Victory in Europe and the Pacific. Why it Matters In 1942 and 1943 the Allies turned back Axis advances In 1944 and 1945 they attacked Germany from.

Victory in Europe and the Pacific

Why it Matters

In 1942 and 1943 the Allies turned back Axis advances

In 1944 and 1945 they attacked Germany from the west and east

U.S. advanced across the Pacific and created a new weapon that would change warfare and global politics

Planning Germany’s Defeat

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin discussed starting a second front in France

In November 1943, they met in Teheran, Iran

Agreed upon opening a second front in France and defeating Germany by Land, Sea, and Air

Given the code name Operation Overlord

D-Day Invasion of Normandy

Eisenhower served as supreme commander

Landing on a 50 mile stretch of beaches in Normandy

Allies created a fictional army at Calais, west of Normandy, to deceive the Germans It worked, Hitler sent his top tank division to

Calais

Beaches Code Named

Heroes Storm the Beaches

June 6, 1944- D-Day- Allies hit Germany in force

Attempted to destroy Nazi transportation and communication and soften beach defenses

Four of the beaches saw low casualties

Omaha- an American assigned beach- had tough opposition

Omaha The Germans dug trenches and structures

to fire heavy artillery The beach was covered with deadly guns

and mines Some soldiers were dropped too far from

the beach and drowned from heavy packs Others were met with a rainstorm of

bullets, shells, and death Allies were able to gain a toehold in France

Liberation of Europe

Germany was now facing a two front war and losing lands they once dominated

August 1944- Allies liberate Paris Hitler ordered the city be destroyed but his troops left

the “City of Lights”

Rommel and other leading generals planned to overthrow Hitler, but the plot failed

Hitler refused to surrender

Battle of the Bulge

Hitler’s counter attack Hitler did take the Americans by

surprise by creating a bulge in the American line, but they were able to hold on

When the weather cleared, Allied forces were able to attack back and began pushing the Germans out of France

Allies Push to Victory

1945- Mussolini tries to flee to Switzerland but was captured and executed

Soviets, U.S., and British were making their way to Berlin Positioned for an all out assault on the capital

Hitler was a physical wreck He and his closest associates committed suicide on April 30,

1945

Victory in Europe

FDR did not live to see the day He died April 12, 1945

Harry S. Truman became the new President

• Germany surrendered May 7

• Americans celebrated V-E day (Victory in Europe)

Advancing in the Pacific

American strategy of island hopping Capturing some Japanese held islands and ignoring

others on a steady path toward Japan

Each island was a struggle to take Rather than surrender, many Japanese

killed themselves Kamikaze pilots deliberately crashed

planes into American ships The U.S. and MacArthur still pushed

forward

Iwo Jima U.S. marines faced a determined

enemy 36 days of fighting left 23,000

marines dead But the U.S. was successful in

taking the island

Okinawa

Even deadlier than Iwo Jima Contained a vital air base necessary

for a planned invasion of Japan Most complex and costly operation of

island hopping strategy 50,000 casualties

Japan was low of fuel and ammunition and virtually defenseless

The Atomic Bomb

Albert Einstein wrote to FDR about the need to proceed with atomic development

The Manhattan Project- code name for the program of development of an atomic bomb

J. Robert Oppenheimer- ran the scientific aspect of the project

July 16, 1945 the first atomic bomb was tested

Truman Makes His Decision Truman understood the ethical issues of

using the bomb Axis powers also had nuclear capabilities

and no way to tell how close they were to developing a bomb

Chief priority was to save American lives the current campaign could cost up to 1,000,000 lives

The decision was not difficult for Truman

Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 6, 1945- U.S. pilots drop the

first bomb on Hiroshima Within 2 minutes more than 60,000 residents were

dead or missing

August 9, 1945- Soviet Union declares war on Japan AND the U.S. drops the 2nd bomb on Nagasaki killing 35,000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t19kvUiHvAE&feature=fvst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4LQaWJRDg

Victory in the Pacific

On August 15, 1945 the Allies celebrate V-J Day (Victory in Japan)

Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945

The most costly war in history was over

As many as 60,000,000 people, mostly civilians, had died in the conflict