Objectives 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.

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

Terms and People (continued) 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

How did the Allies win World War II and what were the results? By mid-1942, the Allies had begun to turn back Axis advances in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe. Ultimately, the Allies were victorious, and after the war, the U.S. took the lead in a new global conflict—the Cold War.

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. But Roosevelt and Churchill did not think their forces were ready for that difficult task.

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

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.

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.

Allied forces pushed eastward into Belgium. German troops created a “bulge” in the American lines. However, since the Germans were short on supplies and soldiers, they failed to break through the lines.

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

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

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.

Navajo soldiers made a key contribution to the island-hopping strategy. Using their own language, these code-talkers radioed vital messages from island to island. The Japanese intercepted the messages but were unable to understand the rare Navajo language.

In January 1945, MacArthur fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines when army units landed on Luzon and then advanced on Manila. A month later, the Americans had taken control of the city. Island-hoppers approached Japan, stopping at Iwo Jima in February and Okinawa in April. About 18,000 Americans soldiers died securing the two islands.

Japanese kamikaze pilots crashed their planes into American ships. During the battles, the Japanese displayed their willingness to die rather than surrender. 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.

By the spring of 1945, after the war in Europe was over, the Americans began bombing Japan. U.S. ships bombarded Japan’s coast and destroyed shipping, and Japan faced a food shortage. Yet Japanese leaders still talked of winning the war. President Truman’s military advisers warned him that an invasion of Japan might cost 500,000 American casualties.

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

Still, the Japanese refused to surrender. 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.

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.

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.

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

As Allied soldiers liberated the death camps, they were shocked by the piles of corpses. The survivors were living skeletons.

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.

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