1. Mr. Meester World History
The Last Years of WWII
Mr. Meester
World History

2. Vocabulary Battle of Stalingrad D-Day/Invasion of Normandy V.E. Day
Manhattan Project
Hiroshima & Nagasaki
V.J. Day

3. Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was the turning point of the war in Europe
Spring of 1942 Germany went on the blitz again reaching Stalingrad by the fall
The battle lasted over 4 months
German generals want to retreat
Hitler wouldn’t allow it

4. Soviets Turn the Tide
The Soviets brought in reinforcements & encircled the German 6th Army
January 1943, the Germans surrendered
They lost over 350,000 troops.
The Soviet Union now took the offensive in Eastern Europe

5. The Russians Advance
Soviet forces next defeated the Germans in the Battle of Kursk
Largest tank battle of WWII
The Russians now had the momentum
Pushed the Germans out of Russia and liberate eastern Europe.

6. The Allies focus on Italy
The Allies attempted to open a 2nd European front by invading Italy in 1943.
Germany sent reinforcements and set up defensive lines outside of Rome.
The persistency of the Allies forced the Germans to retreat and Italy was taken.
The Alps, however, stopped the Allies from advancing further north.

7. The Allies shift to France
General Dwight D. Eisenhower decided it was time to invade France
Hoped to surprise the Germans
A series of Allied deceptions caused the Germans to spread out their force all over the coast of northern France

8. Allied troops storm the beaches of Normandy.

9. D-Day: Operation Overlord
Allied forces invaded on June (D-Day)
Captured the beaches of Normandy
Within 3 months the allies land over 2 million soldiers and 1/2 million vehicles.
Allied forces pushed inland and re-took Paris by August of 1944.
At this time they also invade southern France
By March 1945, the Allies had liberated France.

10. Paris is liberated

11. Germany’s fate was Sealed
With the Soviets on the east & British and U.S. on the west the war was over.
Hitler moved into an underground bunker 55 feet below the streets of Berlin.
On April 30 Hitler commits suicide and on May 7, Germany’s commanders surrender.
VE (Victory in Europe) Day is a new holiday.

12. Mussolini, his mistress, and aides are shot and hung by
their feet for people to spit on.

13. General Keitel signs the surrender; the war in Europe is over.

14. Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was lead by Robert Oppenheimer
Developed the world’s 1st atomic weapons
This top-secret US research was conducted in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
The 1st successful test bomb was detonated on July 16th of 1945.

15. “I have become death,
Destroyer of worlds”
Little Boy
Fat Man
Robert Oppenheimer

16. How to force Japan’s Surrender
Japan was prepared to fight to the last man, woman, and child.
U.S. President Harry Truman had to decide between a bloody ground invasion or using the atomic bomb to force a Japanese surrender.
Truman decides to avoid heavy U.S. casualties
August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb (Little Boy) is dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

17. Pictures of the Enola Gay and the
bombing of Hiroshima.

18. Survivors of the Atomic
Bomb attacks.

19. V.J. Day: Victory in Japan
Japan refuses to surrender after thousands are killed in the first atomic blast.
On August 9, a second bomb (Fat Man) was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
Japanese Emperor forces the military to surrender
On August 14, 1945 they surrender ending the deadliest war the world has ever seen

20. MacArthur presides over Japanese surrender