WORLD WAR II

Allies vs Axis

Great Britain

France

US

USSR

The Big Four:

+ many others

Germany

Italy

Japan

A World

in FlamesAdolf Hitler

Emperor Hirohito

Francisco Franco

Benito Mussolini

Pearl Harbor

A. The Rise of Dictators

- after WWI, US hoped to aid in the

establishment of democracy throughout

the world. Instead, in the 1920s-30s,

TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT’S

appeared in Italy, Germany, and the

USSR – ALL used terror and force to

suppress the opposition

1. Mussolini - Italy (Il Duce)

a. Problems in Italy

1) Anger over Treaty of Versailles

didn’t get Austrian territory

2) Economy failing, political and

class tensions

3) unemployment, inflation led to

strikes, fear of Communism

b. Mussolini blamed problems on

Communists, corrupt biz leaders &

weak politicians – promised to

restore to Italy the honor, glory &

prosperity of ancient Roman Empire

c. founded Fascist party in 1919

Beliefs

1) Fascism stresses nationalism

and the supreme authority of

the leader

2) believed nations made great by

expanding territory and building

up military

3) nation more important than

individual. Individualism =

weakness

Believe, Obey, Fight

“The function of a

citizen and a soldier

are inseparable”

4) anti-communist: stood for

protection of pvt property &

middle class; full employment for

industrial workers; social

security; national prestige

5) organized blackshirts – militia

used gang tactics to suppress

strikes & attack leftist trade

unions

Mussolini

with

Blackshirts

1922

2. Stalin and Communism in USSR (1926)

a. Bolshevik Revolution 1917 (Lenin)

b. Instituted one-party rule, suppressed

individual liberties, punished

opponents

c. Stalin takes over 1926 - advocated

rapid industrialization, state control

of farms

– his methods caused famine and

starvation. Kept control through

series of purges - killing or

imprisoning political enemies

and possible opposition

3. Hitler & Nazism

a. political & economic chaos in

post-WWI Germany

1) economic burden of reparations

and rebuilding + skyrocketing

inflation

2) Weimar Republic: A

Democracy, but little experience; weak &

ineffective.

3) Workers begin to support

Communists; upper class wants

return to monarchy

b. humiliated by terms of WWI

surrender

Weimar

Republic’s Paul

Von Hindenburg

Terms of Treaty of Versailles

c. Adolf Hitler blamed Germany’s

problems on

- Communists

- foreign powers who stripped

Germany of its land & military

abilities at Versailles

- Jews who controlled world finances

d. Mein Kampf: Hitler outlines his

plan for Germany (from jail 1923)

- Germans are a superior race

w/ right to conquer & rule other

peoples (especially Slavs/Jews)

- Germany needed lebensraum

(living space) – should expand east

Mein Kampf

became a best-

seller in Germany

e. Rose to power through Nazi Party

(National Socialist German

Workers Party)

Nazism = fanatical ideas of nationalism,

German racial superiority, and

supremacy of the “fuhrer”

g. Hitler became President in 1934.

Called himself der fuhrer.

Vowed to:

1) rebuild German economy

2) restore lands lost after WWI

3) to rearm Germany (in defiance

of Treaty of Versailles)

4. Francisco Franco and Fascism in Spain

a. Spanish Civil War 1936 – republican

government (democracy?) vs fascists

b. Germany & Italy helped arm Franco’s

Fascist forces

c. USSR helped loyalists.

(republican / democratic government)

GB, France, US did nothing

(IRONIC)

d. Democracy lost

Francisco Franco

"Our regime is

based on

bayonets and

blood, not on

hypocritical

elections.“

Francisco

Franco

5. Militarists Gain Control of Japan

a. Background.

1920s: Japan had close ties with West, they were developing a democratic system

b. But economy suffering – trade deficit, unemployment etc.

c. Nationalists/Military leaders, some biz leaders urged return to glory of Japan’s past with absolute rule by emperor

Beliefs

- Japan destined to dominate East Asia

- Preached virtues of territorial expansion

d. Why did they need to expand?

1) expanding population

2) economic expansion

3) lack of natural resources

e. Sept 1931: military (w/o

support of gov’t) invaded Manchuria,

a resource-rich province of China

f. Japanese civilian government tried

to intervene. Prime Minister and

many other supporters of

democracy were assassinated

g. Series of military officers now

served as Prime Minister

h. League of Nations complained –

Japan simply withdrew from L of N

B. America Beginning of the War

- America supports Isolationism – the belief that the US should avoid international commitments that might drag US into another foreign war

1. Isolationism

a. Isolationism grew in popularity. Why?

1) war debt – Europeans weren’t repaying loans from WWI

2) belief that US arms manufacturers influenced WWI

2. Legislating Neutrality – supporting Isolationism

a. Neutrality Act of 1935 – barred sale of munitions to all belligerents (nations at war)

b. Neutrality Act of 1936: banned the sale of arms to either side in a civil war

- reaction to Spanish Civil war (1936)

c. Neutrality Act of 1937 – continued ban on arms sales to belligerents but allowed sale of nonmilitary supplies - on “cash and carry” basis & on their own ships

d. Neutrality Act of 1939 – allowed for sale of arms to belligerents, but no US ships would enter a war zone.

3. Roosevelt & Internationalism

a. FDR was not an isolationist, but an internationalist – believes trade between nations creates prosperity & helps prevent war

b. Japan attacks China July 1937

Example: FDR ok’s sale of weapons to China

- this he says, does not violate Neutrality Act, as neither side declared war

A survivor after intense

bombing during the

Japanese attack on

Shanghai's South

Station. August 1937.

II. World War II BeginsA. Pre-War German Aggression

1. 1935: Germany rearms (violating Treaty of Versailles)

a. Nat’l pride soarsb. German economy improves –

unemployment fell, new opportunities grew

c. Result? Devotion to Hitler grew

d. No reaction from France/Britain

2. 1936: Germany sent military into

Rhineland (demilitarized region along

border w/ France) – again, in violation

of the T of V

- no reaction from France whose

army could easily have

overpowered German forces at this

time

Rape of Nanking• Between Dec.1937 and March 1938 Japanese

troops captured Nanking (then the Capital of

China) and embarked on a campaign of

murder, rape and looting.

• An estimated 250,000 and 300,000 (out of

600,000 total) killed, many of them women and

children.

• # women raped is estimated at 20,000+ w/

many accts of civilians being hacked to death.

• Like other genocides, some refute this atrocity

• (acct by BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/39166.stm)

3. March 1938: Austrian Anschluss – the

annexation of Austria (again, a

violation of the T of V)

a. part of Hitler’s goal to unite

German-speaking people

b. Germany stood to gain territory,

food, soldiers, defensible frontier

c. Austrians divided over the

issue, but little int’l opposition

to the takeover

4. Sept. 1938:

a. Hitler lays claim to the

Sudetenland = German speaking

region in Czechoslovakia

b. Unlike Austrians, Czechs wanted

to resist. + very diff. scenario

• ** Czech. = democracy

** Czech. in defense alliance w/

USSR & France

** multilingual (not just German)

c. Munich Conference : Britain,

France, Germany & Italy agree to

allow Germans to occupy

Sudetenland (APPEASEMENT!!)- Brit PM Neville Chamberlain

declares that there would be

“peace in our time.”

d. March 1939: Hitler seizes the

rest of Czechoslovakia

- Britain & France realize that

appeasement had failed

German Aggression Prior to Outbreak of WWII

5. Oct 1938: Hitler demands return of

Danzig (Baltic Sea Port) from Poland +

hwy & RR across Polish corridor

- March 1939: Brits & French

announce plan

to defend Poland

- Poland refuses

Hitler’s demands

knowing Brits &

French will come

to her aid

6. Aug 1939: Brits & French asked for USSR support for Poland, but instead, Stalin informed them of one of the century’s biggest diplomatic surprises -The Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

- Germany free to attack Poland and elsewhere w/o USSR opposition

- Stalin agreed to this pact believing that the USSR would be protected by turning the capitalists against e/o (Germany vs. GB/France)

- contained secret deal to divide Poland between Germany/USSR

The Big QuestionWhy did European leaders do

nothing to stop the Nazis in

Germany in the early1930s when

they had the chance?

Answer/Explanation?

a. Memory of WWI – horrors of war

b. Fear of Soviet communism

- strong Germany = good balance against Soviets

c. Objections to the Treaty of Versailles

d. Hope for compromise w/ Germany

- thought some of his demands were reasonable

- believed appeasement would work (appeasement = accepting demands in hope of avoiding conflict)

B. The War Begins

1. Sept 1, 1939: Germany invades

Poland (from west; USSR from

east)

a. Blitzkrieg “lightning war”

b. Sept 3, 1939: GB and France

declare war on Germany, but

Poland can’t be saved (divided

btwn Germany/USSR)

c. USSR takes over Baltics, invades

Finland Nov. 1939

2. Germany targets France

a. Last months of 1939

French & British troops in France

on the defensive.

- Maginot Line: a line of

concrete bunkers & fortifications

along German border

Maginot line

Anti-Tank Defenses on the

Maginot Line

c. April 1940: German unleashes

“blitzkrieg” into neutral Denmark,

then Norway

d. To get to France, Hitler went

around the Maginot Line, invading

Netherlands, Belgium, &

Luxembourg

“The thing about the

Maginot Line was that it

pointed to exactly the spot

where the French Army

could be found; therefore,

the Germans avoided it.”

3. May 1940: Miracle at Dunkirk

a. Brit and French Armies trapped in

Belgium

b. Germans captured all ports except

Dunkirk - (in France on Belgian border)

c. Brits sent over 850 ships (warships,

sailboats, fishing boats etc) across

English Channel to Dunkirk

- rescued 338,000 Brit & French

troops!!!! But almost all of Brit’s

army equipment was left behind

d. Americans inspired to help!

Miracle at Dunkirk

4. June 1940: The Fall of France

a. June 5: Germany invades France

b. France surrenders June 22, 1940

c. Northern and Western France

under Nazi Rule

- rest of France governed by

neutral but German friendly

regime = Vichy

d. Only Britain left to fight against

Hitler and Nazi Germany

C. The British

1. Winston Churchill = new Prime Minister

of Britain

a. Germany expects Brits to

negotiate peace

b. Churchill’s response?

“We shall fight on

the beaches, we

shall fight in the

fields and in the

streets, we shall

never surrender!”

2. July-Oct 1940: Battle of Britain

a. Air war

b. German Luftwaffe (LW) vs. British Royal Air Force (RAF)

c. Germany’s plan?

- to disrupt wartime production & break British civilian morale

d. Germany’s mistake?

- Luftwaffe bombs London accidentally, RAF responds by bombing Berlin. Hitler furious –orders LW to stop bombing military targets to focus on bombing London

* duh… what about that wartime production!

RAF Spitfire

LW Heinkel HE 111

2. Sept 1940: Destroyers for Bases Deal

a. Churchill asks FDR for

destroyers to protect Brit cargo

ships from U-boats & to block

German attempts to invade

Britain

b. FDR gave Brits 50 aging

destroyers in exchange for free

99 yr lease of British Naval Bases

in Canada & Caribbean

c. Since deal wasn’t a sale,

Neutrality Act didn’t apply

3. Oct 1940: Hitler gives up on invasion of

England. What happened?

a. RADAR: Brits able to detect

incoming LW aircraft and intercept

them

Churchill to the RAF Fighter Pilots

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

B. The Isolationist Debate in US

1. Support for Brits increases (thanks to

Dunkirk & Invasion of France)

2. America First Committee

a. Favored continued isolation

b. Opposed to ANY US intervention

or aid to Allies

c. Famous members: Charles

Lindbergh, Senator Nye

C. Election of 1940

1. FDR reelected for unprecedented 3rd

term

- breaks precedent b/c he believed a

change in leaders would not be in

the best interest of the country at

that time

2. FDR promises to keep US men out of

war

D. FDR aids our Allies as US edges closer to

WAR

1. Jan 1941: In 4-Freedoms Speech, FDR

claims US has a duty to assist

democracies at war to protect: The Four

Freedoms:

1) Freedom of Speech

2) Freedom of Worship

3) Freedom from Want

4) Freedom from Fear

The Four Freedoms

Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Worship

Freedom from Want

Freedom from Fear

A Series by American Artist, Norman Rockwell

2. March 1941: Lend-Lease Act

a. Problem: Brits out of $$$. FDR

must come up w/ way to remove

cash requirement from neutrality

act

b. Solution: LEND-LEASE Act

1) allowed US to sell, lend, or

lease war materials to any

nation whose defense was

vital to US security

Why would Britain be vital to US security?

2) US could send weapons to

Brits if they promised to

return or pay rent for them

after the war

c. FDR argued that US should be

the “arsenal of democracy” b/c if

Britain fell, Axis would conquer

the world & Americans would be

living at the point of a gun

Arsenal: a place where weapons and military

equipment are stored or made. The US is the

country who helps create democracies around

the world

3. June 1941: Germany invades USSR!!

Operation Barbarossaa. Violation of the Nazi-Soviet

Nonaggression Pact

b. US begins to send aid to USSR:

“the enemy of my enemy is my

friend”

• Stalin

Betrayed!

• US aid

follows

(Lend-Lease)

4. Hemispheric Defense Zone

a. FDR declares entire western ½

of Atlantic as part of Western

Hemisphere (OUR hemisphere!!)

b. Neutral territory

c. US Navy ordered to patrol it to

reveal location of German U-

Boats to the Brits who could sink

them

5. Aug 1941: Atlantic Charter

a. FDR & Churchill plan for the post

-war era and commit to :

1) democracy

2) nonaggression

3) free trade

4) economic advancement

5) freedom of the seas

b. Sept. 1941: USS Greer Incident

1) U-boat fires on the Greer, a US destroyer that was radioing U-Boat’s position to the Brits

2) FDR orders US ships to follow a “shoot on sight” policy toward German U-boats

c. Oct 1941: USS Reuben James torpedoed, 115 US sailors dead

d. Late 1941, US & Germany in tense standoff in North Atlantic

D. Japan Attacks the US

1. FDR’s pre-war objective? To help

Brits defeat Germany

a. Brits Navy can’t protect its Asian

colonies

b. FDR institutes policies to

discourage Japan from attacking

Brit’s Asian empire

2. The policies:

a. Export Control Act: restricted sale

of strategic materials to Japan

b. Sent Lend-Lease aid to China

c. Froze Japanese assets in US

d. Cut off oil exports to Japan

- Japan bought scrap iron, steel, oil

from US (80% of Japan’s oil came

from US)

3. Japanese Reaction? Believed that

only the US stood in its way to

unite all East Asia under Japanese

control

- Japan made plans to:

1) attack British & Dutch

colonies in SE Asia

2) seize the Philippines

3) attack US Naval fleet at

Pearl Harbor

4. Dec 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl

Harbor Pearl Harbor Timeline

USS Arizona burning after forward magazine explodes killing 1177 US sailors

“A date which will live in infamy”

5. The Result?

a. 21 ships sunk or damaged; 188

airplanes destroyed; 2403

Americans killed

b. What did they miss?

- The aircraft carriers!!! (they

were at sea)

6. Dec 8, 1941: US declares war on

Japan

President Roosevelt Asks Congress for a Declaration of War on Japan

7. Dec 11, 1941: Germany and Italy

Declare War on US Li’l Hitler

8. Neutral no more!

America is at war

2. Dec. 1941 – few hrs after Pearl Harbor,

Japan attacks US airfields in Philippines –

invades 2 days later

a. US & Filipino troops led by Douglas

MacArthur retreat to Bataan peninsula

- FDR orders MacArthur to evacuate –

his promise to Filipino people?

I Shall Return!!

- April 1942: 78,000

American and

Filipinos surrender to

become POWs

of Japan

b. Bataan Death March

- 65 mi march to Jap. POW camp

- sick, tired, starving – thousands die

c. Corregidor – fell to Japan May 1942

Bataan Death March

This picture, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using

improvised litters to carry those of their comrades who, from the lack of food or

water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road.� Philippines, May 1942

3. The Doolittle Raids – April 1942

a. US wanted to bomb Japan, but carriers

couldn’t get close enough to launch

short-range bomber planes

b. Solution? Use medium range B-25s

c. These could take off from carrier, but

couldn’t land – plan to land in China

d. Led by Lt. James Doolittle, 16 B-25s

took off from USS Hornet – bombed

Japan!

e. Results?

- little damage to Japan

- morale in US improved!

- Japan changes strategy – prepares

for assault on Midway

4. The Battle of Coral Sea - May 1942

a. Japanese plan to cut off US supply line

to Australia by capturing s. coast of New

Guinea

b. US had broken Jap. Navy code

c. Sent USS Yorktown & Lexington to

defend New Guinea

d. all out airstrikes against each other

from carriers

e. Lexington sunk, Yorktown damaged

f. But Japan called off invasion of N.Guinea

g. US supply lines stayed open!

5. Battle of Midway – June 1942

a. US code-breakers learned of Jap. plan to

attack Midway

b. Nimitz orders ambush of Jap. fleet

c. US outnumbered ~ 4 – 1, but sunk 4 Jap.

carriers, shot down 38 planes

d. Jap. forced to retreat

e. Turning point: stopped the Jap. Advance

in the Pacific!!

Battle of Midway

Midway is an atoll, a ring of

coral island. Total land area = 3

sq. miles

Turning point in the

Pacific – Japanese

offensive stopped!

B. The European Theater of Operations

(ETO)- Early 1942: US strategy was to take a

defensive stance in the Pacific

- Agreed with European Allies to adopt a

“Europe First” policy

a. USSR (Stalin) urged US to open 2nd

western front in Europe

- to take pressure off USSR

(doing most of fighting!)

b. Brits (Churchill): US & Brits not

ready for lrg invasion of Europe

- focus attack on periphery (the edges)

c. FDR orders invasion of N. Africa

1. The North African Campaign

11/1942-5/1943

a. Operation Torch – US/Brit operation

b. Germans & Italians held much of North Africa (NA). Vichy French (German-friendly French) held Morocco, Algeria

Threatened Brit controlled Egypt & Suez Canal (Egypt needs Suez Canal - water link btwn Brits Asian colonies & Med. Sea – a big shortcut!)

c. German forces led by Erwin Rommel

(the Desert Fox)

d. Brits halt Germans push east at

Battle of El- Alamein (Egypt)

e. Allies capture French North Africa. All

French North African territories (except

Tunisia) then aligned themselves to the

Allied side

f. US forces under Patton push east and

trap Germans btwn US and Brit forces

g. German forces in North Africa surrender

h. ~ 350k German & Italians killed or

captured

i. paved the way for future Allied invasion

of Sicily and mainland Italy

2. Battle of Stalingrad 1942

a. German Plan?

- to destroy USSR economy

- key to capture oilfields, farms, and

industry

- by capturing Stalingrad, Germans thought

USSR would be cut off from resources

needed to stay in war

b. The battle

- constant bombing & artillery fire

- sniper activity

c. Result?

- Nov. 1942: USSR surrounds Germans –

9000 surrender

d. Significance?

- turning point! Stopped German offensive

on their eastern front

IV. Later Battles (1943-45)

A. ETO: Going after the Italians and Nazis

1. The Plans: as decided in Jan 1943 at

the Casablanca Conference. FDR and

Churchill agree to…

a. escalate bombing of Germany

b. demand unconditional surrender

c. Attack Sicily

2. Strategic Bombing Campaign: The

Air War

a. goal? To bomb select military

targets to disrupt German war

production capability

b. Brits bomb by night, US bombs

by day

Bombs Away!

3. Striking at Italy:

a. July 1943: Invasion of Sicily

b. DUKW – new amphibious truck –

brought supplies and artillery to

soldiers on the beach

c. Invasion successful – Germans

evacuate w/in 8 days of invasion

DUKW bringing

in supplies to

Seventh Infantry

troops in Sicily

d. Sept 1943: After Sicily lost -

Mussolini out!

- king arrests Mussolini and new Italian

gov’t begins to negotiate with Allies for

surrender (9/8/43)

e. US invades in south at Salerno

f. Germany, fearing loss of Italy, seizes

Northern Italy and Rome – attacks US

forces at Salerno – rescues Mussolini

from prison and puts him back in

power

g. May 1944: after 5 mos. of fighting,

Allies break through German lines at

Anzio and Cassini in northern Italy

4. Tehran Conference

a. Nov/Dec 1943: Tehran, Iran

b. FDR (US), Stalin (USSR), Churchill (Gr. Brit)

c. Leaders agreed to…

1) Stalin agreed to an offensiveagainst Germany when Allies invade France

2) FDR & Stalin agreed to break up Germany to eliminate future threats

3) Stalin pledged to help US defeat Japan after defeat of Germany

4) Accepted idea of int’l peace org after war

Tehran Conference

Left to right: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston

Churchill on the verandah of the Soviet Embassy in Tehran during

the Tehran Conference.

B. Landing in France

1. Operation Overlord

a. codename for invasion (liberation) of France

b. US Gen Eisenhower put in command

2. Planning Operation Overlord

a. Hitler expected Allied invasion & had fortified the coast of France

b. Allies biggest advantage? Surprise – Germans didn’t know when or where the Allies would land

US Gen.

Dwight D.

Eisenhower =

Supreme

Commander

Allied Forces

WWII France

c. “Operation Fortitude”– Mission?

To deceive Germany – convince

them that the invasion would take

place at Pas-de-Calais (actual

target = Normandy)

Intended Invasion

Point

Deceptive

Invasion Point

1) used captured German spies to relay phony invasion plans

to Germans

2) broadcast misleading radio reports

3) created a “dummy” invasion force, the 1st US Army Group

(FUSAG),near Dover, England

- made sense as it was narrowest pt of English Channel

- to make it even more believable, Gen Patton put in command of FUSAG

Gen. George Patton

Although the use of fraud is detestable, yet in

the combat of war it is praiseworthy and

glorious. And a man who uses fraud to

overcome his enemy is praised, just as much

as he who overcomes his enemy by force

Machiavelli 1531

An inflatable dummy tank, modeled after the Sherman Tank

Dummy RAF Bomber

3. The intricacies of Operation Overlord

a. invasion had to begin at night to hide ships crossing English Channel

b. low tide had to be at dawn so gunners bombarding coast could see their targets

c. paratroopers had to be dropped behind enemy lines by night – but needed moonlight so they could see where to land

d. Most important? Needed good weather! (storms would ground planes, high waves

would flood landing craft)

4. Invasion Day = D-Day June 6, 1944

a. ~ 7000 ships + 100,000 soldiers + 23,000 paratroopers + fighter planes etc. = largest invasion force in history!

b. Code names for landing beaches in Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword and Juno - US forces on Omaha

Beach faced greatest losses (2500 KIA/WIA)

c.end of the day June 6, 1944: invasion successful! US, British, and Canadian troops had secured a foothold on the beaches of France! (Germans thought this was a diversion –thought “real” invasion was yet to come at Calais)

d. Military significance? Opens a western front in Europe – Germans nowbeing squeezed by the Allies from the east, west, and south (Italy)

See opening scene

of “Saving Private

Ryan” for realistic

portrayal of the

fight for Omaha

Beach

Read: “ A Day

for Heroes” in

textbook pg

638-9)

Great Reagan speech about D-Day:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganddayaddress.html

V. The War Ends

A. The Third Reich Collapses

1. Closing in on Germany

a. D-Day successful, but hedgerows

in France were an obstacle to

further advancement

- built to fence in cattle & crops,

Germans used them to defend

their positions

- broke through in July 1944

- Paris liberated Aug 25, 1944!

Liberation of Paris

Aug 25, 1944

US soldiers march down the

Champs Elysees after the

liberation of Paris

2. Battle of the Bulge – last German

offensive of WWII

a. By winter late 1944, Allied forces

closing in on Germany

- British & US from west; USSR

from east

b. Dec 1944: Germans launch

surprise counteroffensive

1) raced west to cut of Allied

supplies coming through

Belgium

2) created a huge bulge in the

Allied lines, thus the name

3) Allies regroup and drive

Germans back

3. The War Ends in Europe

a. Feb 1945: USSR troops had reached Oder River (just 35 miles east of Berlin)

b. March 1945: US troops cross into Germany from the west (bridge)

c. April 1945: USSR takes Berlin

d. April 30, 1945: Hitler kills himself

- Admiral Doenitz offers to surrender to Americans & Brits but keep fighting USSR

- Eisenhower demands unconditional surrender!

March

1945

US troops

cross the

Rhine

River into

Germany

The execution of Mussolini, his

mistress and other fascists April 1945

4. May 8, 1945: V-E Day

Victory Europe!

- Germany surrendered

unconditionally May 7, 1945

C. Driving the Japanese Back

1. Strategy? Island Hopping Campaign

led by Adm. Chester Nimitz

a. advance through Pacific by hopping from one island to another – getting closer and closer to Japan and using each captured island as a base for capturing the next – the rest, cut off from resupply, would no longer pose a threat

b. needed to be close enough to use our heavy bomber airplanes against Japan prior to a full-scale invasion

Island Hopping Campaign

2. Taking back the Pacific – Island by

Island

a. Nov 1943: 1st hop? Tarawa

1) geographic problem: atoll

- water not deep enough

over coral reef to allow

landing craft to come

ashore – troops had to

wade ashoreTarawa is an atoll, a flat-topped submarine mountain capped by coral. Most atolls,

have a wide, shallow lagoon ringed by low coral islands. The only island of

consequence at Tarawa was one with an airfield. The plan was for Allied ships to

stand offshore in deep water and send landing craft into the lagoon. The landing craft

would go as far in as possible and discharge troops.

2) Soldiers wading ashore were raked by Japanese gunfire – only 1 in 3 made it ashore

3) Casualties would have been lower w/ greater use of LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) or Amphtrac (amphibious tractor) – only 1 ashore at Tarawa

- boat with tank tracks

- could cross reef & bring troops onto beaches

amphtrac

b. Feb 1944: Marshall Islands

1) all troops ashore on

amphtracs

2) marines capture Kwajalein &

Eniwetok atolls

3) far less US casualties

c. June – Aug 1944: The Mariana

Islands

1) to be used as base for B-29

(heavy bomber) – could fly

farther than any other plane in

the world – could bomb

Japan!!

2) US captured Siapan, Tinian &

Guam by Aug 1944

3) enabled US to bomb Japan

few months later

3. Retaking the Philippines – led by Gen

Douglas MacArthur

a. Aug 1942 +: began with attack

on Guadalcanal (Philippines)

b. Oct 1944: Battle of Leyte Gulf

1) largest naval battle in history

2) MacArthur returns to

Philippine soilGen Douglas

MacArthur

“People of the Philippines, I have returned. By

the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand

again on Philippine soil”

3) first time Japanese used Kamikaze attacks

4) Japanese casualties

- 80,000 killed, less than 1000 surrendered

c. March 1945: Manila (capital of Philippines) captured by US troops

- city in ruins

- 100,000 Filipino civilians dead

d. Japanese retreat north – still fighting in Aug 1945 upon Japanese surrender

Battle Leyte Gulf

USS White Plains

attacked by

kamikaze plane

B. Japan is Defeated

1. Iwo Jima

a. Nov 1944: US bombs Tokyo

1) B-29s from US base in Marianas

2) Problem? Marianas too far –led to bombing inaccuracy

3) Solution? To capture island closer to Japan where B-29s could refuel. US military planners choose Iwo Jima (750 mi from Japan)

b. Feb 1945: 60,000 US marines land on Iwo Jima w/o air cover

1) rugged volcanic terrain

2) Japanese defended from network of caves & concrete bunkers connected by tunnels

c. Iwo Jima captured

- 6800 US marines KIA

- 21,570 Japanese KIA (less than 1000 survived); 12,000 still MIA History Channel: Shootout Iwo Jima

Part 1

US forces landing

on Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima

The flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi

2. Firebombing Japan – begins March 1945

a. US drops napalm-filled bombs

1) pro? explode + start fires: if target missed, fire could still hit the target

2) con? Increased civilian casualties

b. Result? By June 1945, Japan’s 6 most important industrial cities had lost almost ½ their urban area to firebombing

3. April 1945: Invasion of Okinawa

a. Why Okinawa? Only 350 mi from

Japan! Thus close enough from

which to launch a full scale invasion

b. Why were we planning an

invasion? Despite the horrifying

effects of the firebombing campaign

on Japan, the Japanese showed no

signs of surrender

c. 300,000 US troops poured ashore

1) bloodiest island fight of the

Pacific

1) 12,000 Americans KIA

2) 110,000 Japanese KIA

d. June 22, 1945: Okinawa

captured

1) provided US w/ more

airbases from which to

bomb Japan

2) firebombing continues

4. Terms for Surrender

a. After Okinawa, Japanese consider surrender

1) the sticking point? US demands for unconditional surrender

2) Japanese want to keep their emperor, but Americans largely blame the emperor for the war and want him removed

b. Truman continues to demand unconditional surrender

Emperor

Hirohito

5. The Manhattan Project

a. 1939: German scientist Albert

Einstein, a refugee in the US,

signs a letter to FDR

1) informs him that German

scientists had split the uranium

atom

2) b/c enormous energy is

released in the process,

potential for extremely

powerful bombs to be

constructed

Albert Einstein

b. Manhattan project: the American

program to build an atomic bomb

1) team led by J. Robert

Oppenheimer

2) July 16, 1945: detonated

the 1st atomic bomb near

Los Alamos, NM

6. The Decision to Drop the Bomb

a. Truman faced a harrowing

decision. What were the

options?

1) Don’t use it – launch a full

scale invasion of Japan

- but US casualties

projected at ~ 1 million!!

& high Japanese civilian

casualty rate projected also

2) Invite the Japanese for a

test viewing

- but we only had 2 more

President Harry

S. Truman

3) Warn them about it

- did this. Truman sent a

letter declaring that if

they didn’t surrender,

they would face “prompt

and utter destruction.” -

still no surrender

4) Use it

- but indiscriminate civilian

casualties

b. Truman’s decision? Use it

1) considered the bomb a

military weapon

2) believed he should use

every weapon available to

save American lives!

President Harry Truman's approval for the atomic attacks: A handwritten note by President Harry Truman approves the wording of a statement he plans to issue after the first atomic bomb is dropped on Japan. Sent in reply to a cable from Secretary of War Henry Stimson, the message reads, "Release [the statement] when ready but not sooner than August 2." The Allies' demand for unconditional surrender, sent to Japan on July 26, 1945, was rejected.

c. Aug 6, 1945: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan

1) bomb named “Little Boy”dropped from B-29, Enola Gay

2) Result?

- 80,000-120,000 killed

- 63% of city destroyed

- but still no surrender

3) warning leaflets dropped to warn civilians of more to come unless Japan surrenders

After bomb

on

Hiroshima,

US dropped

leaflets

written in

Japanese.

The

translation:

d. Aug 9, 1945: Atomic bomb

dropped on Nagasaki, Japan

1) USSR declared war on Japan

2) bomb named “Fat Man”

3) Result?

- 35,000 – 74,000 dead

7. Japanese surrender

a. Aug 15, 1945: Japan surrendered

b. V-J Day Victory Japan!!!

- formally celebrated Sept 2,

1945 the day the surrender

treaty signed aboard USS Missouri

Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri

C. Building a New World

1. Creating the United Nations April 25, 1945

a. goals of the United Nations (UN)?

1) To keep peace throughout the world.

2) To develop friendly relations between nations.

3) To work together to help people live better lives, to eliminate poverty, disease and illiteracy in the world, to stop environmental destruction and to encourage respect for each other's rights and freedoms.

4) To be a center for helping nations achieve these aims.

2. Summer 1945: The Nuremberg Trials

a. To hold government and military

officials accountable for their

actions

- many German leaders of Nazi

Germany prosecuted, some

executed

b. Similar trials took place in Tokyo

- did not prosecute the emperor