Transcript 7.3 WW2 Strategiesx

World War II: Allied
Strategies and
Controversies
7.3: Explain how controversies among the Big Three allied leaders
over war strategies led to post-war conflict between the United
States and the USSR, including delays in the opening of the
second front in Europe, the participation of the Soviet Union in
the war in the Pacific, and the dropping of atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Tension Between US and
USSR
• Decisions made during WWII laid the foundation for tension
between the USSR and the US
• Known as the Cold War
• Tension was based on fundamental differences in economic
and political philosophies
• US: Democratic and Capitalist
• USSR: Totalitarian and Communist
Allies?
• US opposed Russian Revolution and was scared of the
Communist threat (Red Scare)
• American distrust of USSR increased when Stalin and
Hitler signed the Non-Aggression Pact
• Hitler violated the pact and Soviets became recipients of
Lend-Lease aid
• US and USSR were allies only because they were both
enemies of Germany
Big Three
• Allied Leaders
• Winston Churchill of
Great Britain
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
of the United States
• Joseph Stalin of the
Soviet Union
• Met regularly during
the war to plan strategy
and make postwar plans
Early Controversies
• USSR took the brunt of German aggression early in
the war and wanted to open up a second ground
front in the west
• Would provide Soviets with relief
• Britain wanted to take out German Air-Force that
was constantly bombing them
• US sided with Britain and mass-produced bombers
rather than landing equipment
Operation Torch
• Allies invaded North
Africa (Operation
Torch) to free the
Mediterranean Sea
from Germany and
protect Middle
Eastern oil fields
Battle of Stalingrad
• City of Stalingrad is primary
city of Southern Russia
• Hitler’s motivation
• Rivalry with Stalin – take
the city with his name
• Oil
• Bloodiest battle of war
• 2 million killed on both sides
• Germans stuck in Russian
winter
Italian Invasion
• American and British
forces eventually
invaded Italy and
forced its surrender but
further delayed directly
attacking Germany
D-Day
• Operation Overlord: D-Day,
Invasion at Normandy
• Opened up the much needed
Western front against
Germany and forced them to
fight on three fronts (France,
Italy, and Soviet Union)
• Forced Germany to spread
resources across Europe and
divert attention to the West
Timeline of Direct involvement in World War 2
Sept 1,
1939
Russia vs. Germany involvement
British/French involvement vs. Germany
British/French involvement vs. Italy/Germany
June,
1945
US involvement in the Pacific Theater v. Japan in World War 2
August
11,
1945
Dec. 8,
1941
US involvement vs. Germany
US involvement vs. Italy/Germany
June 6,
1944
June,
1945
Race to Berlin
• Battle of the Bulge: Last German
offensive of the war and the beginning
of the end for the Nazis
• U.S., British and French forces
marched towards Berlin from the west
while Soviet troops approached from
the east
• Both sides want to catch Hitler
• Soviets know that territory controlled
important (TofVersailles)
War in the Pacific
• United States pursued a
policy of island-hopping
• Goal was to get close
enough to Japan to launch
air attacks in preparation for
an invasion
• Naval victory at Midway
(turning point in Pacific)
stopped the Japanese
advance and put them on
the defensive
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
• Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa demonstrated the
tenacity of Japanese soldiers and the cost in lives
that an invasion of Japan would entail
• America was determined to secure Soviet aid in an
invasion of Japan and the Big Three agreed at the
Yalta Conference
• USSR invaded Korea as soon as the war in Europe
ended
Atomic Bombs
• US secretly designed a super weapon that used a
nuclear reaction to release massive amounts of
energy (atomic bomb)
• President Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was designed to prevent
the US from invading Japan and the causalities that
it would entail
• After witnessing the destruction of the bomb, Japan
surrendered unconditionally officially ending WWII
Dropping of the Bombs
Before Bomb
After Bomb
Before and After Bomb
Lasting Effects
• The end of the war left USSR occupying Korea
• Laid the foundation for the Korean War of the 1950s
• The use of the atomic bomb increased distrust
between the USSR and America because the
technology was not shared
• USSR detonated their own atomic bomb in 1949
• Started a nuclear arms race between US and USSR
• End of WWII led to the beginning of the Cold War