Transcript America in World War II (Part Two)

America in World War II (Part Two)
The Allied Halting of
Hitler
 The Battle of the Atlantic
lasted from 1939-1945.
Hitler entered war with
large fleet of modern UBoats.
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The Allied Halting of Hitler
 The
Battle of the Atlantic lasted from 1939-1945.
Hitler entered war with large fleet of modern UBoats.
 Submarines would act alone or in concert as “wolf
packs”. Their goal: Sink as many merchant ships
as possible and make it impossible for the allies to
maintain their chains of supply. Large surface
ships such as the battleship Bismarck were also
used as raiders but were generally less successful.
Bismarck
Opening a Second Front from North Africa to
Rome 1942-1944
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A Second Front from North Africa to Rome
 Many Americans wanted a diversionary invasion of France in
1942 or 1943.
British having tried and failed with Canadians to make a landing
along the now heavily fortified coast argued for the Mediterranean.
Fighting and Diplomacy in Africa 1942-1943
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Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower leads an
invasion of North Africa in
November 1942.
Largest amphibious landing in human
history to that point.
German-Italian army eventually
defeated and trapped in Tunisia
January 1943 FDR meets Churchill at
Casablanca in Morocco. Agreed to
step war in the Pacific, insist on
“Unconditional Surrender” & invade
Sicily and Italy
The Allied Invasion of Italy and Sicily 1943-1944
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Sicily invaded and after hard
fighting, captured in August 1943
September 1943, Italy surrenders
unconditionally, Mussolini is
overthrown but Germans fight on.
Rome was liberated June 4,1944
Fighting in Italy would continue until
May 1945 diverting key German
resources from both Western and
Eastern Fronts
D-Day: June 6th, 1944
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FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met in
Tehran, Iran late in 1943. Agreed to
coordinate Allied attacks on the
Eastern and Western Fronts
Eisenhower given command of DDay’s Operation Overlord
Along with a great deal of subterfuge
Normandy is selected as sight of the
invasion.
June 6, 1944 British, Canadian, and
American led forces crash ashore and
after determined resistance fight their
way inland.
The Liberation of France
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Control of the air over France was
vital for Allies.
Allies fought to break out from
Normandy’s “Hedge Country”
Once out of Normandy progress was
fast. US General George Patton made
fast progress. Paris was liberated in
August 1944.
Attack carried forward and began to
press Germany itself although it was
delayed due to difficulty crossing the
Rhine River.
FDR: The Fourth Termite 1944
 Although
ill, FDR ran
again and won a fourth
term in November
1944.
The Last Days of Hitler
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Germany was faltering by December
1944.
Hitler had one more gamble: Attack
the Western Allies and take Antwerp,
the Allies’ chief supply depot.
Attack began in thinly guarded
Ardennes Forest in Belgium.
Americans driven back to village of
Bastogne and surrounded. Winter
weather prevented allied air forces
from helping beleaguered ground
forces.
Defiant American General A.C.
McAuliffe refused to surrender. They
were relieved by Patton’s 3rd Army
and air power shortly after Christmas.
The Last Days of Hitler (Part Two)
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Allied forces crossed the Rhine
in March 1945 and the Elbe in
April 1945
Soviets captured Berlin in
April. Hitler committed
suicide. US & Soviet soldiers
meet a short distance from
Berlin.
FDR dies of a cerebral
hemorrhage at Warm Springs
Georgia April 12, 1945. Harry
Truman becomes president.
Holocaust Revealed
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Reports of death camps had
been circulating for years and
Washington had failed to
shelter Jews (St. Louis
incident) or attempt liberation
Upon discovery, the world was
sickened by the sight of mass
graves and starving survivors
at Auschwitz, Treblinka, &
Dachau. Six Million Jews and
millions of other “nondesirables” were killed.
Japan Dies Hard
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Japan’s empire was shrinking
fast. American submarines
sank fifty percent of all
Japanese merchant ships.
Tokyo and other cities were
firebombed killing thousands
Battle of Leyte Gulf destroys
Japanese Navy October 1944
MacArthur recaptures the
Philippines October 1944January 1945
The End is Near
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Iwo Jima and Okinawa bloody
American victories MarchJune 1945
Kamikaze pilots damage
American ships. Would the
Japanese ever surrender?
Potsdam Conference in July
1945 demanded unconditional
surrender of Japan.
The Atomic Bombs
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Manhattan Project headed by
American & German exiles including
Albert Einstein and J. Robert
Openheimer
On July 16, 1945 test bomb is
exploded at Alamagordo, New
Mexico
August 6, 1945 Atomic bomb is
dropped on Hiroshima ultimately
killing 180,000 people. Nagasaki
blast killed about eighty thousand
three days later
Japan Surrenders, August 14,1945
World War II is over