WWII Major Battles

Pearl Harbor December 7th, 1941. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Japanese surprise attack on US Pacific fleet designed to knock the US out of power in the Pacific.

Impact of Pearl Harbor Casualties US declared war on Japan 2,403 Americans killed 11 major warships sunk US declared war on Japan Germany and Italy declared war on the US three days later

Allied War Strategy l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l -- -- -- l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l -- -- -- The United States decided to use a “Hitler First” strategy by trying to defeat Germany first and then to focus on Japan

Allied War Strategy Germany was more technologically advanced, and the allies feared the new weapons. Germans were working on jet aircraft, early missiles and the atomic bomb.

Allied War Strategy Germany was also very close to completing their conquest of Europe. Battle of Britain Invasion of USSR

Allied War Strategy The Japanese occupied a huge territory and each island was well defended. Attacks would take longer in the Pacific.

Axis War Strategy Hitler’s goal was to gain control of Soviet oil fields and force Britain out of the war through a bombing campaign and submarine warfare They wanted to accomplish this before America’s industrial and military strength could turn the tide of the war

Axis War Strategy Following Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the Philippines and Indonesia and planned to invade both Australia and Hawaii. Japan’s leaders hoped that America would then accept Japanese predominance in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, rather than conduct a bloody and costly war to reverse Japanese gains.

The North African Campaign (1942) The Germans and Italians were trying to seize Egypt and the Suez Canal

October 23rd – November 5th, 1942 The British defeated the Germans at the Battle of El Alamein

The North African Campaign (1942) Turning point of the North African campaign This defeat prevented Hitler from gaining access to Middle Eastern oil supplies and from attacking the Soviet Union from the south

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942)   Since 1941, the German Army had pushed deeply into the Soviet Union

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942) The German and Soviet Armies battled in the rubble of the city of Stalingrad from July 17th, 1942 – February 2nd, 1943

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942) The Russian winter helped defeat the Nazis

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942) The battle of Stalingrad was one of the longest and bloodiest battles in history. Over 1.5 million soldiers died.

The Battle of Stalingrad (1942) This was the turning point of the war in the east against Germany The defeat prevented Hitler from seizing the Soviet oil fields

D-Day: Allied Invasion of Europe. The Allies wanted to invade mainland Europe.

  Roosevelt wanted to keep a promise to Stalin to create a second front against Germany to help keep some pressure off the Soviet Union.

To do this, they had to break through the “Atlantic Wall”.

The Atlantic Wall

D-Day (The Normandy Landing) 1) American and Allied troops under Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower landed in German occupied France on June 6th, 1944

D-Day (con’t) Began in the early morning hours when American and British paratroops dropped behind the intended invasion beaches to disrupt German communications.

D-Day (con’t) By the end of the day, the Allies had established a stronghold and driven the Germans back.

D-Day This stronghold would be continuously expanded over the next weeks and ultimately lead to the Nazi defeat.

D-Day Casualties About 5,000 US soldiers killed on June 6th. 3,000 German Soldiers killed. Thousands more surrendered.

D-Day (The Normandy Landing) This began the liberation of western Europe and the defeat of Germany in 1945

End of the War Hitler committed suicide on April 30th, 1945. Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945.

This is known as V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.

Pacific Theatre of War

General Douglas MacArthur He commanded the U.S. military in the Pacific

Allied Strategy Allies counter attack Japan with strategy called Island Hopping.

Pacific (con’t) Island Hopping was jumping over fortified islands and cutting them off from supply lines while slowly working their way toward Japan.

The major weapon in the war in the Pacific was the Aircraft Carrier.

Allied strategy in the Pacific SUBMARINE WARFARE = in the Pacific the U.S. would cut off Japanese supplies through submarine warfare against Japanese shipping

“The Miracle of Midway” (1942) Japan attacked Midway island and the U.S. naval forces luckily defeated a much larger Japanese force Japanese victory at Midway would’ve enabled Japan to invade Hawaii

“The Miracle of Midway” (1942) Midway was a TURNING POINT in the Pacific that led to more American victories that led U.S. forces closer and closer to Japan

Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa Both battles were victories that led U.S. forces very close to Japan Both invasions were very costly resulting in very high U.S. and Japanese casualties

As the American army got closer to the Japanese home islands, the Japanese put up more of a fight.

The Japanese began to use kamikaze pilots to destroy US ships. Kamikaze: In Japanese it was known as “Divine Wind”. They were suicide pilots that flew their planes directly into Allied ships.

Kamikaze

The fierce resistance by the Japanese at Iwo Jima and Okinawa convinced President Truman to use the atomic bomb on Japan rather than invade.

Atomic bombing The first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945 on Hiroshima.

Japan did not surrender, so the US dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945.

Japan agreed to surrender on August 15th.

This is known as V-J (victory over Japan) Day.