an overview of early american involvement. american soldiers 5 million volunteers, 10 million...
TRANSCRIPT
An Overview of Early American
Involvement
American Soldiers• 5 million volunteers, 10 million drafted
• Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC)
• non-combat duties – nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, pilots
• Minorities Served (over 1.3 million) in segregated units
• Mexican, African, Chinese, Japanese, and Native Americans
• Tuskegee Airmen
• all African American squadron that fought against Germans over Italy
• won highest awards from military for successes
• Purple Heart Battalion
• all Japanese Americans battalion that fought in Africa & Italy
• became the most decorated unit in U.S. history
• Home Front Employment Expands
• due to the high numbers of soldiers, women & minorities are hired to work in factories, and the Depression officially ends
WWII Teams
Allies Axis• Poland
• Britain
• France
Additions:
• USSR
• U.S.
• Italy
• China
• and over 40 other countries
• Germany
• Japan
• Italy (switches sides)
• USSR (switches sides)
• 7 other small countries
Battle of the Atlantic (1941 – 1943)• Battle between Britain and Germany over control of Atlantic Ocean
• From 1941 to 1943 Germany dominated the battle using U-Boats to destroy cargo ships
• With American aid, but 1943 Allies were able to control the Atlantic
• Significant because U.S. now able to safely provide supplies, weapons, soldiers to war in Europe
Battle of Stalingrad (1941 – 1943)• Germans wanted to destroy the major industrial city
• quickly gained control of 90% of city, then the winter set in
• Soviets surrounded the city, trapping the Germans
• at the end of January 1943 Germans surrendered
• turning point on Eastern Front – Soviets began to move westward towards Germany
North African Front (1942 – 1943)• Allied Offensive – “Operation Torch”
• Allied invasion of Axis controlled North Africa
• American General Eisenhower fought against German General Rommel (“desert fox”).
• Allied victory
Doolittle’s Raid (1942)• following Pearl Harbor Japanese quickly took over parts of mainland Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines
• Lt. Colonel Doolittle led 16 bombers on an attack against Tokyo and other major Japanese cities
• Weakened Japanese morale
Battle of Coral Sea (1942)• five day battle where the Japanese
were trying to take over Australia
• Japanese vs. Americans & Australians
• all fighting was done by planes
• first time since Pearl Harbor a Japanese attack had been stopped
Battle of Midway (1942)• Japan wanted to seize this island near Hawaii
• U.S. broke a Japanese code allowing us to successfully defend the island
• the U.S. bombed and destroyed Japanese aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and 250 planes
• turning point in War in the Pacific
• led to the Island Hopping Campaign
Italian Campaign (1943 – 1945)• Allies moved North from Africa towards Italy
• quickly captured Sicily
• Mussolini overthrown in Italy
• Hitler sent German forces to Italy to fight the Allies
• Fighting continued in Italy, until Germany was near collapse
The END
of the War
D-Day (1944)• code name “Operation Overlord”
• purpose of the attack was to free parts of France from Axis control, then move into and destroy Germany
• Attack came in three phases – paratroopers, airplanes dropped bombs, and then infantry landed on the beaches
• Allies were successful and began to slowly gain back control of France (had been controlled by Germany for 4 years)
Island Hopping Campaign• American strategy in the Pacific
• began after the Battle of Midway
• Allies began to move from island to island in the Pacific, seizing control from the Japanese
• Allies began moving closer and closer to Japan
Battle of the Bulge (1944)• following the Allied capture of the first German city, Hitler ordered an
offensive attack
• Germans attempted to divide the Allied lines in half
• battle lasted for a month, with an eventual Allied victory
• Germans lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks, and 1,600 planes
• Germany could no longer effectively attack, could only defend themselves
• simultaneously the Soviets were continuing to push westward towards Germany
Yalta (1945)
• Stalin, Churchill, and FDR meet
• determine that when the Germans surrender…
• Germany & Berlin will be split into four zones
• Stalin will allow free elections in Eastern European countries he has liberated from Hitler
• Stalin will aid in war with Japan – attack from the west
FDR Dies (1945)• FDR dies of a stroke
• Vice President Harry Truman assumes office of the President
V-E Day (1945)
• Soviet troops enter Berlin with Americans approaching from the West
• Hitler commits suicide in his underground bunker
• A week later, on 8th of May 1945, Germany surrenders unconditionally
• war is over in Europe – Victory in Europe Day
Battle of Iwo Jima (1945)• strategically important island,
needed as a base to attack mainland Japan
• heavily guarded by Japanese – over 20,700 Japanese soldiers were stationed on the island
• Eventually the Allies succeeded in taking the island
• only 200 Japanese soldiers survived the battle
• showed the Japanese commitment to fighting to the death
Battle for Okinawa (1945)
• last location needed to gain access to Japan
• Japanese used kamikaze attacks to fight off the Allies
• By the time the Allies won the island, 7,600 Americans had died & 110,000 Japanese had died
• estimated that the cost of invading mainland Japan could be over 1.5 million Allied lives