Transcript End of WW 2

What they faced.
“Closing in on Berlin”
A. “Operation Dragoon”
The race to Berlin to squeeze the Germans.
B. Battle of the Bulge
Hitler’s last effort to defend Germany.
C. V-E Day
Germany signs surrender papers!!!
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A Timeline:
Atomic Weapons
-1938 - Austrian scientists discover how to split a uranium atom creating a sudden
burst of energy.
-1939 - Albert Einstein writes a letter to FDR explaining the destructive potential of
this discovery, and encouraging the U.S. to develop a weapon before the
Germans did.
-1941 – The U.S. creates “The Manhatten Project.” Many of the
scientists involved were refugees of Germany and other parts of Europe.
- 1945 - (FEB.) YALTA CONFERENCE – Stalin “promises” free elections
will be held in Eastern Europe, including Poland. Controversial.
Agrees to join in war with Japan.
-1945 – (April) FDR dies from a stroke in Warm Springs, Georgia.
Harry
Truman becomes President and is informed of the “Project”
scientists are working on.
-1945 – (July 15) The first successful test of an Atomic bomb in a deserted area of
New Mexico. (The strength of thousands of tons of TNT.)
informed at Potsdam Conference.
Truman is
Slide 3
Death march
“Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”
-J. Robert Oppenheimer, American scientist, after
the first successful test of an atomic bomb in
the desert of New Mexico.
The effects of the first Atomic Weapons:
Temperature at GROUND ZERO = Billions of degrees centigrade
Strength of Explosion = Thousands of tons of TNT
Height of Mushroom cloud =
7.5 miles high
Atomic bombs create enormous amounts of energy in the form of intense heat and
shockwaves.
This produces pressure waves, flash burns, high winds, and deadly radiation.
Effects of the fallout spread out over dozens of miles in diameter.
Philadelphia
The First Target: Hiroshima (August 5th, 1945.)
Second Target: Nagasaki (August 9th, 1945)
Japan Surrenders August 14th, 1945 - V-J Day
Harry Truman’s decision:
What should Truman do with this new and deadly technology?
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What would you have done?
With your partner:
1. Read and Evaluate the argument you were given.
2. Sum up the argument, with one power statement, that
best captures the main point of this justification.
3. Provide an explanation at what you think the main
weakness of this argument might be. (What might the
opposition say to undermine this?)
With your group:
1. Pick someone to lead the discussion and sharing.
2. One at a time, provide an explanation of each of the six
arguments this side used to justify their position.
3. Break these six arguments into two groups, in terms of the
power they might have in a debate:
BEST THREE / WEAKEST THREE
4. Rate each of the 3 arguments in both sets.
(The #1 argument from the “Best Three” group becomes
your best argument overall. The #6 argument overall will
be the third one from your “Weakest Three” group.
5. Write the Rating numbers 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 on the back
of each sheet of paper.