Transcript Mobilizing For War

Battles of WWII
Chapter 25
Section 2
Attack of the Philippines
► Douglas
MacArthur
 Commander of the American and Filipino forces
in the Philippines
► Japan
attacks American airfields in the
Philippines
 Land Japanese troops there
► MacArthur
retreats to the Bataan Peninsula
 They hold out for more than 3 months
 Lack of supplies and disease cripple the forces
Bataan Peninsula
► FDR
removes MacArthur from the
Philippines
 MacArthur was an American hero
 His capture would demoralize the American
people
 MacArthur is sent to Australia
► April
9, 1942 – allied troops at Bataan
surrendered
 Bataan Death March
General
Douglas
MacArthur
MacArthur or “Dug Out
Doug”
As his men called him had
abandoned
His men claiming that he
would return.
He had ordered them to fight
to the last man.
Bataan Death March
► 78,000
American POW’s were forced to
march 65 miles to a Japanese prison camp
► Thousands died on this march
This was the largest
surrender of
American
Troops in U.S. military
history.
The American and
Filipino soldiers finally
surrendered at
Corregidor
in the Philippines
May 1942
U.S. soldiers on death march from Bataan to Cabanatuan – May 1942
Doolittle Raid
► April
18, 1942 – America bombs Japan for
the first time
 Bomb Tokyo to raise morale
 James Doolittle commander
► B-25
bombers
 Long range bombers
 Take off from aircraft carriers but too big to
land on an aircraft carrier
 After the attack they would have to land in
China
Attack Midway
► After
the Doolittle Raid the Japanese
decided to attack Midway
► Yamamoto – commander of the Japanese
fleet
 His idea to attack Midway Island
 The last American base in the North Pacific
 To destroy the American fleet to protect Tokyo
from any more bombing
The Battle of Midway
► The
Japanese launched their aircraft against
Midway
 Heading for an ambush  US code breakers
 Japanese planes ran into antiaircraft fire
 38 Japanese planes were shot down
► US
launches a counterattack
 The US sank 4 Japanese aircraft carriers
► Yamamoto
retreat
ordered his remaining ships to
A Turning Point
► Midway
was a turning point in WWII
 The Japanese lost 4 of its largest carriers
►The
heart of its fleet
 6 months after Pearl Harbor the US had stopped
the Japanese advancement in the Pacific
The Struggle in Africa
► Battle
of Kasserine Pass
 1st time US troops had to fight the Germans
 US didn’t do well  outmaneuvered and out
fought
 Eisenhower fired the general who led the attack
and put Patton in command
► By
May 13, 1943 the last German forces in
North Africa surrendered
Hitler Attacks Russia
► 1942
– Hitler b/l the only way to defeat the
Soviets was to destroy its economy
 Capture strategic oil fields, industries and
farmlands
► The
key to Hitler’s attacks was the capture
of Stalingrad
 Controlled the Volga River and was a major
railroad junction
 Cut the Soviets off from the resources they
needed to stay in the war
Stalin Responds
► Stalin
ordered his troops to hold Stalingrad
at all costs – retreat was forbidden
► Soviet troops surrounded Stalingrad
trapping almost 250,000 German troops
 91,000 Germans surrendered
 Only 5000 survived the prison camps and
returned home after the war
► The
Battle of Stalingrad – A turning point!!!
 Put the Germans on the defensive for the rest
of the war
Politics in 1944
►
Service overseas kept many Democratic voters from casting ballots in the 1942
congressional elections, and the low turnout helped Republicans gain
congressional seats.
►
Republicans seized the opportunity to roll back New Deal reforms. The Works
Progress Administration (WPA) and the (CCC) was abolished.
►
But the Democratic administration fought back by persuading Congress to
guarantee absentee ballots for servicemen. Democrats won in the voting
booths in 1944.
►
In June 1944, Congress unanimously approved the landmark GI Bill of Rights,
promising to give veterans government funds for education, housing, and
health care, and to provide loans to start businesses and buy homes when
they returned from overseas.
The Election of 1944
►
After twelve turbulent years in the White House, F.D.R. was exhausted and dying with
heart disease. But he was determined to remain president until the war ended.
►
“All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River,” he
declared. “But as a good soldier…I will accept and serve” if reelected president.
►
Roosevelt’s poor health made the selection of a vice presidential candidate important.
Convinced that Americans had soured on liberal reform, F.D.R. dumped Henry Wallace
and chose Harry S. Truman, a more conservative Democrat.
►
Republicans, confident of a strong upsurge in the nation, nominated New York Governor,
Thomas E. Dewey.
►
Roosevelt was given a 53.5 percent majority, his narrowest presidential victory ever.