1. End of World War II

2. The United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union scored key victories and won the war.
In 1942, Roosevelt (U.S.), Churchill (Great Britain), and Stalin planned the Allies strategy.
Stalin wanted to attack Germany to relieve pressure on his armies.
They agreed but chose to attack the Germans in North Africa where German armies had taken control of Egypt.
The Allies were successful in moving German armies out of Africa by May of 1943.
At the same time, the Soviets enjoyed a major victory in the Soviet city of Stalingrad. The Soviets forced the Germans to surrender in February 1943.

3. American and British soldiers invaded Italy and captured the island of Sicily.
Mussolini was forced from power and the Italian government surrendered. He was later killed by anti-Fascists.
The Italian government signed an armistice with the Allies.
Victory in Europe (Write down 10 facts from the video)

4. Greatest Seaborne invasion of modern times…..
D-Day – June 6th, 1944.
Allied troops crossed the English Channel and landed in Normandy, France.
They relentlessly pushed the German troops out of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
In March 1945, the Allies moved into Germany.
As the Russians entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide.
On May 7th, new German leaders surrendered.
The next day (May 8th) marked the end of the war in Europe. V-E Day (Victory in Europe) was officially declared.
President Roosevelt did not live to see this victory. He died in early April. Harry Truman was now president.

5. Allied Strategy in the Pacific
The Allies won their first victory in the Pacific in May The Battle of the Coral Sea stopped the Japanese from invading Australia.
The second naval victory in 1942, the Battle of Midway, stopped the eastward advance of Japan.
“Island Hopping” – key strategy used by the Allies. They chose key islands to attack and then used them as bases to invade other islands.
One result of island hopping was that enemy forces on surrounding islands became cut off from supplies and support.
American forces, along with help from British and Indian troops, kept the Japanese from overrunning all of China
However, most of Southeast Asia remained under Japanese control throughout the war.

6. Strategies in the Pacific, cont.
After June, 1944, U.S. bombers flew over Japan regularly.
They caused great destruction in Tokyo and other cities.
In April, 1945, U.S. troops landed on the island of Okinawa, just 350 miles from Japan.
Before the Allies invaded Japan, they tried to persuade the Japanese government to surrender.
Japan refused to surrender.
An American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, The Japanese still refused to surrender.
The U.S. dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki three days later.
The Japanese now realized the Allies had the power to destroy their homeland.
They signed surrender documents on September 2, This day is called V-J Day (Victory in Japan).
Victory in Japan (Write down 10 facts from the video)

7. Wartime Diplomacy
In February 1945, Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met in Yalta in Southern Russia. They worked out the peace terms for Germany.
They agreed to divide Germany into 4 occupation zones.
Britain, France, the U.S. and the Soviet Union would each administer a zone
Germany was to be disarmed and its war criminals punished.
An agreement was made to set up the United Nations. This peace organization would replace the League of Nations.

8. Results of war
General MacArthur and American troops directed the postwar occupation of Japan.
A new constitution turned Japan into a democracy.
Japan was not allowed to have military forces except for defensive purposes.
The Allies put Japanese war criminals on trial.
Soviet troops, which had liberated the countries of Eastern Europe from Nazi rule, stayed in these countries.
Most of Eastern Europe turned Communist.
Because these countries usually followed Soviet leadership in economic and political matters, they were called Satellite nations.