Transcript D-day, Battle of the Bulge, & the A-bomb

D-day, Island Hopping, Battle
of the Bulge, & the A-bomb
D-day recap
• June 6, 1944
• Known officially as Operation
Overlord
• Planned the invasion for over a year
• Allied force of 3.5 million soldiers
were involved
– Parachuted behind enemy lines
– Heavy Bombing
– Stormed the beachfront on foot
• Heavy casualties and heroic feats
– 10,000 Allied casualties
– 6,600 were American
• Established a large rip into the
German lines in France and forced
the German army to retreat from
France.
• Saving Private Ryan
The Battle of the Bulge
• Germany launched a surprise offensive which
caused a large “bulge” in the allied lines.
• Hitler’s forces were trying to recover vital ground
– During the dead of winter
– American and allied forces completely surrounded in
sub-zero temperatures – 80,000 casualties.
• Germans were eventually pushed back – Victory
close at hand.
– Surrounded by Soviets to the east and 4 million allied
troops to west.
Yalta Conference (Feb. 1945)
• Roosevelt, Churchill,
Stalin make plans to
end war.
– What to do with
Germany? – DIVIDE IT!
• Although allied, meeting
was tense –
Foreshadowing what is
to come?
V-E Day!
• German forces unable to
fight off troops at the
Rhine.
• April 30, 1945 Hitler
commits suicide in Berlin
bunker.
• May 8th - Germany
surrenders
Island Hopping—The Route to
Japan
• Taking strategic islands in an effort to
prepare for a mainland invasion of Japan.
• Saipan---Tinian Island (Mariana’s)--Iwo
Jima—Okinawa—GOAL=Bomb Japan!
• Set up forward air strips for bombing of
Japan by B-29 Superfortress and B-17
Bombers
• Eventually the Enola Gay would take off
from Tinian Island!!!
The A-bomb
• The Manhattan Project
– Develop the first nuclear bomb
• Harry S. Truman became
president after FDR died. It
was Truman’s decision to use
the atomic bomb against Japan
• Enola Gay flew to Hiroshima
and dropped the first ever Atom
bomb
– Everything within 1 mile radius
was destroyed. Damage
extended 12 miles from blast
Manhattan Project
• Nuclear race during
WW2 between German
and USA scientists
• J. Robert Oppenheimer
• Tested at Los Alamos,
NM
• Shattered windows 125
miles away
• Truman took over- knew
NOTHING of the project
• Over 160,000 people
worked on small parts of
it throughout the country
• 80,000 died immediately
• 35,000 injured
• 90,000 buildings destroyed while fires
raged
3 days later…
• Since no action was taken by Japan the
U.S. dropped a 2nd bomb on Nagasaki.
– Death toll of 40,000
• Led to Japanese surrender
• V-J Day on August 15th, 1945
• Officially ended WWII
Truman’s Dilemma
• Could a naval blockade eventually defeat Japan?
• Could the USA continue conventional bombing?
• Should the USA demand that the Japanese
unconditionally surrender (emperor stepping
down)?
• What if the USA gave more time to Japanese to
negotiate with the USSR?
• Should the second bomb have been dropped?
• Should we have given a demonstration to the
Japanese about the atomic bomb’s capacity?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• August 6, 1945- Hiroshima
–
–
–
–
Enola Gay- B-29 bomber
70,000 killed in explosion
60,000 killed from burns, radiation poisoning
110,000 wounded or missing
• August 8, 1945- USSR enters war against
Japan
• August 9, 1945- Nagasaki
– 25,000 killed in explosion
– 55,000 wounded or missing
• August 14, 1945- USSR overruns Manchuria
and Korea
Allies Triumph
• Deaths—
•
•
•
•
•
•
USA- 400,000
Japan- 1.2 m + 300,000
USSR- 7 m + 12 m
British- 300,000 + 60,000
Germany- 3.5 m + 1-2 m
France- 200,000 + 350,000
• 30-40 million left homeless
• Holocaust
• Ascension of USA and USSR as competing global
powers
– Democracy vs. Communism
– Most people believed World War 3 would happen within a
generation