Global Struggles Unit 7 1941-1960

America and World War II Pushing Back the Axis Chapter 21 Section 4

Striking Germany and Italy Casablanca Conference FDR and Churchill met in Morocco to set up a plan to bomb Germany Goal: Progressive destruction of the German military, industrial, and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people

Striking Germany and Italy Strategic Bombing Great Britain’s Royal Air Force and the United States’ Eighth Army Air Force had been bombing Germany every month This bombing campaign did not destroy Germany’s economy or undermine their morale but. . . It did cause a severe oil shortage and wrecked the railroad system and destroyed many aircraft factories

Striking Germany and Italy Striking the Soft Underbelly The idea was to attack Italy – if we attacked Italy then Italy would pull out of the war General Eisenhower commanded the invasion July 10, 1943 Invasion of Italy began Allied troops made it ashore with few casualties American troops smashed through enemy lines and captured the western half of Sicily

Striking Germany and Italy Striking the Soft Underbelly August 18 the Germans left the island Italians did not like the turn of events so they decided to get rid of Mussolini The King invited Mussolini to his place and told him he was no longer in charge The King had Mussolini arrested and Italy began negotiating with the Allies to surrender Germany seized control of Rome and reestablished Mussolini

Striking Germany and Italy Striking the Soft Underbelly Anzio The Germans surrounded the Allied Troops Allies took 5 months to break the German Lines 2 weeks later the Allies captured Rome Fighting still lasted another year

Striking Germany and Italy The Tehran Conference Stalin, FDR, and Churchill met in Iran Stalin promised to launch a full scale offensive against the Germans Roosevelt and Stalin agreed to divide Germany Stalin promised to help the US against Japan

Landing in France Roosevelt and Churchill met to discuss an invasion of France Commander of the Invasion – General Eisenhower

Landing in France Planning Operation Overlord Hitler fortified the coast along the English Channel Germany did not know where the Allies would land The Allies placed dummy equipment in an area the Germans thought they would land The real target was further south along the Normandy Coast

Landing in France Planning Operation Overlord Picking a time to attack Invasion had to be at night Invasion had to at low tide Low tide had to be at dawn Invasion needed a moonlit night Weather had to be good June 5-7 was picked June 5 – heavy cloud cover, strong winds, high waves June 6, 1944 – Eisenhower gave the ok to begin the attack

Landing in France The Longest Day 7,000 Ships holding more than 100,000 soldiers headed for the coast of Normandy 23,000 Paratroopers dropped behind the lines At dawn allied warships began a tremendous barrage

Landing in France The Longest Day The Result The American landing went well – less than 3 hours the troops had captured the beach and moved inland British and Canadian landings also went well Omaha Beach was a different story General Omar Bradley began making plans to evacuate The American troops began to slowly take down the Germans 2,500 Americans were either killed or wounded Operation Overlord or D-Day was a success

Driving Japan Back American Plan was to develop a two pronged attack Pacific Fleet would advance through the Central Pacific by hopping from island to island Another set of troops would advance through the Solomon Islands, capture the coast of New Guinea and then retake the Philippines

Driving Japan Back Island Hopping in the Pacific We were ready in the fall of 1943 to begin the island hopping campaign The geography of the land was a problem – the area was covered in coral reefs The Landing Craft hit the coral reef the marines had to wade ashore in shoulder deep water Only one marine out of 3 marines made it to the beach

Driving Japan Back Island Hopping in the Pacific Amphtrac – boat with tank tracks More than 1000 marines died on Tarawa American troops were able to capture the majority of all islands in the Pacific that led us to Japan and we were able to start bombing Japan

Driving Japan Back MacArthur Returns The American troops began by attacking Guadalcanal MacArthur secured various islands and then went to the Philippines

Driving Japan Back MacArthur Returns More than 700 ships sailed for Leyte Gulf After MacArthur landed in the Philippines he announced to the people “I have returned” Japanese sent four aircraft carriers to the Philippines to stop the Americans

Driving Japan Back MacArthur Returns Leyte Gulf The other Japanese aircraft and warships raced to the gulf and met the Americans there Kamikaze Attacks – First time the Japanese used this tactic Divine Wind Japanese Commander believed more ships were on the way so he ordered a retreat The Philippines are now in the Allies Hands