Transcript Ending WWII 1945

Ending WWII
1945
How Europe and Japan surrender
and end World War II
Smart Start:
• Describe how the tides
turned/momentum shifted from
the Axis powers having ALL the
“mo-jo” to the Allies having
ALL the “mo-jo” by the end of
1944.
–Give Specific examples
Battle of the BulgeDecember 1944
Allies from the West,
Soviets from the East = 2
fronts versus Germany
(smooched like the
cream filling of a cookie)
Hitler’s plan
• Attack the allies when they were weak and
unprepared
• Had aid of bad weather (No planes and
troops had sub-zero conditions)
• Allies weak from constant fighting and
advancement from D-day on ??
Recollection from a GI:
• A GI says in The Perilous Fight, "The bolt would
freeze on our machine guns. We remedied that
by urinating on them just before we fired
them...")
• With small victories at first, the Allies fought
back, showing a determination exemplified by
Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe's famous
response when asked by the Germans to
surrender Bastogne: "Nuts."
• On Christmas Eve the skies finally cleared and
10,000 Allied airplanes went on the attack
Facts
• 110,000 Germans were killed, wounded or
captured-many the teenagers and old men Hitler
had used to reinforce his dwindling troops
• 80,000 Americans were killed, wounded or
captured-a statistic unequaled in American
history.
• Many of those soldiers were fresh from high
school; some of the others were African
Americans, allowed to fight on the front lines for
the first time because of manpower shortages.
• January of 1945- Germany suffered defeat
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev6FIlexpsE
Japan’s problems
Iwo Jima:(Feb-Mar 1945)
• General Kuribayashi, the Japanese Commander
of Iwo Jima, was brilliant.
• The Japanese strategy was unique for three
reasons:
1. The Japanese didn't fight above ground. They
fought the battle entirely from beneath the
ground. They dug 1,500 rooms into the rock.
These were connected with 16 miles of tunnels.
2. Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese
survivors." They planned not to survive.
3. Japanese strategy was for each soldier to kill
10 Americans before they themselves are killed.
More on Iwo Jima
• Closest foreign enemy has
gotten to Japan
• Heavy causalities on both
sides
• http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=fYxlRc1PiM0
Us Soldiers raise the American
Flag on Iwo Jima
Okinawa April-June 1945
• Largest amphibious campaign in the
Pacific theatre
• High causalities (38,000 Americans dead,
12,000 POW or MIA/ 107, 000 Japanese
killed and 100,000 Okinawa civilian killed)
• Kamikazes utilized by Japan
• United States victory
Deflating the War
• April 1945: FDR president of USA dies.
Truman replaces him
• After a series of unsuccessful minor attacks;
Germany has to surrender
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VE-Day (Victory in Europe) May 8th, 1945
WWII comes to an end in Europe
Hitler kills himself by method of suicide
Japan is still ravaging on (Only Axis power left)
How to end the war with Japan?
• All Naval fleet is pretty much destroyed
• Invasion of Japanese mainland would
cost .5 million lives:
• A-bomb quickest end to the war
–Truman warns the Japanese we
plan to do this
1st bomb: “Little Boy”
–August 6, 1945: Hiroshima
bombed (population
365,000; 73,000 die)
–Dropped at 8:15am
–Total devastation
–http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=NF4LQaWJRDg
2nd bomb: Fat Man
–August 9, 1945: Nagasaki
bombed (population
200,000; 37,500 die)
–Radiation kills many more
–Bomb not as destructive
–http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=ncq_Wye43TM&NR=1
Aftermath
• Japan finally surrenders September 2nd,
1945 (VJ Day)
• Japan’s emperor Hiroito speaks to his
people for the first time ever the day after
the second bombing at Nagasaki
• Many more deaths to come from the
bombings due to radiation poisoning,
destruction of environment, etc
Describing the Bombings
• Take a few moments and describe how
you feel about the bombings and what you
have learned
• Also try to describe the pictures you saw
and that will be held up for you to see
• Try to use descriptive words
• You can not use (bad, horrible, terrible, not
good, sad, angry, gross, mad, etc)
Video Clip: Bombing of Japan
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9odsuIc
Uk5w
Outlining Journal 8
• Before you leave today, you will need to
have completed an outline for what you
plan to write about in Journal 8 (Bombings
of Nagasaki and Hiroshima)
• Take what you have learned thus far and
what you can take from the textbook and
books provided to help you with your
outline
Work Cited
• http://www.pbs.org/perilousfight/battlefield/
the_battle_of_the_bulge/
• http://www.iwojima.com/battle/battlea.htm
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facilit
y/okinawa-battle.htm