Transcript Iwo Jima, the Atomic Bomb, & the End of WWII

End of WWII in Europe/
Battles in the Pacific:
Iwo Jima & Okinawa
December 14, 2015
• Hitler physical wreck
– Shakes, paranoid, still thinks
chance of victory
– Giving orders but no one listen
• April 30, 1945: Hitler commit
suicide
• May 7, 1945: Germany
surrenders in Eisenhower’s
Headquarters
• Americans celebrate V-E Day
– Victory in Europe
• GOAL: Get as close to Japan as possible
• Island hopping strategy
• New way of fighting
– Japanese fight to DEATH
– Fight until last man standing
– Rather than surrender, kill themselves
• Kamikaze: deliberately crash planes into U.S.
ships
• 3,000 Kamikaze pilots died
Battles in the Pacific
1. Iwo Jima (February/ March 1945)
• Operation Detachment
• 5 mile long island
• 650 miles from Japan
• U.S. marines face “dug-in,” determined
Japanese
• 36 days of fighting
• 23,000 Marines died…but captured island
• Picture became symbol of U.S. patriotism
• Today: Iwo To
2.
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Okinawa (April - June 1945)
Operation Iceberg
Deadliest Pacific battle (50,000 died)
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340 miles from Japan (vital airbase)
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500,000 involved/ 1200 warships involved
Need for invasion of Japan
Japan defenseless
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Short of pilots, planes, fuel, & weapons
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From Okinawa…
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Bombers hit factories, military bases, &
cities in Japan
Operation Meetinghouse
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Single night in March 1945
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Bomb 16 square miles of Tokyo, Japan
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Killed 83,000/ injured 100,000
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Killed more than atomic bomb alone***
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Single most destructive bomb raid in
history
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Allies & Axis in race to develop BEST
WEAPONS
Manhattan Project & the End
of WWII in the Pacific
December 17, 2015
Short Timeline of Atomic Bomb
• 1930s: learn how to split
atom
• 1939: Albert Einstein signs
letter urging FDR to work on
atomic bomb development
(Hitler)
• 1942: FDR gives highest
priority of atomic bomb
– Code name “Manhattan Project”
– Cost several billion dollars
– Employed thousands across
country
• Security tight
– Scientist work “piece by piece”
• Don’t know whole picture
•
July 16, 1945
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New Mexico
1st atomic bomb tested
LIGHT visible 180 miles away
SOUND heard 100 miles away
• 2 main scientists involved:
1. J. Robert Oppenheimer
“Now I am become death, the
destroyer of Worlds.”
2. General Groves
“The war is over…One or two of
those things and Japan will
be finished.”
President Truman makes decision
1. Ethical???
– Civilian deaths
2. Knew Axis working on atomic
bomb
– Don’t know how close Japan is
3. Priority: Save American lives
– Invasion of Japan could cost up to
1 million soldier lives
• Did not agonize over decision
– Needed to end war & save lives
• August 6, 1945 9:14AM
– U.S. pilots drop atomic bomb
“Little Boy” on Hiroshima
– 60,000 dead
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Next 3 days…
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Debate whether to surrender or keep
fighting
August 9, 1945
1. USSR declare war on Japan & invade
Manchuria
2. U.S. dropped 2nd atomic bomb “Fat Man”
on Nagasaki
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Killed 35,000
Finally…Hirohito surrenders
August 15, 1945
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Allies celebrate V-J Day (Victory in
Japan)
Japan OFFICIALLY surrendered
September 2, 1945 on USS Missouri
Most costly war in history OVER
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Estimates of over 60 million died