Transcript World War II: Allied Powers vs. Axis Powers

Mr. Ermer
U.S. History Honors
Miami Beach Senior High
 Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet
 Plans to use surviving aircraft carriers against Japan
 Cannot mobilize fast enough to stop Japan from taking S.E. Asia
 Japan attacks U.S. bases in Philippines, land troops later
 Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops hid in Bataan for 3 mos.
 Gen. MacArthur evacuated to Australia
 McArthur’s troops captured by Japanese, marched 65 miles
 Philippines falls to Japan
 Doolittle Raid
 To raise morale, FDR orders bombing of Tokyo
 April: 16 B-25s bomb Tokyo, land in China
 Japan changes course
 Japan no longer worried about cutting off supply lines
 New plan is to lure U.S. fleet into battle by attacking Midway
 Japanese plan to cut U.S. supply lines to Australia by attacking
New Guinea, but U.S. broke the secret code, Battle of Coral Sea
 Aircraft Carriers Lexington & Yorktown attack Japanese fleet
 Carriers eventually sunk, but Japanese stopped
 Navajo “code talkers” used by U.S. Marine Corp
 Japanese could not “crack” the Navajo code, orders stayed
secret and were quickly transmitted
 U.S. Code Breakers learn about attack on Midway
 Japanese carriers sail into an ambush
 1st wave of Japanese planes shot down by Americans
 Four Japanese carriers sunk by American bombers
 Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war
 362 dead Americans, 3,057 dead Japanese
 Two part plan to defeat the Japanese:
 Admiral Nimitz’s Navy island hopping closer to Japan
 Gen. McArthur to lead army to recapture Philippines
 Amphtracs used to land Marines on coral atolls
 1943-45: Marines take islands 1 by 1, move closer to Japan
 B-29 “Superfortress” bomber, fly farther than other planes
 MacArthur’s troops begin drive at Guadalcanal
 Catch up to Navy and take New Guinea
 Next stop: Philippines (land on 10/20/1944)
 Japanese launch surprise attack, use kamikaze pilots
 Early Japanese retreat saves U.S. at Battle of Leyte Gulf
 Battle for control of the Philippines lasts until end of war
 FDR wants badly to invade Europe, his advisors and
British PM Winston Churchill advise against
 Want to invade Africa for two reasons:
 Taking control of Africa would not be as difficult
 The Army could get practice without needing too many troops
 After early losses, Gen. Eisenhower replaces leaders
 Gen. George Patton assigned to Africa
 Convoy system, radar, sonar help Allies control Atlantic
 With W. Europe under Nazi control, Hitler pushes east
to destroy the Soviet economy—Stalingrad is main target
 Battle lasts from September 1942-February 1943
 Nazis not prepared for Russian winter
 Heavy Nazi losses
Battle of Stalingrad
 US, UK, USSR form Grand Alliance, stress military
operations, not political differences
 Agree to fight until all Axis Powers surrender
 1942: War turns against Germany, Japan
 Nov ’42: Allies invade N. Africa, defeat Germans May ’43
 Feb ’43: German Sixth Army surrenders at Stalingrad
 June ’42: USA sinks 4 Japanese carriers at Midway
 Gen MacArthur begins offensive in Philippines
 Combined Army, Marine and Navy “island hopping”
 May 1943: Axis Tunisia surrenders
 Casablanca Conference: FDR and Churchill agree to destroy
German economic & military potential
 Weaken German morale
 First, attack Italy “the soft underbelly” of the Axis Powers
 September 1943: Allies invade Italian island of Sicily
 American & British bombing of Germany picks up
 Did not weaken German economy or morale, but created gas
shortage, interrupted railroads, wrecked airplane factories—
Allies now controlled the air
 Allies invade Italy, move north quickly, Mussolini arrested by
King Victor Emmanuel III—Germans return him to power
 Allies land at Anzio, behind Nazi lines at Cassino, fighting
lasts for three months—Allies take Rome in May 1944