1. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
World War II
Victory in Europe
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

2. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
I. End of World War II
i. In 1943, the Allies open up a second front by invading Italy.
a. Hitler fighting a two front war: Italy and Soviet Union
ii. Pacific Theatre: America vs. Japan
iii. European war ends first: VE Day, May 8, 1945
Japanese war ends: VJ Day, Aug 15, 1945
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

3. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
i. D-day = Deliverance Day = Operation Overlord
a. June 6, 1944
b. Allied forces launched biggest attack yet on Nazi controlled Europe.
c. Attack from Britain
d. Thousands of troops attack the north of France
e. Land at Normandy (Canada at Juno)
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

4. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
f. D-Day invasion was one of the biggest success stories of the war. It led to an allied victory not much later.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

5. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

6. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
ii. Dieppe Raid (Aug 19, 1942)- Thousands of Canadians were sacrificed in an earlier invasion attempt in the hope of learning how to invade Nazi controlled France successfully
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

7. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
iii. After the D-Day Invasion, victory was impossible for the Third Reich.
a. Unfortunately, Germany would never surrender.
iv. Allies would only accept the unconditional surrender of Germany.
a. Hitler believed in Social Darwinism – Survival of the fittest. He believed since Germans were superior, they would win the war.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

8. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
b. In Hitler’s mind, “if Germany proved unworthy of the world he had marked for her, Germany could perish along with him.”
Some military opposed Hitler, and tried to kill him. When caught they were executed by means of slow strangulation.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

9. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe
v. The allies pushed forward and by the spring of , Hitler was surrounded by enemy troops.
vi. Nazis give unconditional surrender
vii. Victory Europe Day (VE Day), May 8, 1945
a. In the end it was the Soviets who reached Berlin first.
b. April 30, Hitler shot himself in the head and his top officials took poison to avoid capture.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Europe

10. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
Pacific Theatre Background:
a. Japan relied on trade to feed population and industrialize. They were in desperate need of resources
b. Depression of 1929 hurt trade and hit Japan hard
c. 1931, Japanese decide to acquire territory that would give them raw materials.
d. Japan invades Manchuria which belonged to China, receives oil.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

11. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
e. Additionally, the Anti-Comintern Pact made Japan allies with Fascists in Europe.
f. League of Nations does little.
1. Absence of United States
2. Decisions not binding
3. Cannot use military force
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

12. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
g. 1937, Japanese resume war with China to create mighty Japanese Empire.
Called: The Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere
ii. Only nation left in Japan’s way was the United States
a. Pearl Harbour, Dec 7, 1941
b. Japanese ultimately insured both Germany’s and Japan’s defeat through this action.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

13. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
iii. Pearl Harbour could have been worse for the Americans.
a. Most destroyers and battleships destroyed
b. However, Aircraft carriers escaped harm.
c. Gave the Americans the ability to have a defensive force in the Pacific
iv. The attack on Pearl Harbour started a massive armament program for the USA. They built up their army, navy and air force.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

14. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
v. Americans adopt a “Europe-first” policy.
a. They will attack and defeat Germany and Italy first, then move on Japan.
vi. The Japanese initially thought they could not be stopped and celebrated victory over the Americans.
vii. The victory was short lived.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

15. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
viii. The Attack of Tokyo
a. The Americans devise a plan for planes to bomb Tokyo and then try to make it to China where they could land.
b. Tokyo is bombed, but no American planes make it through.
c. The Americans undermined Japanese confidence.
d. Japanese decide to take Midway Island so they would have warning of any future American attack.
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SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

16. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
e. The Japanese were crushed at Midway and the Battle of Midway is seen as a major turning point in the Pacific War.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

17. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
ix. The big problem facing the Americans was that the Japanese would never surrender.
a. Any invasion of Japan would cost s of lives
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SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

18. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
x. Manhattan Project - American project to create an atomic bomb
a. Throughout the course of the war the Americans and Germans were in a race to develop the Atomic bomb.
b. The Americans finished first because the Nazi scientists who were close to a solution were bombed.
c. Allies were very lucky.
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SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

19. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
e. Hiroshima, Aug 6, 1945
f. Nagasaki, Aug 8, 1945
g. Japan’s unconditional surrender, Aug 14,1945
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SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan

20. SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan
xi. Nations and historians have been very critical of the American’s use of the Atomic Bomb, especially on Nagasaki.
Possible reasons for dropping the bomb:
a. To quickly end the war and spare American lives.
b. To get revenge on the Japanese for the war.
c. To test their terrible new weapon.
January 1, 2019
SS 30 WWII - Victory in Japan