Quick World War 2 in Europe Review “Europe First” & Battle of the Atlantic

Quick World War 2 in Europe Review Victory in North Africa Turning Point: Stalingrad Operation Torch & liberation of Italy Fighting in Europe, 1942-1943

Europe 1944-1945 Battle of the Bulge D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France Soviet army seizes Berlin; Germany surrenders May 7, 1945

While American forces fought in North Africa in 1942, the U. S While American forces fought in North Africa in 1942, the U.S. Navy began fighting Japan

Fighting the War in the Pacific: 1942 In the months following Pearl Harbor, Japan captured the U.S. outposts of Guam and Wake Island and the British colonies of Hong Kong and Singapore. In the Philippine Islands, Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific, Douglas MacArthur was order to flee from a Japanese invasion. American spirits were lifted in April 1942. Colonel James Doolittle led a successful bombing raid on Tokyo in a move designed to strike fear in very heart of the Japanese. Six months after Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway was a major turning point in the war with Japan.

Fighting the War in the Pacific: 1943-1945 General MacArthur devised the strategy of island hopping to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. The U.S. would island hop past Japan’s heavily defended islands and seize the more easily defeated outposts. There, the United States could build landing strips and employ air power to cut Japan’s supply lines. After the crushing defeat (at Leyte Gulf), the desperate Japanese began using the “Divine Wind”—kamikaze attacks. But, the “Divine Wind” failed to stop the Allied advance on Japan.

Fighting the War in the Pacific: 1943-1945 President Truman set Nov 1945 as the date for a land invasion of Japan. The U.S. would first need to capture Iwo Jima and Okinawa. When the last shots were fired, over 18,000 Marines had died fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. 90,000 Japanese soldiers were dead. Over 100,000 Okinawans perished as well.

Winning the War in the Pacific: 1945 As the U.S. marched across the sea towards Japan, daily raids by American B-29 bombers were destroying Japanese cities and killing thousands of civilians. For Japan, defeat was inevitable, but the island nation refused to surrender. Shortly after becoming president in 1945, Harry Truman learned of the Manhattan Project—the codename for the best-kept secret of World War II—a nuclear weapon powerful enough to destroy an entire city.

Winning the War in the Pacific: 1945 At 2:45 am on August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay headed out over the Pacific toward the Japanese military center of Hiroshima. The city of Hiroshima was annihilated. When Japan failed to respond, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, leveling half of the city and killing more than 60,000. By the end of the year, the death toll reached more than 200,000 from injuries and radiation poisoning caused by the two bombs. On September 2, 1945, Japan formally surrendered. The war was finally over.

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb:

The Manhattan Project Based on scientific research, FDR created the Manhattan Project, the code name for developing an atomic bomb: Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge of developing the bomb From 1942-1945, a number of secret labs across the country developed & built the bomb

The bomb was constructed in a secret city in Oak Ridge, TN In July 1945, the bomb was successfully tested at Los Alamos, New Mexico during Project Trinity The bomb was constructed in a secret city in Oak Ridge, TN Physicist Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago developed the nuclear reaction Nuclear plant in Hanford, WA developed the plutonium

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb:

The Japanese refused to surrender even in the face of defeat By 1944, Americans gained supremacy of the air & ran daily fire bombings on Japanese cities In addition, Japanese soldiers resorted to horrific acts of barbarity on the battlefield The Japanese refused to surrender even in the face of defeat

Dropping the Atomic Bomb Truman issued the Potsdam Declaration to Japan: surrender or face prompt & utter destruction When Japan refused to surrender Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 After 3 days, the Japanese gov’t did not respond to the bombing The U.S. dropped a 2nd atomic bomb in the city of Nagasaki

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb:

Hiroshima Nagasaki