Transcript File

The Big Three
• In 1941, the Big Three – Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin –
agreed to finish the war in Europe first before turning their
attention to the Japanese.
• The Allies were committed to total war. They directed
economic resources into the war, ordering factories to
stop making consumer goods and turn out airplanes or
tanks instead. Civilians had to ration their food but the
depression era ended.
Rights of Citizens
• The rights of citizens were limited. Governments
censored the press and used propaganda to win
public support.
• In the U.S., Japanese Americans lost their freedom,
and were forced into internment camps. The
British took similar actions against German
refugees.
Battle of El Alamein
• In Egypt, the British were able to stop
Rommel’s advance. They turned the
tables on the “Desert Fox”, driving the
Axis forces back across Libya and
Tunisia.
• In 1941, American General Dwight D.
Eisenhower took command in
Morocco and trapped Rommel’s
army, which surrendered in May 1943.
Invasion of Italy
• The Allies leapt across the Mediterranean into Italy
after their victory in North Africa.
• In July 1943, a combined British and American army
defeated the Italians in Sicily and southern Italy in a
month.
• Italians then overthrew Mussolini and a new Italian
government signed an armistice. But the fighting
did not end.
Hitler Rescues Italy
• German troops rescued
Mussolini and fought with the
Italians in the north.
• For the next 18 months, the
Allies pushed slowly up the
Italian peninsula, suffering
heavy losses but it did weaken
Hitler’s forces.
Hitler in Russia
• Another major turning point was
in the Soviet Union. The Germans
were stalled outside Moscow and
Leningrad.
• In 1941, Hitler launched a new
offensive aimed at Stalingrad.
Hitler was determined to capture
Stalin’s namesake and Stalin was
determined to defend it.
Battle of Stalingrad
• The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the costliest battles
of the war.
• It began when the Germans surrounded the city. The
Russians then encircled their attackers. A street by
street, house by house battle began.
• Trapped without food and ammunition, the Germans
surrendered in 1943. Germans lost over 300,000
soldiers.
• Russians then drove the Nazis out of Leningrad, out of
the USSR and into Eastern Europe.
D-Day
• General Eisenhower was made
the Supreme Allied commander
and began to prepare for the
invasion of France.
• The Allies chose June 6th, 1944 for
the invasion.
• 176,000 Allied troops came across
the English Channel to the tangled
hedges of Normandy.
Freedom for France
• The Allies eventually broke through the
German defenses and advanced
toward Paris.
• In Paris, French resistance forces rose
up against the occupying Germans.
Under pressure from all sides, the
Germans retreated. On August 25th,
the Allies entered Paris.
• Their next goal was Germany
Arch de Triumph,
Paris, France
German Occupation:
May 1940
Allied Occupation:
August 1944
Battle of The Bulge
• After freeing France, the Allies
advanced into Belgium in December
1944, as Germany retreated. They
launched a massive counterattack.
• Both sides had terrible losses. The
Germans drove the Allies back in
several places, however the Allies
were able to win in the end
Allied Air Raids
• The Allies sent round-theclock air raids on Germany.
They bombed military
bases, factories, railroads,
oil depots, and cities for
two years.
• By 1945, Germany could
no longer defend
themselves by air.
Allied Takeover
• By March, the Allies had crossed the Rhine into
western Germany. From the east, Soviet troops
closed in on Berlin.
• In late April, American and Russian troops met and
shook hands at the Elbe River.
• Axis armies began to surrender. In Italy, guerillas
captured and executed Mussolini on April 28, 1945.
In Germany, Hitler committed suicide on April 30,
1945
V-E Day
• After 12 years, Hitler’s
“thousand year” Reich ended.
• On May 7, 1945, Germany
surrendered. The war in
Europe had officially ended
and the next day was declared
V-E Day, or Victory in Europe
Day.
Back to the Pacific:
Battle of Midway
• Six months after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor in June 1942,
Americans greatly damaged
Japanese fleet and Coral Sea and
Midway Island. These battles
greatly stopped the Japanese
advance.
• After the Battle of Midway, the
U.S. took the offensive.
Island Hopping
• General Douglas MacArthur began an “island
hopping” campaign in the Pacific. They recaptured
the Solomon Islands and the Philippines.
• The British were pushing the Japanese back into the
jungles of Burma and Malaysia.
• After the war ended in Europe, the Allies poured
their resources into defeating Japan.
Japanese Invasion?
• By mid 1945 the Japanese navy and air force had
been destroyed but they still had two million men.
• It was estimated that it would cost over a million
allied lives to invade Japan.
Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
• The Battle of Iwo Jima and the
Battle of Okinawa proved the
Japanese were more willing to die
than to surrender.
• Obtaining the islands of Iwo Jima
and Okinawa proved significant so
Americans could get closer to Japan
to bomb their industrial cities
kamikazes
• To save their homeland, young
Japanese became Kamikaze
pilots, who under took suicide
missions, crashing their planes
into American warships.
Truman
• On April 12th 1945 FDR died unexpectedly
and his Vice President took over
• Harry Truman knew about the Atomic
bomb and its terrible force of destruction.
He decided to use the new weapon.
• Truman did warn the Japanese that they
would need to surrender to face “utter
and complete destruction.”
Hiroshima
• On August 6, 1945, an American plan
dropped an atomic bomb on the
industrial city of Hiroshima.
• The bomb flattened four square miles
of land and killed 70,000 people
instantly. More would die in the
months to come from radiation
poisoning.
• Truman warned Japan that more
would come if they didn’t surrender.
End of the War
• Japan refused to surrender and on August 9, 1945 the U.S. dropped
a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki killing more than 40,000
people.
• On August 10,1945 the Japanese emperor forced the government
to surrender.
• On September 2, 1945, a formal peace treaty was signed on the
American battleship, Missouri.
• After exactly six years and one day, World War II ended.