Class Dialogue – Discussing the Atomic Bombs Rationale: Students will debate the decision to drop the atomic bombs, demonstrating informed opinions regarding these events. Student participation is worth five points. ____2 pts.- The students effectively presented the information, fulfilling the requirements of the assignment, and were able to be involved in an informed class discussion. ____3 pts.- The students had their stance, for or against, along with supporting points of information. 3/21/16

U.S. Aid and Geography -13 million boots -2/3rds of vehicles Soviet Army used -5 million tons of food, enough for a ½ pound ration for every Soviet soldier for every day of the war

Battle of the Bulge Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan 25, 1945 * Final German offensive in WWII, with an initially successful blitzkrieg, but then after a successful Allied counter-offensive, Germans have few tanks & planes left - “Operation Watch on the Rhine” – - Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (in German) - Battle of the Ardennes

Battle of Berlin -April 20 to May 2, Soviet Union takes Berlin, Hitler commits suicide, and Germany surrenders the city

- Are these ideas related? - Are these ideas contradictory?

Troop Landings – Atolls

Japanese Strategy Make the war so horrible the US will give up Dug into tropical islands, built underground bunkers and fortresses Suicide attacks Bleed the enemy dry as the Japanese rarely surrender but die to the last man!

Battle of Saipan * Can now launch attacks against Tokyo using new B-29 Bombers, “the Super fortress” * These attacks last from November 17, 1944, and lasted until August 15, 1945 * Also, now Japanese citizens commit suicide - June 15 to July

- Are these ideas related? - Are these ideas contradictory?

Battle of Leyte / Leyte Gulf * Invasion of the Philippines begins, the destruction of Japanese Navy complete, and beginning of kamikaze attacks - Leyte, 17 October July Leyte Gulf, Oct , 1944

Read Pages 522 & 523, reading about “Terms for Surrender” and “The Manhattan Project” answering … - (1) What were the terms for surrender? - (2) What was the goal of the Manhattan Project? 3/22/16

“Paced by two teams of Alamo Scouts that would leave Guimba [General Krueger’s Headquarters] twenty-four hours in advance to reconnoiter the camp, a force of more than a hundred Rangers would march a circuitous route of about thirty miles (all of it through Japanese-controlled territory), sneak up to the stockade under a cover of darkness, kill some 250 Japanese soldiers inside the stockade, collect 511 feeble, bewildered, ill, and in some cases, immobile prisoners, and shepherd them back to American lines” (Breuer, 149 – William Breuer, The Great Raid on Cabanatuan). The Raid on Cabanatuan

-Jan. 28 to 30, The “Great Raid” -511 POW’s, largely from the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor to prevent their execution by the Japanese -General Douglas MacArthur personally met the POW’s upon their return to Guimba

Dr. Michael King. Leavenworth Papers, (No. 11), Rangers: Selected Combat Operations in World War II. Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College: Fort Leavenworth, KS The operation was immediately singled out for special comment in the Sixth Army weekly G2 report, which described it as “an almost perfect example of prior reconnaissance and planning ….” It was further held up as demonstrating “what patrols can accomplish in enemy territory by following the basic principles of scouting and patrolling, ‘sneaking and peeping,’ [the] use of concealment, reconnaissance of routes from photographs and maps prior to the actual operation, … and the coordination of all arms in the accomplishment of a mission” (King, p. 71). The Raid on Cabanatuan

Philippines Campaign * Largest U.S. force committed to one battle in Pacific and the Philippine Islands are reclaimed. - Jan. to March, 1945

- Are these ideas related? - Are these ideas contradictory?

Battle of Iwo Jima -Feb. to March, Establish closer air strips to islands of Japan and eliminate last resistance for possible U.S. invasion of Japan

Read Pages 522 & 523, reading about “Terms for Surrender” and “The Manhattan Project” answering … - (1) What were the terms for surrender? - (2) What was the goal of the Manhattan Project?

Battle of Okinawa -April to June, Bloodiest battle in the Pacific Theater, also known for its Japanese civilian suicides and kamikaze attacks

Battle of Okinawa -April to June, Mass Japanese civilian suicides -Traditional Ideas: Bushido Code and “Seppuku”

Class Dialogue – Discussing the Atomic Bombs Rationale: Students will debate the decision to drop the atomic bombs, demonstrating informed opinions regarding these events. Student participation is worth five points. ____2 pts.- The students effectively presented the information, fulfilling the requirements of the assignment, and were able to be involved in an informed class discussion. ____3 pts.- The students had their stance, for or against, along with supporting points of information. 3/23/16

Rules (1) Don’t raise hands; focus on what students are saying. (2) Patience. Pauses are fine. (3) Converse with each other; respond to others by name, mentioning each other’s points when relevant. (4) Speak minimum three times. (5) Express disagreements in a courteous fashion. (6) Have fun, do your job, and learn something.

Conventional Bombing & Potsdam -Conventional Bombing Campaign over Japan -Crazy number of bombs & destruction -Potsdam Declaration ** July 26, No more “world conquest” -Occupation of Japan -Disarm military -Prosecuting war criminals -Threatened “utter destruction” -Potsdam Conference -Support democracy -Sustain economy -Withdrawal once established a “peacefully inclined and responsible government”

Read Pages, the statements of President Truman and William Leahy – 522 & 523 and be ready to discuss … - Who’s right, “Should American Drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan?”

“Little Boy” and “Fat Man” are unleashed August 6, Hiroshima August 9, Nagasaki Killed an estimated 110,000 Japanese Injured another 130,000. By 1950, another 230,000 Japanese had died from injuries or radiation.

Rules (1) Don’t raise hands; focus on what students are saying. (2) Patience. Pauses are fine. (3) Converse with each other; respond to others by name, mentioning each other’s points when relevant. (4) Speak minimum three times. (5) Express disagreements in a courteous fashion. (6) Have fun, do your job, and learn something.

Class Dialogue – Discussing the Atomic Bombs Rationale: Students will debate the decision to drop the atomic bombs, demonstrating informed opinions regarding these events. Student participation is worth five points. ____2 pts.- The students effectively presented the information, fulfilling the requirements of the assignment, and were able to be involved in an informed class discussion. ____3 pts.- The students had their stance, for or against, along with supporting points of information.

What do we think? “I think it can be proven that the bomb was not only unnecessary but known in advance not to be necessary.” “The President fully understood and was advised that there were other ways to end the war.” Gar Alperovitz, Historian

Hiroshima Today

Nagasaki Today