1. 1 Major WWII U.S. Military Strategies, Actions & Leaders 1941 - 1945

2. From Defense to Offense FDR  domestic brilliance Military Generals  Experienced Strategists Scientific Innovation  Collective race to beat Hitler to the bomb 2

3. 3 Allies Goal in WWII = “Total Victory” over Axis Helping England was 1 st Priority

4. 4 North Africa Campaign 1942

5. 5 Rommel & Eisenhower

6. 6 Gen. Patton Italy Invasion - Summer ‘43

7. 7 GI’s Liberating Sicily – July ‘43

8. 8 Mussolini executed – April 1945

9. 9 European Theater

10. 10 Eastern Front – 1942 – ‘44

11. 11 US B-17’s & P-51’s Bomb Germany

12. 12 D – Day June 6 th, 1944

13. 13 3 million Allied soldiers 12,000 Allied planes vs. 300 German

14. 14 - Air assault then dropping of paratroopers behind enemy lines -Finally amphibious landing

15. 15

16. 16 Battle of the Bulge -- December, 1944

17. 17 Dresden & Berlin Fire Bombed – Spring 1945

18. 18 Western Allies Meets USSR At Elbe River April, 1945

19. 19 Liberation of the camps the atrocities were “beyond the American mind to comprehend.”

20. 20 V-E Day -- May 7 th, 1945

21. 21 Pacific “Theater”

22. 22 Gen. MacArthur “Island Hopping” Strategy (1942-1945)

23. 23 Aircraft Carriers Allied advantages: -defensive -Japan depleted -No help fr. Germany or Italy Turning Points: 1943

24. 24 Bataan Death March Winter-Spring 1942 At least 16k died within weeks of reaching prison

25. 25 Iwo Jima Feb./March 1945

26. 26

27. 27 Battle of Okinawa: Largest amphibious assault in Pacific war

28. 28 B-29s Bomb Japan

29. 29 Harry Truman Becomes President April, 1945

30. 30 Manhattan Project Hiroshima & Nagasaki Dropping the bomb August 6 th & 9 th 1945

31. Establish your opinion and reasoning given your role. Identify likely people who would agree with you; first from the list of 5 roles then from the documents Examine “Atom Bomb Sources” at “US History Handouts” Examine links Devise three specific reasons 31 Should the U.S. do it?

32. 32

33. 33 V J Day September 2 nd 1945

34. 34 IV. Overview of Military & Diplomatic Impacts of WWII: Global “Total” War Brings Unprecedented Devastation –New military techniques & technologies used world wide Examples: Fully Mechanized War, Arial “Fire Bombing”, Paratroopers, Amphibious Invasions, Radar, Flame Throwers, Jets, Nuclear Weapons –Civilians across the globe mobilized & targeted like never before –50 million dead/wounded world wide -- 1 million US dead/wounded New World Order Emerges –U.S. ends isolationism & accepts role as world “superpower” during & after war –Traditional European powers geopolitical influence diminished –US/USSR power struggle (aka “the Cold War”) begins even before WWII officially ends