 Operation Overlord- Allied invasion of France. Also called D-Day. Within a month 1 million Allied troops were stationed in Europe. Within a month 1 million Allied troops were stationed in Europe. Germany is surrounded with the USSR to the east Germany is surrounded with the USSR to the east  Germany surrenders in 1945 after Hitler commits suicide.

 June 6, 1944  During this time, Soviet Union was pushing into Poland and Allies were pushing North in Italy  Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Patton influential in leading attack  3 million ally troops to attack

D – Day Ø 60 mile stretch of beach Ø 156,000 troops Ø 4,000 landing craft Ø 600 warships Ø 11,000 planes Ø Largest land-sea-air operation in history Ø Omaha beach known as one of the most brutal areas

The battle continues  W/in 1 month, a million more troops  September 1944, France was freed from Nazi control

 Took place February 1945 before WWII was over  Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill met in Yalta in the Soviet Union to discuss post WWII  Set up United Nations

 At the beginning of his 4 th Term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passes away  The U.S. went through a major grieving period  Harry S. Truman, as Vice-President, takes the role as President

 April 30, 1945 Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide (gun shot and cyanide)  Bodies burned in street  Cover of Time magazine May 7, 1945

 May 8, 1945  General Eisenhower accepted a surrender by the Third Reich  V-E day = Victory in Europe day  1 st part of War was over

 July – August 1945  Truman, (Churchill and then Clement Atlee) and Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany  Drew up a blueprint to disarm Germany and eliminate the Nazi regime

 Divided Germany into 4 sections (occupied by France, Britain, U.S. and Soviet Union)  Berlin to be divided up in East (or Soviet Germany)  Set up the Nuremberg Trials to persecute Nazi leaders  Japan must “unconditionally surrender”

 Allies divide Germany up between them. This helps start the Cold War. This helps start the Cold War.  The Nuremburg Trials are held in Germany to try the people responsible for the war. Many are executed and jailed for war crimes. Many are executed and jailed for war crimes.

 International tribunal court tried Nazi officials  Over 23 nations tried Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany  12 of the 22 defendants were sentenced to death  200 other officials were found guilty, but give lesser sentences

 US effort to build a new type of weapon that would unleash tremendous destructive energy by splitting uranium atoms – an “atomic bomb”  Led by Gen. Leslie Groves and researcher J. Robert Oppenheimer, the team produced 3 bombs  1 bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, leaving just 2 bombs for military use  Bombs were code-named “Fat Man” and “Little Boy”

Harry S. Truman  1884 – 1972 (life)  (Pres.)  Became president upon FDR’s death  Truman now had to decide how to end the war – should the US mount an invasion of Japan, which would cost an estimated 1 million American lives or should it use the new atomic bomb, which would kill an unknown number of Japanese civilians and whose after- effects were still unknown?

 Japan was warned that unless they surrendered immediately and without conditions, they faced “prompt and utter destruction”  When the Japanese did not reply, orders were given to destroy the industrial city of Hiroshima  August 6, 1945: The B-29 Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on the city, destroying 76,000 buildings and killing over 120,000 people

 When the Japanese still did not surrender, the B-29 Bock’s Car dropped “Fat Man” on the port of Nagasaki, killing over 50,000 on August 9, 1945  On the same day, the Soviets declared war on Japan and began to prepare to enter the war in the Pacific

 Faced with destruction on an unforeseen scale (and unaware that the US had no more atomic bombs to use), Emperor Hirohito ordered his government to surrender unconditionally  Fighting stopped August 15, 1945 (“V-J Day”)  Formal surrender took place on September 2, 1945  As part of the terms of surrender, Japan was occupied by U.S. forces until Apr. 1952

 War Costs US Debt $9 Billion US Debt $98 Billion  WWII cost $330 billion – 10 times the cost of WWI & equivalent to all previous federal spending since 1776

 Germany 4.5 million military 2 million civilian  Japan 2 million military 350,000 civilians  Italy 400,000 military 100,000 civilian  China 2.5 million military 7.4 million civilians  USSR 10 million military 10 million military 10 million civilians 10 million civilians  Great Britain 300,000 military 50,000 civilians  France 250,000 military 350,000 civilian  United States 274,000 military