June 6, 1944. Up to the point where had the Axis & Allied powers been fighting?

June 6, 1944

Up to the point where had the Axis

& Allied powers been fighting?

Churchill thought that the next move should be to invade Italy• Allies move from Africa up to Italy

Attack Sicily Mussolini surprised by the Italian army’s

collapse Italian government forced Mussolini to resign King stripped Mussolini of his power and arrested him Hitler moved in to fight in Italy

• Why?

While Allied forces were battling in Italy, the plan for D-Day was in the works

The plan was to invade France and free Western Europe from Nazi rule.

Commanding fell on U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

3 million British, American & Canadian troops

Plan to attack Normandy in Northern France• Allies sent messages which were

intercepted by German forces saying that the attack would be at Calais.

Originally set for June 5• Bad weather delayed the operation

After midnight- 3 divisions parachuted down behind German lines• Used toy cricket to click to let Allies know

where at Why?

Early morning- thousands of soldiers came in by sea.

Largest land-sea-air operation in history.• Sergeant Willie Jackson

German retaliation brutal Heavy casualties Within 1 week- Allies held 80 mile strip

of France Within 1 month- Allies produce massive

air and land attacks to break up German forces

U.S. General Patton and army able to advance• Aug. 25 Paris is liberated from 4 years of

German occupation

Sept. 1944- Allies free France completely• Also Belgium & Luxemburg

FDR elected to 4th term Onward to Germany Oct. 1944- U.S. captures 1st German

town- Aachen

What happened to Mussolini?

Mussolini surprised by the Italian army’s collapse

Italian government forced Mussolini to resign

King stripped Mussolini of his power and arrested him

German forces rescued him three years later.

While trying to escape to Switzerland he was captured by Italians, executed, and …

Originally set for June 5• Bad weather delayed the operation

After midnight- 3 divisions parachuted down behind German lines• Used toy cricket to click to let know Allies

were at Why?

Early morning- thousands of soldiers came in by sea.

Largest land-sea-air operation in history.• Sergeant Willie Jackson

German retaliation brutal Heavy casualties Within 1 week- Allies held 80 mile strip

of France Within 1 month- Allies produce massive

air and land attacks to break up German forces

U.S. General Patton and army able to advance• Aug. 25 Paris is liberated from 4 years of

German occupation

Sept. 1944- Allies free France completely• Also Belgium & Luxemburg

FDR elected to 4th term Onward to Germany Oct. 1944- U.S. captures 1st German

town- Aachen

Hitler’s Last Ditch Effort *Being attacked on two fronts*

8 German tanks break through weak Allied front

Moved 60 miles into Allied territory 120 Americans captured and killed

• Lined up in a field & fired upon by a machine gun Fighting continued for 1 month Germany lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks

• No other choice but retreat

April 12, 1945 FDR Dies April 25, 1945- Soviet troops storm

Berlin April 30, 1945- Hitler commits suicide “I die with a happy heart of

immeasurable deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself and my wife

choose to die in order to escape The disgrace of capitulation.” May 8, 1945- Victory in Europe

Following Pearl Harbor, who was

winning in the Pacific? The Axis or Allies?

Guam and Wake Island fall to Japan• Turn their attention to Philippines• U.S. and Pilipino take up defensive position on

Bataan Peninsula• Japanese will take Peninsula• Brutal treatment was used against prisoners

The Allies Strike Back• U.S. wanted revenge for Pearl Harbor• Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James

Doolittle• Battle of the Coral Sea will be victorious in

preventing Japan’s Southward advance

Victory in the Pacific

The Japanese in Retreat• Allies move to retake the Philippines in late 1944• Battle of Leyte Gulf leaves Japanese navy badly damaged•Kamikazes—Japanese pilots who fly suicide missions• In March 1945, American forces capture Iwo Jima• U.S. takes Okinawa in June 1945; Japan suffers huge casualties

The Japanese Surrender• Advisors warn Truman that invasion of Japan will cost many lives• He has alternative; powerful new weapon called atomic bomb• Manhattan Project—secret program to develop the bomb• Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945; about 75,000 die• Nagasaki bombed on August 9th - 70,000 die immediately • Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945

From 1945 to 1952, Japan was occupied by the United States army.

The military leaders were removed from power, and the emperor was stripped of political powers.

Japan was forbidden to rebuild its military.

A democratic constitution was introduced, giving women legal equality with men.

Large farms and businesses were broken up and sold to poor citizens.