Transcript Chapter 24 Section 4

Chapter 24
Section 4
“Toward Victory”
Vocab
• Dimension- size or extent; length, width, or height
• Efficient- acting effectively; without wasted cost or
effort
• Harry S. Truman- FDR’s Vice President who took office
after Roosevelt passed from a stroke
• Island hopping- strategy in which American forces
would capture some Japanese-held islands and go
around others
• Kamikaze- missions in which suicide pilots crashed
their planes into American ships
• Genocide- the deliberate attempt to wipe out an entire
nation or group of people
• War crimes- wartime acts of cruelty and brutality that
are judged to be beyond the accepted rules of war and
human behavior
Victory in Europe
• Italy Surrenders: In July 1943, British and American troops
took control of Sicily. They fought along the Italian Peninsula,
heading northward.
Mussolini was dismissed from office and on September 8,
1943, the new government surrendered to the Allies.
• D-Day: On June 6, 1944 (D-Day), ~155,000 Allies crossed the
English Channel to Normandy, in western France. They landed
on 5 different beaches, 4 of which quickly overcame German
opposition.
On Omaha beach, the Americans were faced with a
strong German defense. At the end of the day, over 2,000
Americans died, but they still managed to be victorious.
On August 25, 1944, the Allies liberated Paris after 4
years of being under Nazi rule.
• Battle of the Bulge: On December 16, 1944, Hitler fought back
in Belgium. The Germans came close to pushing through
Allied lines, but did not succeed.
Although each side lost tens of thousands of soldiers,
the Allies had back-up troops on the ready, Germany did not.
• Germany Invaded: In January 1945, a fierce Soviet army
entered German territory. Western Allies joined them in large
numbers. Allied planes bombed German industries and cities.
On April 14, 195, FDR passed from a stroke, which
crippled American spirit. Truman was brought into
presidency. Many had doubts on his leadership skills.
• Victory in Europe: On April 16, Soviet troops attacked Berlin.
Hitler took shelter in an underground bunker and committed
suicide on April 30, 1945. The next week Germany
surrendered at Eisenhower’s French headquarters. On May 8,
the Allies rejoiced Victory in Europe, also known as V-E Day.
Victory in the Pacific
• Island Hopping: August 7, 1942, U.S. Marines arrived at
Guadalcanal in the south Pacific. The Americans fought for
6 months, with hunger and disease, until they gained full
control of the island.
Navajo soldiers, using there own language, radioed
crucial messages from island to island. The Japanese
intercepted some of these messages, but were not able to
understand the unique Navajo language.
In January 1945, troops landed on Luzon, in the
Philippines, and then continued on Manila. Americans
controlled the city nearly after a month of fighting. This cost
the life of over 14,000 Americans, 350,000 Japanese, and
100,000 Filipino citizens.
• Japan Holds Firm: Island hopping marines neared Japan.
Their final stops were Iwo Jima, where 6,000 Americans
died, and Okinawa, where 12,000 Americans died.
Towards the end of the war, Japan began using
kamikaze warfare, in which suicide pilots crashed their
planes into American ships. This led Americans to believe
that only a full-scale invasion of Japan would make them
surrender.
In the spring of 1945, after Hitler’s defeat in Europe,
the Americans bombarded Japan along the coast and
destroyed shipping. Millions of people lacked food, but
Japanese leaders still claimed they were victorious.
• The Atomic Bomb: President Truman planned to invade
Japan although the expected casualties were to be
around half a million. This was before the president
was informed that the atomic bomb - a weapon so
powerful it could destroy entire cities - had been
successfully tested in New Mexico.
On August 6, 1945, an American plane dropped an
atomic bomb on Heroshima. The destruction was
unbelievable; within minutes, it had killed more than
130,000 people.
Three days later, a second atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki, which killed 35,000 people in
impact. Many more died from radiation poisoning.
Finally, on August 14,1945, Japan surrendered,
known as V-J Day. World War II had ended at last.
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The Holocaust
• Victims of the Nazis: World War II was the bloodiest
conflict in human history. 60 million people died,
including 400,000 Americans, 2/3 of them civilians.
Nobody discovered the terrors by the Nazis inflicted
on the Jews, until after Germany’s defeat.
Hitler practiced racism, extreme anti-Semitism,
and believed the Jewish population was responsible for
Germany’s defeat in World War I. he attempted to
annihilate all Jews in Europe as a solution to the problem.
6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
The Nazis also murdered millions of Poles, Slavs, Gypsies,
communists, and people with mental or physical
disabilities.
• Death Camps: There were 6 death camps in
Poland, in which millions were transferred to in
cattle cars. Hundreds were killed in gas chambers,
and others underwent torture or other gruesome
medical experiments. Allies soldiers liberated the
death camps and were stunned by the sight and
stench of death. Survivors looked like living
skeletons.
• War Crimes Trials: The Allies prosecuted leaders
of the Axis Powers for war crimes, because of the
shocking reality of what they had done.
In the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, 12
defendants were sentenced to be hung. Trials
similar to this were held elsewhere.
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