wwii battles 1942 - 1945. i. overview of military & diplomatic impacts of wwii: global &...
TRANSCRIPT
I. Overview of Military & Diplomatic Impacts of WWII:
• Global & Total War Bring Unprecedented Devastation – New military techniques & technologies
• Examples: Aerial “Fire Bombing”, Paratroopers, Amphibious Invasions, Radar, Flame Throwers, Nuclear Weapons
– Civilians across the globe mobilized & targeted– 50 million dead/wounded world wide -- 1 million
US dead/wounded
I. Overview of Military & Diplomatic Impacts of WWII:
• New World Order Emerges– U.S. ends isolationism & accepts role as world
“superpower” during & after war– Traditional European powers influence
diminishes as war progresses– US/USSR power struggle (aka “the Cold War”)
begins even before WWII officially ends
300 planes dropped 13,000 bombs over
Normandy in advance of the invasion
5000 vessels
150,000 men
30,000 vehicles
Six parachute regiments – over 13,000 men
By nightfall on June 6, 10,000 Allied soldiers were dead , but more
than 100,000 had made it ashore
Battle of the Bulge -- December, 1944
Casualties:American: 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded, 23,000 captured or missingGerman: 67,200 to 100,000 killed, wounded/captured/missing 3 min. 3 min.
52:00-57:00
U.S. 7000 dead, 19,000 wounded
Japan 20,000 dead, 1000 captured
1:23-1:29
“Conventional” bombing devastates Japan in spring/summer 1945 (over 60 cities destroyed)
First 1-2 minutes
100,000 killed in firebombing of Tokyo
82-Day Long Battle of Okinawa convinces some American leaders that Japanese leaders will not consider surrender
Deaths:Japanese military 77,166U.S. military 14,000Japanese civilians 149,000
Kamikaze 神風 Attacks (2,525)
70 U.S. vessels "sunk or damaged beyond repair“
Manhattan ProjectDevelops Atomic Bomb – Completed July, 1945
J. Robert Oppenheimer – head scientist
Employed 130,000 people & cost $2 Billion ($27 billion in 2011 dollars)
Original Target Germany. New Target: Japan
Potsdam Conference – July 1945 – “Big Three” plan end of WWIIJapan rejects surrender ultimatum
US & UK do not reveal existence of A-Bomb to USSR
August, 1945 Hiroshima & Nagasaki suffer Atomic Bomb
30 seconds