Harry S.
Truman, defeated Republican Thomas
Dewey.
-- FDR elected to an unprecedented
fourth term in office.
B. April 12, 1945 -- FDR died at Warm
Springs, GA
C. Vice President Harry Truman
become president
Truman becomes President
The Manhattan Project
Super
Secret
project to
create the
atomic
bomb
The Manhattan project
The explosion
The Atomic bomb
 August
6, 1945 -- First atomic bomb ("Little
Boy") dropped on Hiroshima
1. 80,000 killed immediately; 100,000
injured
-- Countless die later of radiation
sickness or cancer
2. Bomb dropped by the Enola Gay
3. Japanese gov’t still did not
surrender
V-J Day
 August
9, 2nd bomb ("Fat Man") dropped
on Nagasaki; 60,000 dead

F. August 14, Japan surrendered
1. World War II is over.
2. Sept 2, Japanese formally
surrendered aboard U.S.S. Missouri in
Tokyo Bay.
Decision to drop the Atomic Bomb
 The
decision to drop the atomic bomb
became controversial in later few decades.
1. Most compelling reason for
dropping the bomb was that it saved
countless U.S. lives who would have had to
invade Japan.
Hiroshima after the bomb
The aftermath of the Atomic bomb
Japan surrenders
Japan surrenders
Important American Military
Leaders

Omar Bradley Omar
Nelson Bradley,
(1893-1981),
American general,
who during World
War II commanded
the U. S. 12th Army
Group in Europe.
 Took part in the
invasion of Normandy
– D-Day
Dwight D. Eisenhower



Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890-1969
American general and 34th
President of the United States was
the principal architect of the
successful Allied invasion of
Europe during World War II and of
the subsequent defeat of Nazi
Germany.
He led the assault on the French
coast at Normandy, on June 6,
1944, and held together the Allied
units through the European
campaign that followed.
Douglas MacArthur
1880 – 1964


During World War II, MacArthur
fought in Southeast Asia against
Japan. After the defeat of his forces
in the Philippines, he made his
famous statement to the troops who
were left behind: “I shall return.”
He became Supreme Commander of
the Allied Forces in the Southwest
Pacific and took command of
Australian, American, Dutch, and
other Allied forces defending
Australia, fighting mainly in and
around New Guinea.
George Patton
1885-1945

During World War II he
served in North Africa and
Sicily before becoming the
commander of the Third
Army.
 Patton distinguished himself
in various World War II
campaigns including the
invasion of North Africa and
the capture of Sicily.
Chester A. Nimitz
1885-1966



In December 1941, however, he was
designated as Commander in Chief,
Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas,
where he served throughout the war.
On December 19, 1944, he was
advanced to the newly created rank of
Fleet Admiral.
He commanded American forces during
their long advance across the Pacific to
full victory in August 1945.