Transcript US Hist B - Ch 24, US goes to war

The United States Goes to War
THE BIG THREE
• US Alliance with Great Britain and the Soviet
Union
• Ideological differences
• Common Enemy – Hitler
• Stalin asked others to attack from France and
open a second front to split the Nazi forces
• Eastern Front took a heavy toll on the Soviet
population
• Allies attacked through Northern Africa
Early Allied Victory
• November 1942, GB won a victory in El
Alamein in Egypt.
– They made Germans retreat west.
• Eisenhower took US/GB troops in
Morocco & Algeria and pushed east.
• The two allied forces came together and
posed an intimidating threat.
– 240,000 Germans/Italian surrendered.
General George Marshall
• FDR’s Army Joint
Chief of Staff
• Orchestrated the “War
in Europe!”
• Later will win the
Nobel Peace Prize for
his “Marshall Plan.”
North Africa
• General George S.
Patton – Allies
• General Erwin
Rommell “Desert
Fox” – Axis (Nazi)
Hitler invades Soviet Union?!!?
• Since 1924, Hitler had called for conquest
of the Soviet Union.
– He claimed Germany needed Lebensraum.
• Living space
– After the loss of the Battle of Britain, he
launched an attack against the Soviet Union.
• June 1941, 3.6 million Germans poured
across the Soviet (Baltic to Black Sea).
• Soviets used “Scorched Earth” policy for
defense.
• Stalin asked
Roosevelt for help
through the LendLease Act.
• Stalin asked the
allies to please
attack Western
Europe.
– Would make Hitler
divide his troops.
– Instead Churchill
wanted to invade
Italy the “soft
under-belly of
Europe.”
Stalin asks for Help!
Allies invade Italy
• Allies, led by General George Patton,
launch invasion of Sicily from North
Africa.
– Fell in 38 days.
• Mussolini is denounced and arrested by the
Italian government.
• Italy announces declaration of war agaisnt
Germany.
Peace out Mussolini…
Here he is with his mistress
Battle of Stalingrad
• September 1942 – Germany attacks, bombs!
– Prolonged German offensive.
• Mid Nov – got too cold for the Nazi’s
– The Red Army was able to beat them!
• They hold the city against unbelievable odds.
• January 31, 1943
– 90,000 surviving Germans surrendered.
– Germany lost about 330,000
• Turning point of the war in the East!!!!
D-Day
• General Dwight D.
Eisenhower - leading officer
• Largest amphibious attack in
history
• June 6, 1944
• Operation Overlord
• D-Day = Designated Day
• 2 million troops involved
(largest invasion force ever
assembled)
• First waves experienced high
casualty rates
• Eventually liberated Paris
and Belgium
Battle of the Bulge
• December 1944
– General Patton brought
250,000 soldiers.
• Nazi troops squeezed b/w
Soviets and Allies
• Hitler launched a surprise
offensive in a weakened part of
the line
• Created a “bulge” in the front
line.
• Hitler was defeated again
• Largest battle in Western
Europe during WWII.
– Out of 600,000 GI’s 80,000
killed.
– German loss: 100,000
• One more nail in the coffin.
• Nazi leaders knew that the end
was near.
Yalta Conference
•The Big Three planned for the
post war world & agreed that:
•Germany would be
divided.
•Part of Poland would go to
the Soviet Union.
•Soviet Union would
declare war on Japan 2 to 3
months after defeating
Germany.
•Stalin didn’t allow free
elections and was slow to enter
the war with Japan.
•This would cause problems b/t
them and the US which would
lead to the Cold War.
Allied Victory in Europe
• After “Bulge,” Allies closed in on Berlin.
• Allies met at Yalta to discuss terms of
German surrender.
• Berlin ended up under Soviet control.
(Uh, oh).
• Hitler committed suicide at the beginning
of May in 1945.
• VE DAY = Victory in Europe!
– May 8, 1945
• Discovery of the “death” camps.
• Germany signs unconditional surrender.
– May 1, 1945 Hitler kills himself.
– May 8, 1945 Germany surrenders.
• War in Europe is over!
– May 8, 1945
The Potsdam Conference
• New Big Three:
– Stalin (still), Clement Attlee (replaces Churchill),
and Harry Truman (no more FDR).
– They finalized plans for administration of Europe.
– Germany and Berlin were divided into four zones
of occupation.
– Administered by Big Three countries plus France.
– Free elections to be held later for selfdetermination.
– Now… time to focus on the Pacific!
America in the Pacific
• Battle of Midway
– June 4, 1942;
fought by air.
– Sunk 4 Japanese
carriers, 250 planes.
• Japan can no longer
launch an offensive,
allies can.
• Battle of Guadalcanal
– First taste of Japanese
jungle for the Allies.
• Battle of Iwo Jima
– One of the bloodiest,
74 days long.
• 110,000 US vs. 25,000
Jap
– Enemy fought until
the last man, only 216
taken prisoner.
– 27 medals of Honor
awarded.
• Island hopping
commences!
Island Hopping Campaign
• US made its way from island to island to stop the
Japanese control
• Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led several raids on
Tokyo (known as Doolittle Raids)
Turning Point in the Pacific
• Had to gain control of the skies and waters of the Pacific
– The Battle of Coral Sea was the 1st major battle for US in the
Pacific.
• Battle of Midway in June of 1942 was THE turning
point
• Faced many Kamikazes
KAMIKAZES
• Japanese suicide
squadrons
• Aircrafts were loaded
with explosives
• Flew directly into US
naval vessels killing
themselves in an effort to
stop the American
advance
• Altogether, they sank
about 40 ships
Battle of Iwo Jima
• US Island hopping
Dangers other than battle
included:
1. Monsoons
2. Malaria
3. Heat
4. Earthquakes
5. Jungle Conditions
• Iwo Jima:
– US 6,800 killed and
23,000 wounded
Battle of Okinawa
• April to June 1945.
– Last obstacle to attack on
Japan!
• 1,300 warships, 18,000
Allied troops; 2,000
Kamikazes.
• Ended after three months.
• 7,2000 defenders
surrendered.
• 50,000 Allied deaths,
costliest engagement.
• This victory, however,
gave the US strong
positions to launch air
strikes
Manhattan Project
• Albert Einstein comes up
with the idea.
– An Atomic Bomb!
– Tested in the US and blew
out windows 125 miles
away.
• FDR died in April 1945.
• Harry Truman took over
the Presidency.
• 3 months later, he had a
decision to make.
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Little Boy and Fat Man
Little Boy and Fat Man
• Little Boy was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. It exploded
approximately 1,800 feet over Hiroshima, Japan, on the morning of
August 6, 1945, with a force equal to 13,000 tons of TNT. Immediate
deaths were between 70,000 to 130,000.
• Little Boy was dropped from a B-29 bomber piloted by U.S. Army
Air Force Col. Paul W. Tibbets. Tibbets had named the plane Enola
Gay after his mother the night before the atomic attack.
• Fat Man was the second nuclear weapon used in warfare. Dropped
on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, Fat Man devastated more
than two square miles of the city and caused approximately 45,000
immediate deaths.
• Major Charles W. Sweeney piloted the B-29, #77 that dropped Fat
Man. After the nuclear mission, #77 was christened Bockscar after its
regular Command Pilot, Fred Bock.
• While Little Boy was a uranium gun-type device, Fat Man was a
more complicated and powerful plutonium implosion weapon that
exploded with a force equal to 20 kilotons of TNT.
A-Bomb
• On August 6, 1945 US
dropped the first A-bomb
on Hiroshima
• Japan still does not
surrender
• On August 9th, 1945 US
dropped the second Abomb on Nagasaki
• On August 14, 1945
Japan surrenders
unconditionally; VJ Day
Devastation
Innocents
Nagasaki
Effects of the War
•
•
•
•
•
Holocaust
Nuremberg Trials
Japanese War Criminals
Unbelievable death & destruction
US Home front :
– Japanese Interment Camps 
– Wartime Economy boost 
– Women (“Rosie the Riveter,” and Minorities join the
market economy, only to be booted out AGAIN after
the war.
– Women’s Baseball (A League of their Own!)
Country
USSR
Germany
Japan
British Empire
France
Italy
United States
Number Killed (military)
13,600,000 (14 mil civilians)
3,300,000 (2.35 mil civilians)
1,740,429 (393,400 civilians)
357,116
(60,000 civilians)
122,000
(470,000 civilians)
279,800
(60,000 civilians)
405,400
(No civilian)
TOTAL
21,268,992
THE WAR IS OVER!
Let the BABY BOOM begin 