BALKAN FRONT RUSSIAN FRONT PACIFIC FRONT D-DAY END OF WWII

BALKAN FRONTRUSSIAN FRONTPACIFIC FRONT

D-DAYEND OF WWII

WORLD WAR II

1941 Germany focusing on controlling oil•Erwin Rommel (“Desert Fox”)

Oct 1942 Battle of El Alamein•Rommel defeated•Beginning of decline for Axis Powers

BALKAN FRONT

June 22, 1941 Hitler attacks Russia after failing against England – “Operation Barbarossa”a)Lebensraumb)resources

Stalin calling for a “Second Front”Stalin ordered “Scorched-Earth” policyJan 1943 Casablanca Conference

•only accept “unconditional surrender”2/2/1943 Battle of Stalingrad

•Germany defeated

RUSSIAN FRONT

9.27.1940 TRIPARTITE PACT•Japan/Germany/Italy (AXIS POWERS)

Hideki Tojo pushing for expansion•Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity SphereIsoroku Yamamoto ordered “Operation Z”•attack on Pearl Harbor•"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant"12.7.1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor

•“Tora, Tora, Tora”12.8.1941 – U.S. enters WWII

•FDR = “…day that will live in infamy”

PACIFIC THEATER

PEARL HARBOR

3500 KILLED“ARIZONA” - Memorial

“Rosie the Riveter”WASP’s

Lady Leathernecks“Ultra”“Magic”

“Navajo Language”

WWII = TOTAL WAR

February 1942 Executive Order 9066•”Nisei” (Japanese-Americans)•Ronald Reagan (1988)

April 1942 Doolittle’s RaidApril 1942 Bataan Death March

•5000 diedMay 1942 Battle of Coral Sea

•stopped Japanese expansion to south

PACIFIC THEATER

June 1942 Battle of Midway•stopped Japanese expansion to the east

U.S. USED POLICY OF “ISLAND HOPPING”

August 1942 Battle of Guadalcanal•1st Japanese territory U.S. won•”Banzai Charges”•”Bushido”

PACIFIC THEATER

June 1944 Battle of Saipan•U.S. B-29’s in striking distance of Japan

Oct 1944 Battle of Leyte Gulf•Largest naval battle in history•”Kamikazes”•”Shinyos”

Feb 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima•1st base inside Japanese defense system•Joe Rosenthal – photo of “Old Glory Goes Up On Mt Suribachi”•won 1945 Pulitzer Prize

April 1945 Battle of Okinawa

PACIFIC THEATER

•“Operation Overlord”•2nd front in Europe against Germany•Attack at Normandy•5 beaches – Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, Sword•133k soldiers in attack•w/in 1 month – 1 million soldiers landed

------------------------August 1944 Paris liberatedDecember 1944 Battle of Bulge

•last German offensive•Malmedy Massacre

D-DAY – 6.6.1944

Feb 1945 “Big Three”•FDR, Stalin, Churchill•USSR agreed to help U.S. against Japan•discussion of United Nations

DEATH OF WWII LEADERS

4.12.45 FDR dies (Harry Truman becomes president)4.28.45 Mussolini hung4.30.45 Hitler committed suicideEND OF WWII IN EUROPE

May 7, 1945 – “VE Day”

YALTA CONFERENCE

U.S. has decide whether or not to invade Japan?•”Operation Downfall”•est. 1.5 million needed for initial attack•est. casualties 250k – 1 million

July 1945 Potsdam Conference•President Truman•”the baby is born”•Manhattan Project •Robert Oppenheimer

PACIFIC THEATER

QUESTIONDoes President

Truman use the bombs on

Japan?

President Truman – Drop the bombs!

August 6, 1945 “Little Boy” – HiroshimaAugust 9, 1945 “Fat Man” – Nagasaki

END OF WWII IN PACIFIC

September 2, 1945 – “VJ Day”Japan surrenders on USS Missouri

PACIFIC THEATERATOMIC BOMB FACTS1.8 billion degrees•20x hotter than sun

15k tons of TNTDetonated 2000’ above city50,000’ Mushroom Cloud+71,000 vaporized instantlyBlast moving at 9000 mph4 square miles instantly destroyedRadiation “fallout”

1)United Nations created2)Nuremburg Trials3)Marshall Plan4)Germany/Berlin divided5)Beginning of Cold WarBERLIN

POST WWII