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, 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 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  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, U.S. pilots drop the first bomb on Hiroshima  Within 2 minutes more than 60,000 residents were dead or missing  August 9, Soviet Union declares war on Japan AND the U.S. drops the 2 nd bomb on Nagasaki killing 35,000  19kvUiHvAE&feature=fvst 19kvUiHvAE&feature=fvst  NF4LQaWJRDg 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