Transcript WWII Theaters of War

WWII Battles & Events
Aug. 1939
ALBERT EINSTEIN & OTHERS SEND LETTER
TO PRES. FDR URGING RESEARCH INTO THE
ATOM & NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Sept. 1939
 Nazi invasion of Poland
 Official start of WWII
May-June 1940
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Battle of Dunkirk
Allied troops escape to
the safety of England
Miracle at Dunkirk
June 1940
 The Fall of France
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Nazis take control of N.
France
 Vichy France: Nazi run
puppet gov’t. in S. France
Aug. –Sept. 1940
 Battle of Britain
 England’s RAF defeats
the German Luftwaffe
after 1 month of bombing
 Radar helped RAF win!!
The Battle of Britain was effectively over by Sept. 15, 1940.
The Luftwaffe lost 1,800 aircraft & 2,660 crew. The RAF lost
1,020 aircraft & 537 crew. The RAF controlled the skies!
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Dec. 7th, 1941
 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, home of the Pacific Fleet
 After attack, many feared of land invasion
 “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”
A date which will live
in infamy….
DEC. 8, 1941: FDR
ASKED CONGRESS TO
DECLARE WAR ON
JAPAN!
US Joins the War
 After Pearl Harbor,
the US joins the
Allies
 Fall
of France &
attack of USSR
 United under
“Remember Pearl
Harbor!”
 Japanese boastful
Dec. 1941 – May 1942
 The Philippines
 Japan invaded the islands & took
Americans prisoners
 Douglas MacArthur lead US
troops stationed there
 Forced out by Japanese
 “I Will Return”
 Bataan Death March:
Captured US troops forced to
march over 50 miles to POW
camp
 Many died (30,000)
 Japan controlled Philippines
 Disproved theory of white
domination in SE Asia
Feb. 1942
• FDR ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 &
BEGINS THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESEAMERICANS & OTHERS
April 1942
 Doolittle Raids
 Showed Japan could
be attacked by plane
 Japanese islands
vulnerable to attack
 Dampened Japanese
spirits & lifted US
morale
May 1942
 Battle of the Coral Sea
 Allies stop Japan from
invading Australia
Battle of Midway: June 1942
“US Avenged Pearl Harbor”
• Led by Admiral Nimitz
• US intercepted info. abt. Japanese
movement toward strategic island of
Midway, then off to finish Pacific Fleet
in Pearl Harbor
• US outnumbered 4 to 1
• US took big chance, sent bulk of
Navy for this sneak attack
• Worst Japanese defeat
• 4 aircraft carriers, 322 planes & 1
cruiser
• Turning point of Pacific Theater
• Japan begins to weaken, loses power
in Pacific
Battle of Stalingrad:
Aug. 1942- Feb. 1943 (Left Side)
 Germany stuck on Eastern Front (Near Soviet Union)
 Stalingrad major Soviet industrial center,
Germany needs the resources because it’s low on oil & machinery
 Nov. 1942-Feb. 1943 Hitler tried to take Stalingrad, burned city
 Soviets retaliated, fighting back in -44 weather
 Turning point of the European Theater (1943)
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• Stalin wants US & Britain to
get involved with land troops
ASAP
• Distract German troops
 US upset because already
lost 200,000
 USSR loses that many by
breakfast everyday
 8 million soldiers (estimate)
 16 million civilian
(estimate)
• Fighting Germany alone for
months
Guadalcanal: Aug. 1942 – Feb. 1943
(Right Side)
 1st land offensive of
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Pacific War
6 months battle
Island of Death
Important for use as an
airstrip: toehold to attack
on Japan
Showed how costly this
would be (30%)
US moving closer to
Japan
Oct. 1942
 Battle of El Alamen
 Allied victory in N.
Africa!
 Allies able to invade
Europe via Italy
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“Belly of the Beast”
Nov. 1942
OPERATION TORCH
CODENAME OF ALLIED
ASSAULT ON NAZI FORCES
IN N. AFRICA
May 1943
GERMANY SURRENDERS IN
TUNISIA
June 6, 1944
Operation Overlord D-DAY
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June 6, 1944: Allied invasion of Normandy, France
Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in charge of Allies
Largest amphibious invasion in history
Problems: Drop zones, fortifications, underwater mines etc.
Several beaches attacked – Omaha Beach heaviest
Led to the Liberation of France
By Sept. 1944, most of N. Europe was free
Since you are all so clearly well
versed in your knowledge of WWII,
you will be happy to know there is a
quiz tomorrow 
Leyte Gulf, Philippines:
Oct. 1944
 Guess who made good on his promise to return to the Philippines?
“People of the Philippines: I have returned!”
3 major battles take place
US takes the Philippines: MacArthur in charge
Islands completely taken by 1945
Japanese desperate & use Kamikaze pilots: Suicide pilots
 Lost 424 pilots
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Dec. 1944 – Jan. 1945
 Battle of the Bulge
 Battle of Aachen: 1st
German city taken
 Germany broke through
American lines (creating
bulge)
 80 mile front & took 1
month to get back under
Allied control; Germany
defeated
 Germany’s last major
attack
Germany’s Demise
 2 front war: USSR & US
 1945: US & Soviet troops
met in Berlin
 Hitler hiding in bunker
with new wife & other
friends
 April 30, 1945: Hitler
shot himself, wife took
poison, gave dog
cyanide-bodies burned
 Hitler blamed Jews in
final letter
Feb. – March 1945
 Iwo Jima
 Strategic: serve as base
for heavy bombers
(couldn’t take off from
carriers)
 Most protected place on
earth – 20,000 Japanese
Only 200 survived
April – May 1945
 Battle of Berlin
 Soviet troops
invade the
city…
 Many Nazis
flee, leaving
Berlin
unguarded
Death of the European Dictators
April 28, 1945
April 30, 1945
 B. Mussolini killed by
 A. Hitler commits
Partisans as he
attempted to escape
into Switzerland.
 Body hung in Milan to
serve as proof of death
suicide & has his body
burned
Death of Mussolini
April – June
1945
 OKINAWA
 LAST ISLAND IN US’S WAY TO JAPAN
 HEAVY CASUALTIES: SHOWED
POSSIBLE HIGH LOSSES IF US INVADED
JAPAN
Estimated over 1,000,000 would be lost in land invasion of
Japan
May 8, 1945
V-E DAY
VICTORY IN EUROPE DAY
1 ST P A R T O F W A R O V E R
TRINITY EXPLOSION
• 1st atomic weapon detonated in Los
Alamos, New Mexico: 7/16/45
• 20,000 tons of TNT
• Flash seen 450 miles away & heard
200 miles away
• More powerful than dared hoped
• Oppenheimer: “I have become
Death, the shatterer of worlds,
waiting that hour that ripens to
their dooms.”
• $20 billion to develop
• 4 bombs made (1 test, 2 for war, I
unused)
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August 6, 1945: US drops A-Bomb on Hiroshima
Enola Gay: Plane which dropped 1st A-Bomb (Little Boy);
70,000 dead in blink of eye, 30,000 from radiation & injuries
W/i 43 seconds, most buildings collapsed into dust
Japan refused to surrender
 Why?
Before
After
Barefoot Gen.
 Aug. 9, 1945
 2nd A-Bomb dropped on
Japan - Fat Man
 7,000 degrees
Centigrade
 Emperor horrified &
surrenders: 8/14/45
It was perhaps unforgivable, but in fact at the time, I
was completely calm & composed. In other words, it
was just too much, too enormous to absorb.
- Yosuke Yamahata
- Nagasaki Survivor
Aftermath
Hirshima
Gone in an Instant
Art of a Survivor
Japan Surrenders
Aug. 15, 1945
September 2, 1945
 V-J Day: Victory in
 Japan’s formal
Japan.
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War in the Pacific over!!!
surrender is accepted!
Nov. 1945 – Oct. 1946
• NUREMBERG TRIALS
War crimes trials
Last Statement of Rudolph
Hess (2nd in line to take power)
I HAD PRIVILEGE OF WORKING FOR MANY YEARS OF
MY LIFE UNDER THE GREATEST SON MY NATION HAS
BROUGHT FORTH IN ITS THOUSAND-YEAR HISTORY
EVEN IF I COULD, I WOULD NOT WISH TO EX[P] UNGE
THIS TIME FROM M LIFE.
I AM HAPPY TO KNOW
THAT I HAVE DONE MY DUTY TOWARD MY PEOPLE,
MU DUTY AS A GERMAN, AS A NATIONAL SOCIALIST,
AS A LOYAL FOLLOWER OF MY FUHRER. I REGRET
NOTHING. IF I WERE TO BEGIN ALL OVER AGAIN I
WOULD JUST AS I HAVE ACTED, EVEN IF I KNEW THAT
IN THE END I SHOULD MEET A FIERY DEATH AT THE
STAKE. NO MATTER PEOPLE MAY DO, ONE DAY I
SHALL STAND BEFORE THE JUDGMENT OF GOD SET OF
GOD HIMSELF. I WILL ANSWER TO HIM, AND I KNOW
THAT HE WILL ABSOLVE ME.