Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Learn how the Allies were finally able to defeat Germany. Discover how a powerful new weapon brought the war in the Pacific to a close. Explore the horrors of the Holocaust. Understand the consequences faced by captured enemy leaders. Objectives

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Terms and People Harry S. Truman – Roosevelt’s vice president; became president when Roosevelt died in 1945 island hopping – a strategy in which American forces would capture some Japanese-held islands and go around others kamikaze – Japanese missions that ended when suicide pilots crashed their planes into American ships genocide – the deliberate attempt to wipe out an entire nation or group of people war crimes – wartime acts of cruelty and brutality that are judged to be beyond the accepted rules of war and human behavior

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory But Roosevelt and Churchill did not think their forces were ready for that difficult task. In 1943, Russia was bearing the brunt of the Nazi assault, and Stalin urged the U.S. and Britain to take the pressure off by invading France.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory American and British troops crossed the Mediterranean Sea and took control of the island of Sicily. However, German troops in Italy continued to fight, and the Allies faced a long struggle before they finally controlled Italy. July 1943 Fall 1938 Instead, they chose the more realistic goal of removing Italy from the war. Italy surrendered to the Allies.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory In 1944, the Allies under General Eisenhower were ready to invade France. On June 6, 1944— known as D-Day—more than 155,000 American, British, and Canadian troops crossed the English channel and landed on five beaches at Normandy, France.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Troops at four of the beaches quickly overcame German opposition, but 2,500 American soldiers died fighting the fierce German defense at Omaha Beach. D-Day was a success, and on August 25, 1944, the Allies liberated Paris.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Soon after, the Western Allies entered Germany from the west. Meanwhile, Roosevelt died of a stroke, and Vice President Harry S. Truman became President. While the Allied armies advanced on the ground, their planes bombed German industries and cities. In January 1945, a huge Soviet force entered Germany from the east.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Hitler hid in a bunker beneath the city’s streets, where he committed suicide. A week later, Germany unconditionally surrendered at Eisenhower’s headquarters in France. On April 16, Soviet troops began an assault on Berlin. On May 8, the Allies celebrated V-E Day, Victory in Europe.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory The Battle of Midway halted Japan’s advance in the Pacific, and now the Americans went on the offensive. American commanders adopted a strategy known as island- hopping. Americans fought grueling battles as well as hunger and disease until they controlled each island.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Japanese kamikaze pilots crashed their planes into American ships. These events convinced American leaders that only a full-scale invasion of Japan’s home islands would force a surrender. During the battles, the Japanese displayed their willingness to die rather than surrender.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory On August 6, an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In July, Truman learned that the U.S. had successfully tested an atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert. Within minutes, more than 130,000 people died.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory On August 9, the U.S. dropped a second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, and 35,000 people died instantly. Many more in both cities would die slower deaths from radiation poisoning. Still, the Japanese refused to surrender.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory On August 14, 1945—known now as V-J Day—Japan’s emperor announced that the nation would surrender. On September 2, 1945, MacArthur formally accepted Japan’s surrender. World War II was over at last. It had been the bloodiest war in history, with 60 million dead. Two-thirds of those who died were civilians.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory During the war, Hitler tried to annihilate all the Jews in Europe. Entire families were wiped out in a genocide known today as the Holocaust. The Nazis also killed millions of Poles, Slavs, Roma, communists, people with physical and mental disabilities, and others.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory Hundreds at a time were killed in gas chambers. Others were subjected to torture or horrifying medical experiments. The Nazis built six death camps in Poland and transported millions of people to them in railway cattle cars.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory As Allied soldiers liberated the death camps, they were shocked by the piles of corpses. The survivors were living skeletons.

Chapter 24 Section 4 Toward Victory For the first time in history, war victors prosecuted leaders of the losing side for war crimes. In Nuremberg, Germany, Allied judges tried prominent Nazis for starting World War II and for the horrors of the death camps. Similar trials were held in Manila and Tokyo to try leaders of the Japanese war machine.