Transcript WWII Turning Points[1].

WWII Turning Points
Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941
A. Cause
1. Japanese were attacking bases in other
nations
2. US responded with embargo (oil) to hurt
Japan economically
3. US warned Japan to leave Axis powers
B. Event
1. Dec. 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor (largest US
naval base in Pacific) was attacked by Japan
C. Effect
1. killed about 2400 Americans
2. wounded over 1100 more
3. 8 battleships damaged
4. FDR asked Congress for Declaration of War
against Japan
5. Germany & Italy then declared war on US
Battle of Midway, June 4-7, 1942
A. Cause
1. Americans broke the Japanese code
and knew Midway was next target of Japan
2. Massive Japan fleet rumored to be
ready to attack (over 110 ships – largest in
naval history) to finish destruction of Pearl
Harbor
B. Event
1. US Admiral Chester Nimitz
outnumbered but led surprise counterattack
2. 3-day battle
C. Effect
1. US avenging Pearl Harbor?
2. Japan lost 4 carriers, cruiser, 322
planes
3. More of a loss for Japan
4. After Battle of Midway, Allies start
island-hopping strategy (seizing less
protected islands)
Battle of Stalingrad
A. Cause
1.
2.
Germans wanted to capture Stalingrad
because it would speed up transfer of
military supplies to Moscow
Hitler wanted to capture city because
of name – same reason Stalin wanted
to defend it
B. Event
1. German army approached Stalingrad
midsummer & winning
2. November – Soviets launched massive
counterattack
3. Feb. 2, 1943 – “some 91,000 frost-bitten,
lice-ridden, half-starved German
troops surrendered.”
C. Effect
1. 1,250,000 Soviet deaths
2. Soviet army began to move in towards
Germany
3. Turned the tide in European war!
Invasion of Normandy (D-Day), June 6, 1944
A. Cause
1. For 2 years, Allies planned surprise attach
on Axis by air, ships, ground troops
2. Eisenhower organized Operation Overlord
which was the invasion to liberate France
B. Event
1. June 6, 1944 – 3 army divisions (British,
Canadian, and American troops) made a
surprise attack on the beaches of Normandy
and pushed forward to liberate France
2. Strong German retaliation
C. Effect
1. Very heavy casualties for all sides
2. By Sept. 1944, Allies liberate Europe!
(freed France, Belgium, Luxembourg, &
Netherlands)
3. Helped FDR get elected to 4th term!!!
Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 16, 1944 – Jan. 5, 1945
A. Cause
1. Oct. 1944 – Americans captured the first
German town and Hitler responded with surprise
counter attack
B. Event
1. Hitler ordered troops to break through Allied
lines
2. 8 German tank divisions broke through weak
American defenses along 80-mile front
2. lasted 1 month
3. Germans were pushed back in the end
C. Effect
1. Germans lost 120,000 troops
2. From that point on, Germans could only retreat
3. The tanks and weapons that they lost were
unable to be replaced
Liberation of Death Camps, July 1944
A. Cause
1. Allied troops continued eastward
further into Germany, Soviets
pushed westward toward Berlin
B. Event
1. July 1944 - Soviets troops first to
discover Nazi death camps
2. SS guards tried to burn all evidence
of crimes
3. Soviets found the world’s largest
crematorium
C. Effect
1. Nuremberg Trials – series of Military
tribunals for war crimes and crimes
against humanity
Germany’s Unconditional Surrender
A. Cause
1. April 25, 1945: Soviet army stormed
Berlin
2. Hitler wrote letter blaming Jews for
starting the war and his general for
losing it; then commits suicide
B. Event
1. May 7, 1945US General Eisenhower
accepted the unconditional surrender
of the Third Reich
C. Effect
1. May 8, 1945 – V-E Day (Victory in
Europe)
2. First part of war over
3. Can now turn all attention to Pacific
Battle of Iwo Jima, Feb. - March 1945
A. Cause
1. Allies had taken the Phillipines back
2. Wanted to take Iwo Jima because it
was an island close to Japan
B. Event
1. Lasted 36 days
2. one of the most populated areas
3. US was successful
C. Effect
1. After this, all that stood in the way
for Americans to reach Japanese
mainland was Island of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa, March - June 1945
A. Cause
1. strategy of island-hopping
2. Okinawa was Japan’s last defense
outpost
B. Event
1. Japanese unleashed more than 1900
kamikaze attacks, sunk 30 ships,
damaged 300, killed more than 7000
C. Effect
2. Over 10,000 Japanese died
3. Last major battle of Pacific/WWII
4. Allies succeeded in taking over
Japan’s last defense outpost
5. Japan still refused to surrender, so
US would later decide to use A-bomb
A-Bomb on Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Aug. 6 &
9, 1945
A. Cause
1. some say we were still trying to avenge
Pearl Harbor
2. Japan refused to surrender
B. Event
1. Aug. 6, 1945 – Enola Gay – A-bomb
(Little Boy) over Hiroshima
2. Aug. 9, 1945 – Boxcar Willie (Fat Man)
dropped on Nagasaki
C. Effect
1. Japan finally surrendered
2. Completely eliminated the cities where
they were dropped
3. Thousands of deaths & other effects on
human lives