Transcript End of WWII

Defeat in the East
The Carrier War
• While the War in the Atlantic was fought
between German submarines and the
Allied convoys, the war in the Pacific
would be decided between the aircraft
carrier forces between the United States
and Japan
• Whomever controlled the air over the
Pacific would determine the war
Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
USS Yorktown
Midway
• At Pearl Harbour, the American Navy was
lucky not to loose its aircraft carrier forces
• At Midway, the Japanese Navy wanted to
engage these forces and knock them out
of the war and buy time in the Pacific
• In the beginning, the Japanese had 4
aircraft carriers task forces
• To the Japanese surprise, the American
naval forces were stronger than
anticipated (3 Aircraft Carriers)
• The Americans had broken the Japanese
cipher codes, ensuring they would know
that the battle plans would be
• Due to the advance warning, the
Americans were waiting for the Japanese
with stronger numbers than expected
• In one day, the Japanese lost all 4/4
aircraft carriers they had in their force
• This would be the turning point in the
pacific war
Island Hopping
• This strategy allowed the American and
British Commonwealth (Australia and New
Zealand) to regain the islands under
Japanese control
• Islands chains such as the Solomon’s
(near Australia) and Guam (near the
Philippines) became American targets
• These islands would be used for future
bases for American air power to bomb
Japan into submission
Fight to the Death
• These islands would be fought to the last,
since the Japanese command refused
surrender (suicide was preferable)
• Tarawa – Nov. 20, 1943
• At the Battle of Tarawa, of the 5000
Japanese soldiers, only 17 surrendered
• This island cost the Americans 1000 KIA
Iwo Jima
• Was targeted for capture since it was
close to Japan, as well as establish a
fighter base for the U.S. bomber command
• As with the many others, this battle was
going to persuade allied commanders to
use the atomic bomb later in the war
• After a month of fighting, US casualties
were 12,500 dead and 35,000 wounded
• The Japanese would loose 23,000 dead,
while only 200 surrendered
Potsdam Declaration
• July 17, 1945
• “Big Three” meeting of Truman, Stalin and
Churchill in Potsdam, Germany
• These leaders issue a joint statement
demanding the unconditional surrender of
Japan
• If not, Japan risks “utter devastation” of its
homeland
• A week before, the USA tests its atomic
bomb
Fire Bombing of Japan
• Using the new air bases from captured
Japanese islands at Okinawa and Iwo
Jima, the Americans begin an all out
bombing of Japan
• From January-May, 1945, over 500,000
civilians are killed and 13 million are left
homeless in Japan
• When Japan refused to surrender,
President Truman decided to take it to the
next level
Atomic Bombings
• August 6, 1945
• The U.S. aircraft “Enola Gay” drops its
atomic weapon on Hiroshima
• Instantly, 80,000 civilians are killed in the
firestorm, while 100,000 are injured
• August 9, 1945
• Nagasaki is destroyed by the second
atomic bomb, killing 35,000 and wounding
60,000
• August 14, 1945 – Japan surrenders
Soviet Invasion of Manchuria
• August 8, 1945
• Two days after, the atomic attack on
Hiroshima, the Soviet Union declares war
on Japan
• A full scale invasion of Manchuria occurs,
the Soviet forces defeat the Japanese
army in Manchuria, and move towards the
Korean border (present day North Korea)
• August 14, 1945 – Japan surrenders
Holocaust
• With the end of the war, the Allies in
Europe begin to investigate the deaths of
the Jewish population in Europe at the
hands of the Nazis
• While at first the Jews faced legal
restrictions and a loss of rights, this would
gradually escalate to imprisonment and
death
• 1933 – 1st Camp built at Dachau
• 1942 – Hitler adopts the “Final Solution”
• With the adoption of the “Final Solution,”
Hitler now sets in motion the whole scale
elimination of the Jewish people in Europe
• Hitler’s personal bodyguard force, the
“S.S.” were put in charge of these camps
• More than 3 million men, women and
children were killed in Auschwitz alone
• Millions more died from starvation, torture,
and forced labour
• In total, 6 million Jews were killed, and
another 6 million non-Jews were killed
(enemies, gypsies, homosexuals, etc.)
Nuremburg Trials
• Nov. 21, 1945 – Oct. 1, 1946
• Trials that put the top 22 of Nazi
Germany’s leaders on trial
• Symbolically, it was held to be the most
significant denazification policy (I.E.
getting rid of the Nazi’s from power)
• 12 leading Nazis were hanged and 7 were
sent to prison, while 3 were acquitted
• The prosecution stated
these crimes were so
terrible that “civilization
can not tolerate them
being ignored, because it
may not survive them
being repeated.”
• Critics stated that this
represented a “political
act of the victors against
the vanquished.”
Post- War Divisions in Europe
• In Europe, the occupying armies of the
Soviet Union and the Western Allies will
have long term implications
• In the West, the Americans and British
begin rebuilding the nations from the
devastation of the war
• In the East, Stalin begins to support the
growth of communist governments in
nations which the Red Army occupies
• Thus, Europe would be divided between
pro-Western and pro-Soviet spheres
• By the end of 1946, Eastern and Western
Europe would be divided along both
ideological and economic lines
• Democracy vs. Communism
• Capitalism vs. Socialism
• With the end of Nazi Germany, the Soviet
Union and the Western Allies no longer
have a common enemy in Europe
• The Soviet Union will annex all the lands it
was originally awarded in the Nazi-Soviet
Pact (Baltic States, Eastern Poland, etc.)
• As well, Germany would be “temporarily”
divided and occupied by the four powers
(USSR, USA, Britain and France)
• It would be united and neutralized after a
period of five to ten years.
• Poland would lose land to the USSR in the
East, while gain lands at the expense of
Germany in the west
Divisions in Asia
• Korea would be divided along the 38th
parallel (without consultation)
• North Korea would be occupied by the
USSR, and the south would be occupied
by the USA
• Japan would be occupied by the USA
• France and Holland would regain its
colonial possessions in South East Asia