Ch. 17 Sec. 3-5

Allied Victories

The Pacific

• By 1942 Japan had conquered most of the islands of the western Pacific and much of SE Asia

• May 1942, Japan suffers first serious setback at the Battle of Coral Sea– Lasted 5 days– Use of aircraft carriers, enemy ships never saw each

other– Japan prevented from securing several important

islands, and suffered key ship losses

The Pacific

• June 1942, Battle of Midway– Also fought entirely from the air– Devastating blow to Japan, last offensive

operation– After, U.S. began strategy of “island-hopping”

working towards Japan– Midway and island hopping under the direction

of Admiral Nimitz while Gen. MacArthur led the Marines into retaking the Philippines

Distrust amongst the “Big Three”

• Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin– Periodic strategic meetings– Agree to focus on Europe before finishing war

in Asia– Balance between not trusting political

ambitions (Communism) and maintaining a successful alliance

• Agree to let borders of Nazi-Soviet Pact stand• Stalin upset over delaying a front in Western Europe

North Africa

• Late 1942, British and U.S. begin their first campaign together– General Montgomery (British) vs. Rommel

• Allies stop German advance at the Battle of El Alamein

• Drive Axis armies back across Libya into Tunisia

• General Eisenhower commands joint British/U.S. forces from the West and pinch Rommel’s armies and secure North Africa by Spring 1943

Italy Next

• By July 1943, land in Sicily and then southern Italy– Defeat Italian forces in less than a month

– Italians overthrow Mussolini’s government and sign and armistice, but:

• Hitler sends troops to rescue Mussolini

• Hitler reinforces the will of Italians in the North

• Long 18 months of pushing slowly up the peninsula– Heavy Allied losses but weakens Hitler on Eastern Front

Russia Again!

• Spring 1942– Hitler launches a new offensive towards southern

USSR (oil fields)– Met resistance at Stalingrad

• Battle one of the costliest of WW II• House to House combat, Germans appear in control until

another Winter sets in• Soviets encircle Stalingrad and trap German forces, without

access to food or ammunition, surrender in Jan. 1943

– Red Army takes the offensive• Drive Germans out of Soviet Union• By 1944, advancing into Eastern Europe

D-Day

• June 6 1944, Allies invade France– Gen. Eisenhower in charge of planning the

operation• Pre-invasion bombing

• Tricked the Germans into thinking the invasion would take place at Calais

• Paratroopers after midnight behind enemy lines

• Landing craft unload over 170,000 troops on beaches of Normandy

Hitler’s Troops in Retreat

• Both East and West– Gen. Patton advance on Paris from West other

forces land in France from Italy– Aug. 1944 Paris freed, Sept. all of France– Constant bombing raids to destroy factories and

morale of civilians– Dec. 1944, advance into Belgium

• Hitler launches on last massive counter-attack

Battle of the Bulge

• Lasted over a month

• Both sides suffer terrible losses

• Germans unable to break Allied lines

• Delays advance for six weeks

• Allows Soviet Union to advance on Berlin from the East

Inevitable Defeat

• By fall of 1945 Hitler’s support was declining– Survived assassination attempts– Commits suicide on April 30, 1945

• Yalta Conference - Feb. 1945– Another meeting of distrust– FDR - physically very weak

• Allows Stalin to gain upper hand in eventually controlling Eastern European nations

• Temporary division of Germany into four zones• Soviet agreement to help defeat Japan

V-E Day

• March 1945, Allies cross the Rhine• April 1945, Shaking hands with Russians at the Elbe

River– Axis armies surrendering all over Europe– Mussolini captured and executed by Italians

• May 8, 1945, war officially ends in Europe– (FDR died on April 12)

• Reasons:– Multiple fronts– Poor decisions– U.S. production - twice as much as all Axis combined

Defeating Japan

• Allies turn to Japan (w/out Soviet Union)– July of 1945 – Navy and AF destroyed– Still had an army of 2 million in unfamiliar

environment– Final victory would take time and be costly– Proven their will to fight to the death

• Islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Kamikaze pilots

Manhattan Project

• Research race on the potential of atomic weapons– Many European refugees (German)– July 1945 test first atomic bomb (New Mexico)

• President Truman struggles with burden of the decision– Force of destruction (civilian) vs. Saving of

American lives

Atomic Destruction

• Allied warning to surrender or face “utter and complete destruction”– Japan ignores– Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

(killed 70,000 instantly)– Aug. 8, 1945 Soviet Union declares war on Japan –

invades Manchuria– Japan fails to respond to surrender warnings– August 9, 1945 second bomb on Nagasaki(40,000)– Emperor Hirohito intervenes, force militaristic

government to surrender – official on Sept. 2, ‘45

After WW II

• Casualty numbers – Chart p. 591 (50 million worldwide)– Realization of inhumanity in Europe and Asia

• War crime trials in Nuremberg– 142 German/Austrian found guilty and given sentences

• Similar trials in Japan and Italy

– Discredited totalitarian ideologies and Western democracies built new governments in occupied regions of Germany and Japan

• Military forces help Japan create a new constitution giving power to the people

After WW II

• April 1945, 50 nations send delegates to San Francisco to create the United Nations– Greater role and authority than L of N

• General Assembly

• Security Council (US, USSR, GB, France, China)

• Work beyond peacekeeping– Other world problems: disease outbreaks, education,

economic development, protecting refugees

Super Powers

• Differences in ideologies, mutual distrust leads to Cold War– State of tension and hostility between nations aligned

with U.S. vs. USSR

• USSR (Stalin) goals:– Spread Communism– Buffer zone of friendly governments between Germany– Ignored pledge of free elections, Red Army destroyed

rival parties and eliminated democratic leaders– (’48)Pro-Soviet governments in place in Eastern Europe

U.S. Involvement

• Truman abandons traditional U.S. policy of isolationism– Truman Doctrine (March 1947)

• Americans would resist Soviet expansion in Europe and other areas of the world

• Immediately sent economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey

– Marshall Plan• Food and Economic assistance to Europe to help countries

rebuild– Billions of dollars helped rapid recovery in western Europe– USSR forced satellite nations to reject (slow recovery)

Germany

• USSR takes reparations• Allies unite zones and rebuild to restore political

stability– West Germany- write their own constitution– East Germany- socialist dictatorship under Stalin’s control– Berlin – divided into 4 zones as well

• ’48 Stalin sealed off every RR and Highway– West responded with an airlift– Deepened the tensions of the Cold War

– Formed opposing military alliances• NATO (9) and Warsaw Pact (7)

Cold War

• Formed opposing military alliances• NATO (9) support each other democracy

• Warsaw Pact (7) ended up being used more to keep satellite nations in order

– Communist in name but dictatorship in practice