Transcript 7.3

7.3
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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.
Hitler and the Nazis hated
Communism
(Fascism hated communism)
***Yet Hitler didn’t want the
Soviets fighting in 1939
***Stalin wasn’t ready for entering war
either
***Signed a Non-Aggression Pact
(neither side would attack each other)
Allied leaders, Churchill,
Roosevelt, Stalin and
DeGaulle met throughout
the war to plan strategy
and make post-war plans
Major Points of the War
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***Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in
June of 1941. (violated Non-Aggression
Pact)
Stalin wanted the United States and the
allies to go into France to open a second
front. However, Churchill and Roosevelt did
not feel their armies were ready for an
invasion of France.
 Instead they attacked the Germans in North
Africa because Axis control of the area
prevented the Allies from using the Suez
Canal.
 The Allies successfully launched
***Operation Torch in November of 1942.
 (Military operation to defeat Axis
Powers in North Africa)
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Operation “Torch”
Goal of Operation
torch…takeover Northern
Africa
Then….
Attack Italy to invade Europe from
the south
Invasion of the Soviet Union
and the Battle of Stalingrad
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June 1941 Hitler decided the time had come
to attack Russia, violating the NonAggression Pact he signed with Stalin.
The Germans quickly advanced into
Russia raping, pillaging, executing, and
burning large numbers of homes and
people. (the favor was re-paid)
***Operation Barbarossa- name of Nazi
operation to invade USSR
The Germans spearheads got within 30 miles
of Moscow when they were stopped by the
Russian Army and a brutal winter.
Nazi tanks invading the Soviet Union
Russian Priest and Nazi Officer
They were also stopped from capturing
Stalingrad. The Russians held on to the
city after fierce fighting and winter came to
their aid.
 Then the Soviets attacked and
surrounded a large German Army.
 Eventually, the Germans had to
surrender and lost 100,000 men
captured.
 ***This was the turning point of the war for the
Russians (battle of Stalingrad). They
were on the offensive from this point
onward.
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Planning for D-Day- The Tehran
Conference
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***The Big Three- Stalin, Roosevelt,
Churchill met at the Tehran Conference in
December of 1943. Stalin was desperate for
an invasion of France to open a second front.
***WOULD ONLY ACCEPT THE UNCONDITIONAL
SURRENDER OF HITLER & the NAZIS
***Dwight D. Eisenhower was named
commander of all allied forces in Europe
for…
***Operation Overlord- military operation to
invade northern Europe to defeat the Nazis.
***The allies assembled over 3 million men
and on June 6th, 1944 the D-Day invasion
got under way.
After establishing a foothold at Normandy,
France, the allied armies started to march across
France. On August 25th, 1944 Paris was liberated.
D-Day invasion Map
D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA
The Big Three
The Battle of the Bulge:
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The Germans fought fiercely as the allies
pushed into their homeland.
***They mounted one last ditch
German offensive and tried to divide
the allied armies.
The Germans never pierced the lines, but
they did create a huge bulge in the lines.
***This battle signified the beginning of the
end for the Germans
***Now Allies are marching from the South
(Italy), West (France), and East (Russia)
towards Berlin
Battle of the Bulge
American soldiers advancing
on Germany
War in the Pacific
***The Japanese attacked the U.S. held
island at Midway and were heavily
favored to win.
 However, and unexpected US victory
stopped the Japanese advance in the
Pacific and out them on the defensive.
 From this point on the U.S. began a
process of ***Island Hopping- attacking
one island at a time and securing it to
get closer to Japan
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Guadalcanal
The Philippines
Iwo Jima
Okinawa
Winning the War in the Pacific
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Okinawa was at the southern end of the Japanese
homelands. The next step would be to invade
Japan itself.
The battles of the island hopping campaign
demonstrated the tenacity of the Japanese soldier.
It was estimated that 1,000,000 U.S. causalities
would be sustained.
There was another option opened up by the
***Manhattan Project that developed and
tested this first Atomic Bomb in New Mexico
***The new President Harry Truman ordered
the two bombs be dropped and on August 6th,
1945 Hiroshima was bombed. On August 9th
Nagasaki was bombed.
***Japan surrendered on August 14th, 1945 (V-J
Day) and World War II was over.
Manhattan Project Lab
Tested in the New Mexico desert
Hiroshima bombing
Enola Gay (plane that dropped
A-bomb on Hiroshima
Japan officially surrendering to
end WWII
Japanese surrender aboard USS
Missouri