1. Unit 6: WWII and Post-War Prosperity
6-3: Key Battles, the Homefront, and the aftermath of WWII

2. Key Battles: Europe Battle Summary Battle of Stalingrad
After invading the USSR, Hitler pushes deep into the Soviet Union seeking oil supplies near Stalingrad. His supply lines become long, and his troops get bogged down at Stalingrad, where the Red Army and a brutal winter decimate his troops. The German army is stopped, and Soviet troops begin pushing German troops back west
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
An incredibly secret mission, thousands of American, British, and Canadian troops land at codenamed Omaha, Utah, Gold, and Juno beaches. The successful invasion creates a beachhead, and Allied troops start pushing Germany back East

3. Key Battles: Pacific Battle Summary Midway Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Americans crack Japanese codes revealing their move towards Midway Island. The American carrier fleet is outnumbered 4-3; but American forces sink ALL 4 Japanese carriers, while only losing 1. Japan loses their ability to project air and sea power in the Pacific; and the U.S. begins taking back territory, and marches towards Japan
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
After creating two nuclear bombs through the secret “Manhattan Project” The U.S. decides to use the bombs on Japan, as fighting is fierce in the Pacific. President Truman authorizes the use of the two bombs which annihilate thousands of Japanese citizens. Japan surrenders shortly after

4. The Homefront
Americans at home saved all they could in resources to devote to the war effort
Women played a key role by working in factories, in jobs vacated by men who were now in the service
Rosie the Riveter became the personification of women at work (add to notes)

5. Minorities
Pg. 139
At home however, minorities still faced discrimination, especially Japanese Americans
After Pearl Harbor, thousands of Japanese on the west coast were rounded up, taken from their homes, and put in internment camps, because the government was afraid they may sabotage American factories and ports
An American citizen, Fred Koremastu challenged what the government was doing, but in Koremastu v. the United States, the Supreme Court upheld the camps and the confiscation of U.S. citizen’s property

6. Minorities
pg. 137, 139
At home, Civil Rights leader A. Phillip Randolph pushed President Roosevelt for equality in job opportunities during the war (will serve as an inspiration to MLK)
In combat, minority groups served with distinction:
Tuskegee Airmen: division of African American fighter pilots, highly decorated
442nd Combat Regiment: division of Japanese American infantry, one of the most decorated combat regiments in U.S. military history

7. The Aftermath
Pg. 146
As Nazi officials are rounded up, they are charged with war crimes and many stand trial at the Nuremberg Trials
Many are tried and convicted, and hanged
The U.S. also had a part in creating the United Nations, and international body of countries designed to work towards global peace and stability

8. Comprehension Question
Describe the contributions of the following three groups of people to the American war effort:
Women
African Americans
Japanese Americans