Transcript World War II - Cloudfront.net

World
War II
Victory
The Big Three
• USSR
– Joseph Stalin
• U. S.
– Franklin D.
Roosevelt
• Great Britain
– Winston
Churchill
The Plan
• Focus on Europe first, then Japan.
• Stalin wanted a second European front
opened
• FDR and Churchill focus on Africa instead
Who’s In Charge?
• European Theatre
– General Eisenhower
• future President of
the United States
• Pacific Theatre
– no one leader like
Europe
– Admiral Nimitz
– General MacArthur
Admiral Nimitz
General
MacArthur
Operation Torch
• British strike back at the Germans
• British led by General Montgomerey
• U. S. attacks from the other side
– Led by General Patton
• (1943) Germans are pushed out of N. Africa
Battle of Stalingrad
(August 1942 – February 1943)
• Germans head south for
oil, iron and the Volga
River
• Germans destroy over
90% of the city
• Soviets refuse to give up
the city
• Stalin “Not one step
backwards!”
Turning Point on the Eastern Front
• November, Russians
counterattack
• Germans are surrounded
• Hitler refuses to let generals
surrender
– Friedrich von Paulus
• General not allowed to surrender
• Blamed for the loss
• Attempt to fly in supplies
– complete failure
“The bloodiest battle in recorded
human history.”
Combatants
Axis Powers
Soviet Union
Commanders
Erich von Manstein
Friedrich Paulus
Georgy Zhukov
Vasily Chuikov
Strength
500,000 Germans
1,700,000
Casualties
740,000 killed or wounded
110,000 captured
750,000 + killed, wounded and
captured
40,000+ civilian dead
Italy
• 1943 Britain and U. S. send in
180,000 troops
• Mussolini is arrested
– King Victor Emanuelle new ruler
• Germans reinforce northern Italy
– Free Mussolini
• 1945 Germans finally pushed out
– Mussolini captured, shot and hung in
Milan
Japanese Internment in America
• Executive Order #9066
• Japanese sent to
relocation camps
– 2/3 were American
citizens
• Thought they might be
spies or help Japan
during an invasion
Over 100,000 were “relocated” without cause
nd
442
• Many Japanese Americans
volunteered for service
• 1943 allowed to form a
regiment
• Fought in Europe
• Became the most
distinguished regiment, based
on size and service, in the
history of the army.
Regiment
Operation Overlord
• Planned invasion of Europe,
specifically France
• Operation Fortitude
– Created fake armies and sent fake
signals about possible invasions at
Norway and Calais
– Keep the Germans guessing about
where to protect
Soldiers preparing in Southern England
June 6, 1944
D-Day
• Attack is at Normandy
• Rommel is the German
in charge of the area
– Back in Germany for
his wife’s 50th Birthday
Multiple beach front attack
Code named:
Juno, Utah, Omaha, Sword, and Gold
3,000 American soldiers die on the first day.
(Memorial at Normandy, France)
Why did we do it?
• Over 1.4 million allied troops arrive in France
within a month
On the attack!
• By August 1944, Paris is
liberated
• By September:
– All of France
– Netherlands
– Belgium
Battle of the Bulge
• December 1944- January
1945
• Allies closing in on Germany
• Germans looking for a one
punch knockout
• Breaks allied line
– Ardenne forrest
– Creates a “bulge” in allied
defense lines
• Allies hold and then push
back
• Last major offensive by
Germany