End of the War A Look at how World War II Ended

ObjectiveObjective By the end of the lesson, students will understand how the war in ended in both the Pacific and European theaters of war.

Lightning Round Review! 1. What happened on D-Day? 2. What happened in the battle of Iwo Jima? 3. What was the Holocaust? 4. Who was Rosie the Riveter?

VocabularyVocabulary V-E Day - The day the Allied Powers won the war in the European theater on May 7, V-J Day - The day the Allied Powers won the war in the Pacific theater against the Japanese on September 2, Atomic Bomb - A massive bomb that kills thousands of people.

Aggression in Europe After D-Day, the Allied Powers were attacking the German Army (Nazis) from the East and the West. What countries were coming from the West? What countries were coming from the East? Why was a two front war hard for the German army to fight?

In Europe The Allied Powers closed in on Germany and they were close to winning the war. The Soviet Union was rushing in on Berlin, Germany from the east, and the Allied Powers led by the U.S. was rushing in from the West.

The Death of Hitler Hitler was forced to go into hiding in April of 1945 (towards the end of the war). In the bunker he got reports from his generals saying that the German army was losing. Instead of being caught by the Allied Powers, Hitler committed suicide.

V-E Day A couple days after Hitler died, the Soviet Union and its tanks rolled into Berlin and took over the capital of Germany! The Germans were forced to surrender on May 7, 1945! The Allied Powers won in the European Theater!

Berlin, Germany 1945

Victory in Europe Day!

World War 2 in the Pacific World War II was not done! The war was still waging in the Pacific Theater The Allied Powers were fighting against the Japanese Japan refused to surrender even though they had no chance of winning.

Iwo Jima The Allied Powers defeated the Japanese on the island of Iwo Jima and were so close to Japan! Americans used the island to land planes.

Iwo Jima

President Truman President Roosevelt died while being President on April 12, days before V-E Day. Vice President Henry Truman became the new President of the United States He was in charge of the war now.

President Truman

Truman’s Decision Truman had a huge decision to make! He knew to defeat Japan: he either needed to invade Japan and risk losing more American lives or drop this new bomb called the Atomic Bomb on Japan.

Invading Japan If Truman decided to invade Japan, the Japanese would give it there all and would not surrender before almost all their troops had died. Why wouldn’t Truman want to invade Japan?

Dropping the Bomb If Truman decided to drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan, he knew that the Japanese would be forced to surrender, but he would kill thousands if not millions of Japanese people Why wouldn’t Truman want to drop the Atomic bomb?

Truman’s Decision What do you think Truman decided to do? Think about the opportunity cost of each decision.

Drop the Bomb! Truman decided to drop the Atomic bomb on two cities in Japan: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He decided to drop the bomb instead of invading so he could save the lives of American troops!

AftermathAftermath 140,000 Japanese died in Hiroshima 80,000 Japanese died in Nagasaki Thousands others died years later from cancer caused by the radiation from the Atomic bomb!

V-J Day September 2, 1945, the Hirohito and the Japanese surrendered to the Americans. They did not want to have another atomic bomb dropped on them. This day is known as Victory in Japan Day.

WWIIWWII WORLD WAR II ENDED The Allied Powers defeated the Axis Powers in the European and Pacific Theaters!

ConclusionConclusion The Allied Powers defeated the Germans and the Italians in Europe - The day the war ended there is called V-E Day The Allied Powers defeated the Japanese after President Truman ordered the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The day the war ended in the Pacific is called V-J Day.