yet at this point, germany, italy and japan still have the upper hand!

Yet at this point, Germany, Italy and Japan still have the upper hand!

And then Japan ATTACKS the American navy fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii!

- December 7, 1941 -“a date which will live in infamy” – President Roosevelt

Allies Advance!

• By mid-1942, Germany controlled most of Europe and began concentrating its forces in Russia.

• Russia now sided with the Allies: France, Great Britain, & the United States.

• The Allies decided to concentrate their forces and make one big attack!

The “Big Three”

The “Big Three”

Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin.

After the U.S. entered the war, the Allied leaders met periodically to hammer out their strategy!

Yet the Allies distrusted one another!

• Churchill (Britain) thought Stalin wanted to dominate Europe.

• Roosevelt (U.S.) felt that Churchill had ambitions to expand British imperial power.

• Stalin (U.S.S.R.) believed that the western powers wanted to destroy communism.

Stalin urged Roosevelt & Churchill to relieve the pressure on the U.S.S.R. by

opening a second front in Western Europe!

• Not until 1944, however, did Britain & the U.S. make such a move; arguing that they did not have the resources before then.

• Stalin saw the delay as a deliberate policy to weaken the Soviet Union.

Holocaust: A period (1941–1944) when the Nazis organized and carried out the murder of six million Jews, as well as millions of other innocent victims.

At this same time, many horrific events had been going on:

Battle of Midway

June 4-6, 1942

Battle of Midway

June 4-6, 1942

• The Battle of Midway Island was the most important naval battle of the Pacific campaign. It was fought entirely by air!

• The Japanese wanted to eliminate the United States from the war, yet the U.S. was moving closer toward Japan itself.

• After this battle, Japan was unable to launch another offensive attack!

Yet with renewed morale, the Allied Powers began to take control:

Turning Points: North Africa & Italy

• Victory in North Africa let the Allies leap across the Mediterranean into Italy.

• Italians, fed up with Mussolini, overthrew Il Duce.

• The new Italian government signed an armistice, but the fighting did not end.

• Hitler sent German troops to rescue Mussolini and help the Italians still fighting in the north.

• This Italian invasion by the Allied forces weakened Hitler by forcing him to fight on another front.

The Normandy Invasion• By 1944, the Allies were at last ready to open a

second front in Europe – with the invasion of France.

• The Allies choose June 6, 1944 (D-Day).

• After midnight, Allied planes dropped paratroopers over enemy lines.

• Then, at dawn, thousands of ships ferried 176,000 Allied troops across the English Channel.

The morning of June 6th the Allies landed on the beaches of France and attacked the Germans.

D-Day June 6, 1944

D-Day June 6, 1944

• D-Day = the Allied invasion of the beaches of France to again get a foothold in Europe.

• Allies broke through the German defenses and on August 25 entered Paris.

• Within a month, all of France was free.

• Attention then focused on conquering Germany itself – and defeating Japan!

Bloody Battle of the Bulge• After freeing France, Allied forces moved

toward Germany.

• Germany was reeling under round-the-clock bombing.

• Allied raids on Dresden, Germany in Feb. 1945 killed as many as 135,000 people.

The Battle of the Bulge

1944-1945Hitler’s Last Offensive

The Battle of the Bulge

1944-1945Hitler’s Last Offensive

• Lasted more than a month!

• Germany's goal was to split the British and American armies. They made a surprise attack!

• But the Allies were ready. They drove back Hitler and destroyed his army. The Allies won!

• The German army was unable to attack again. After this battle, the Allies crushed the Germans!

The End in Europe• By March, the Allies had crossed into western

Germany.

• From the east, Soviet troops closed in on Berlin.

• In late April, American and Soviet soldiers shook hands at the Elbe River. Everywhere, Axis armies began to surrender.

Iwo Jima February 19-

March 26, 1945

Iwo Jima February 19-

March 26, 1945• The United States fought for

and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan.

• The battle was the first American attack on the Japanese home islands.

At this same time, the Allied powers were having success in the Pacific:

Hitler Commits Suicide April 30, 1945

Hitler Commits Suicide April 30, 1945

Mr. & Mrs. Hitler

• Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot on April 30, 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin.

• His wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide with him by ingesting poison.

The Führer’s Bunker

Hitler’s Precautions• Before Hitler finally committed suicide, much of his daily life

revolved around plots – both real and imagined.

• Driven by near-paranoia, he stayed out of sight as much as possible, released his travel plans to as few people as possible, and frequently changed those plans at the very last moment.

• To frustrate would-be assassins, he would habitually arrive at events early and depart from them early as well.

• He surrounded himself with sharpshooters who could peer over crowds of onlookers.

• For his personal safety, Hitler often wore a bullet-proof vest and cap, and he regularly carried a revolver.

Victory in Europe (V-E Day)• In Italy, guerillas captured and executed Mussolini.

• On May 7, Germany surrendered.

• Officially the war in Europe ended the next day: May 8, 1945.

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

V-E Day (May 8, 1945)

• With war won in Europe, the Allies poured their resources into defeating Japan.

• By mid-1945, most of the Japanese navy and air force had been destroyed.

• Yet the Japanese still had an army of 2 million men.

• The road to victory, it appeared, would be long and costly!

Defeat of Japan• While Allied military leaders planned for an

invasion of Japan, scientists offered another way to end the war.

The Atomic Bomb

• Manhattan Project: was the U.S. project that developed the first atomic bomb.

• It began when President Roosevelt learned that Nazi Germany was attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

• Project sites were all over America, including at the University Chicago.

• In July 1945, Allied scientists tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico.

The Manhattan Project

The Atomic Bomb• Is a nuclear weapon. The

explosive device derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions.

• The Hiroshima bomb released the same amount of energy as approximately 20,000 tons of TNT (explosives).

• Today’s nuclear bombs are much more powerful/ destructive.

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)• Became president when

President Roosevelt unexpectedly died on April 12, 1945.

• He issued a warning to Japan to surrender or face “utter and complete destruction.”

• After Japan did not surrender, Truman authorized the use of the atomic bomb against Japan.

The United States drops the Bomb!

• On the morning of August 6, 1945, at 8:15, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb, Little Boy, on Hiroshima.

• Having heard nothing from the Japanese government, the U.S. military proceeded with its plans to drop a second atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki on August. 9th.

Little Boy & Little Boy & Fat ManFat Man

Enola Gay Crew

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945

Hiroshima – August 6, 1945 70,000 killed

immediately.

48,000 buildings destroyed.

100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

Diorama of Hiroshima: Before and After

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945

Nagasaki – August 9, 1945

40,000 killed immediately.

60,000 injured.

100,000s died of radiation poisoning & cancer later.

The Bomb Reenactment

http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=193906&title=hiroshima_reenactment&vpkey=4badb7d45d

“I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb... It is an awful responsibility which has come to us... We thank God that it has come to us, instead of to our enemies; and we pray that He may guide us to use it in His ways and for His purposes.”

- President Harry Truman, August 9, 1945

Was the bomb necessary to achieve victory in the war in the Pacific?

• The role of the bombings in Japan's surrender and the U.S.'s ethical justification for them has been the subject of scholarly and popular debate for decades.

• Japanese military did not want to surrender after the bombs – but Emperor Hirohito overruled them.

Aftermath of the A-Bomb: V-J Day: August 14, 1945

• Japan surrendered on Aug. 10th; one day after the second bomb had been dropped.

• On August 29, 1945 U.S. General MacArthur became the leader of Japan from 1945 until 1948.

• The United States helped rebuild Japan, even after dropping the bomb!

V-J Day in Times Square

From The Eye of Eisenstaedt:

“I was walking through the crowds on V-J Day, looking for pictures. I noticed a sailor coming my way. He was grabbing every female he could find and kissing them all — young girls and old ladies alike. Then I noticed the nurse, standing in that enormous crowd. I focused on her, and just as I'd hoped, the sailor came along, grabbed the nurse, and bent down to kiss her. Now if this girl hadn't been a nurse, if she'd been dressed dark clothes, I wouldn't have had a picture. The contrast between her white dress and the sailor's dark uniform gives the photograph its extra impact.”

This photo became a cultural icon overnight!

Aftermath• Nuclear weapons are considered “weapons of mass

destruction”, and their use and control has been a major focus of international relations since their debut.

• The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons are the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.

• The USA is still the only country to have dropped a nuclear bomb on PEOPLE!

The World We Live in Today was Formed by

the Events of World War

II & its Immediate Aftermath!

Invasion vs. BombReasons for invading Japan

• Atomic bomb was unnecessary. We were already winning the war in the Pacific.

• The Soviets had joined the war giving us more manpower to attack on land.

• The cost in lives from using the bomb was too high. Plus it would cause massive destruction and release deadly radioactivity.

• We would set a bad precedent. Once used, it would be more likely to be used again.

Reasons for dropping the bombs

• It would save hundreds of thousands of American lives that would have been lost in an invasion of mainland Japan.

• Quick end to the war.

• The U.S. wanted to use the weapon in war to measure its effectiveness. 

• US wanted to impress the Soviet Union with American power.