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Major Battles and End of WWII https://scholar.vt.edu/access/content/user/drwedan/Portfolio%20 Public/Documents/Videos/Day%206%20World%20War%20II.ppt Slide 2 Guiding Question: What battles were major TURNING POINTS that swung the course of WWII in favor of the Allies? Slide 3 Japanese Strategy After Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the Philippines and Indonesia and planned to invade both Australia and Hawaii Japan hoped America would just accept Japanese domination of the Pacific rather than wage a bloody war to reverse Japanese gains Slide 4 North Africa The British were fighting the Germans and Italians in North Africa Wait why were European countries battling in Africa? Slide 5 North Africa Battle of El Alamein: German forces threatening to seize Egypt and the Suez Canal were defeated by the British This defeat prevented Hitler from gaining access to Middle Eastern oil supplies Slide 6 Europe Battle of Stalingrad: German forces besieged the Russian city of Stalingrad A long, cold, and bitter battle Slide 7 Europe Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers were killed or captured in the months-long siege Germanys defeat at Stalingrad prevented Germany from seizing Russian oil fields and was THE turning point against Germany in the east Bloodiest battle in human history (1.5 million casualties) Slide 8 vid Slide 9 D-Day American and Allied troops under General Eisenhower landed in German-occupied France on June 6, 1944 Largest amphibious invasion in history Slide 10 Slide 11 D-Day Despite intense German opposition and heavy American casualties, the landings succeeded and the liberation of western Europe from Hitler had begun Slide 12 vid Slide 13 Pacific Battle of Midway: Japanese forces moved toward Midway Island If the Japanese destroy American base on Midway, they will be able to invade Hawaii Slide 14 Midway Americans had broken the Japanese code, and new the attack was coming Though out numbered, the US won the battle Slide 15 Slide 16 Midway This American victory ended the Japanese threat to Hawaii and began a series of American victories which brought the war closer to Japan TURNING POINT Slide 17 Pacific Iwo Jima and Okinawa: Big battles where Americans invaded Japanese- held islands Though America won these battles, they were incredibly costly in American and Japanese lives Slide 18 Pacific Showed America that the Japanese intended to fight fiercely for every square mile of Japanese territory Even Japanese civilians were armed with swords and bows and arrows and would rather commit suicide than surrender Slide 19 VE-Day Write this on your notes: May 8, 1945 European Allies accept Germanys surrender Hitler had killed himself in a bunker as Russian troops approached Slide 20 Atomic Bomb Over the course of World War II, American and German scientists were both working on developing nuclear weapons America developed them first Slide 21 Atomic Bomb As the war winded down, it became clear that for America to defeat Japan, the US would have to invade Japan itself This was a scary prospect because of the casualties for both Americans and Japanese would be horrendously high Slide 22 vid Slide 23 Atomic Bomb America decides instead to use atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Tens of thousands of civilians killed in both cities Slide 24 Question Is it OK to kill civilians if it helps your cause is just? What if killing them saves lives in the long run? What about 9/11? Slide 25 Japan Surrenders Shortly after the bombs are dropped, Japan surrenders, avoiding the needs for American invasion Slide 26 Writing Activity On a separate sheet of paper, tell me if you think the use of the atom bomb on Japan was justified About 5 GOOD sentences Tell me why you think what you think Legit to kill enemy civilians? Did it save lives?