World War II
Major Events and U.S. Role
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
►Hitler and Stalin signed a Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939.
►They agreed not to go to war with each other. The Russians would not stop Hitler if he attacked Poland.
War Begins
►German Invasion of Poland
►September 1, 1939
►BLITZKRIEG—”Lightning War”
►This event marked the beginning of WWII.
Fall of France ►Germany vs. France (& UK)
►May 10, 1940 – June 22, 1940, when French surrendered
►AXIS Victory
►Importance: Germans capture Paris, now control western and central Europe
►Britain stands alone against Germany
►Vichy Gov’t—Nazi collaborators
Battle of BRITAIN August 1940-June 1941 With the goal of invading Great Britain, Hitler
bombed the country focusing first on the southern coast and then on cities such as London. This German offensive proved to be a failure.
The British Prime Minister during the
Battle of Britain was Winston Churchill.
U.S.
►Lend-Lease Act (March 1941) America can sell, lend, or lease weapons and supplies
For countries “vital to the defense of the United States”
German invasion of the SOVIET UNION
►Hitler and Stalin had signed a Nonaggression Pact in August 1939.
►Hitler surprised Stalin in June 1941 when he invaded the U.S.S.R.
►Hitler wanted to
access to the raw materials of the Soviet Union.
crush communism in Europe.
►The USSR entered the war as an Allied Power
►Ultimately, this offensive was disastrous for Hitler.
Japanese Invasions
►Manchuria: 1931
►China: 1937
► Rape of Nanking
►French Indochina 1940
Japanese attack on PEARL HARBOR
►The U.S. tried to stop Japanese aggression in the Pacific after Japan seized French Indochina in 1940.
►The U.S. angered the Japanese and hurt their plans to seize more lands in Asia and the Pacific by banning trade of war materials, such as iron, steel, or oil.
►Militarists grew in power in Japan during this crisis and ordered a surprise attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Cont’d
►The attack took place on December 7, 1941, a “date which will live in infamy” as U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt put it.
►The U.S. declared war on Japan and a few days later Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the U.S. The U.S. was officially at war.
Pearl Harbor Attack December 7, 1941
Bataan Death March ►Philippines, April 1942
► Japanese soldiers forced 78,000 prisoners of war to march more than 55 miles
►More than 600 Americans and over 10,000 Filipinos died
►5-12 days
►Brutality, disease, exposure, Lack of food, water
Battle of Midway
►June 3-7, 1942
►Only 6 months after Pearl Harbor
►With this victory, U.S. begins offensive war in Pacific
Island Hopping
►Allied strategy to defeat Japan:
Focused on defeating poorly defended islands first; chose islands that would later aid in invading the Japanese mainland
Battle of Stalingrad
►August 1942-February 1943
►Largest and bloodiest battle in WWII with over a million casualties
►Germans had to redirect forces from the west to Russia, and ultimately were defeated
Casualties
Battle of El Alamein
►North African Campaign
►October 1942
►Germans vs. British
►Allied Victory
D-DAY (Allied Invasion of Europe)
► June 6, 1944 at Normandy, France.
►This invasion opened up a second front in Europe.
►The Allies were able to liberate France by August 1944.
D-Day Landing at Normandy June 6, 1944
D-Day
National D-Day Memorial
Yalta Conference
►Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Joseph Stalin
►January 1945
►Met in Russia at Yalta to make plans for end of war
►Agreed to divide Germany
Battle of the Bulge
►Winter 1944/1945
►Located in Belgium
►Last major German offensive
►Allied Victory
VE Day (Victory in Europe)
►May 8, 1945
►Hitler died a few days earlier
►Unconditional surrender offered by the President of Germany
►World War II IS OVER IN EUROPE!
Guam and Iwo Jima
►Guam---July 1944
►Iwo Jima--Feb. 1945
►Allied victories
►Set up for invasion of Japan
Battle of Okinawa, June 1945
►Japan continued to fight on with fierce determination. More people (soldiers and civilians) died in the Battle of Okinawa than from the atomic bombs .
Casualties: Almost 220,000 killed --38,000 Americans wounded, 12,000 killed or missing, --more than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan soldiers killed, --perhaps 100,000 Okinawan civilians killed
The End of the War
►The Allies issued an ultimatum demanding the Japanese surrender or face complete and utter destruction. The U.S. had successfully developed the world’s first atomic bomb (Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project).
Robert Oppenheimer
Atomic Bombs Dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
►On August 6, 1945, an American plane, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. (80,000 killed.) On August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. (40,000 killed) These bombs caused unbelievable devastation and death.
►The Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945, a day known as V-J Day. WWII was over.
Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima August 6, 1945
Hiroshima
Hiroshima
Hiroshima
V-J Day
►The Japanese surrendered on Sept. 2, 1945,
a day known as V-J Day
General MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito
