The Third Reich CollapsesThe war in Europe ended in spring 1945 after major battles, as the Allies moved east toward Germany.

• In Normandy, the battle of the hedgerows ended on July 25, 1944, when 2,500 American bombers blew a hole in the German lines, enabling American tanks to race through the gap.

• As the Allies broke out of Normandy, the French Resistance staged a rebellion in Paris.

The Third Reich Collapses (cont.)

– The Allied forces liberated Paris on August 25, 1944.

• Hitler decided to stage one last desperate offensive with the goal of cutting off Allied supplies coming through the port of Antwerp, Belgium.

– Although fighting continued for three weeks, the United States won the Battle of the Bulge.

The Third Reich Collapses (cont.)

• By the time the Battle of the Bulge had ended, the Soviets had driven Hitler’s forces out of Russia and back across Poland.– American forces attacked Germany’s

western border.

The Third Reich Collapses (cont.)

• As the Soviet and American forces both neared Berlin, Hitler committed suicide.

• Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945—known as V-E Day, for “Victory in Europe.”

Japan Is DefeatedThe United States decided to end the war with Japan by using napalm and atomic bombs.

• After FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945, Harry S. Truman became president.

• American planners decided to invade Iwo Jima because of its location; however, its geography was formidable.

Japan Is Defeated (cont.)

– More than 6,800 marines were killed capturing the island.

• To help the B-29s hit their targets, General Curtis LeMay ordered the use of bombs filled with napalm.

– Loaded with firebombs, B-29s attacked Tokyo on March 9, 1945.

– By the end of the war, 67 Japanese cities had been firebombed.

Japan Is Defeated (cont.)

• Military planners decided to seize Okinawa so that they could use it as a place to stockpile supplies and build up troops for an attack on Japan.

– Over 12,000 Americans died capturing Okinawa.

Japan Is Defeated (cont.)

• The secret American program to build an atomic bomb was code-named the Manhattan Project and was headed by General Leslie R. Groves.

– On July 16, 1945, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in New Mexico.

Japan Is Defeated (cont.)

• On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

• On August 9, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan.

• Later that day, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.

• On August 15, 1945—V-J Day—Japan surrendered.

Japan Is Defeated (cont.)

Building a New WorldThe victorious Allies tried to create an organization to prevent future wars.

• In 1944 39 countries met to discuss the creation of the United Nations (UN).

– The delegates agreed that there would be a General Assembly and a Security Council.

Building a New World (cont.)

• On April 25, 1945, representatives from 50 countries came to San Francisco to officially organize the UN and to design its charter.

– The UN also created a Commission on Human Rights and chose Eleanor Roosevelt to serve as its first chair.

– The Commission drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN issued it in 1948.

• In August 1945, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union created the International Military Tribunal (IMT).

Building a New World (cont.)

– Twenty-two leaders of Nazi Germany were prosecuted at the Nuremberg Trials.

– In Tokyo, 25 Japanese leaders were charged with war crimes.