1931-1945 The Second World War

Allies vs Axis In the Second World War, the Allies fought the Axis Powers + Japan. The Axis started the war and they were VERY prepared . With careful planning, the Axis did horrible damage until they were defeated. In hindsight, the Axis Powers were a small alliance and did not have a real chance once the Allies became organized. However, the opening phase of the war was a series of devastating Allied defeats.

THE AXIS POWERS The Axis nations included: Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Finland also assisted the Axis but ONLY to fight the USSR who had invaded Finland.

THE ALLIED NATIONS The Allies were a huge alliance that grew throughout the war. There were three main allies and many minor allies. Some of the Allies were knocked out of the war because they were conquered.

The Big THREE Britain USA USSR

The Commonwealth Nations The British had the significant help of many colonies and former colonies: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, etc

China In Asia, China was a HUGE Allied nation But not very strong militarily China was too big for Japan to conquer and Japan’s resources were tied up in the fight against such a large enemy.

Other Allied Countries Poland France French Colonies Nepal Czechoslovakia Norway Denmark Belgium Netherlands Dutch East Indies Greece Yugoslavia Mongolia Panama Luxembourg Dominican Republic El Salvador Haiti Nicaragua Philippines Guatemala Cuba Mexico Brasil Ethiopia Iraq Bolivia Colombia Iran Liberia Peru Albania Ecuador Paraguay Uruguay Venezuela Turkey Egypt Lebanon Syria Saudi Arabia Argentina Chile Costa Rica NATIONS IN RED WERE CONQUERED BY THE AXIS OR JAPAN.

The Alliance Grew During the War The Allies joined at different times. Some joined in 1939-1941 when they were attacked: France, Norway, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Albania, Denmark, Luxembourg These countries were occupied by Japan and Germany and were not able to provide much help for the rest of the war.

ALLIES Continued to join Many countries joined towards the end, in 1945. It was clear by this time that Germany, Italy, and Japan were going to lose.   Paraguay Uruguay Venezuela Turkey Egypt Lebanon Syria Saudi Arabia Argentina Chile Costa Rica Ecuador

The war has two main parts. A “WORLD” AT WAR The war has two main parts. A Pacific Theater A European Theater 1931-1945 1939-1945

THREE PHASES OF THE WORLD WAR 1. Initial Axis victories make them look invincible. 2. Allied countries finally stop the Axis offensive. Allied countries counterattack and overwhelm the Axis nations.

Phase One—Europe Germany conquered and occupied ALL of Europe except for the neutrals: Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, and Portugal.

Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. Phase One: Asia 1931 Japan invaded the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931.

RED TERRITORIES WERE CONTROLLED BY JAPAN. Phase One—Asia 1941 Japan overwhelmed much of the Pacific and East Asia in a carefully planned rapid attack. RED TERRITORIES WERE CONTROLLED BY JAPAN.

Pacific: Midway Island Beginning in 1942, the Allies had organized enough to stop Axis attacks. US aircraft carrier “ Yorktown” under Japanese air attack. The Yorktown later sank.

Africa: El Alamein 1942 British and Commonwealth forces pushed German and Italian armies back from Suez.

USSR: Stalingrad 1942-43 German POWs The Red Army surrounded and destroyed a German army of 250,000 soldiers.

The Axis hold on and defend Beginning in 1943, the Axis tried to hold on to what they had captured. Japan believed that if they fought stubbornly, the Allies would give up. The Allies wanted to “liberate” captured lands, but they needed time to prepare.

MOST GERMAN AND JAPANESE CITIES WERE 75-90% DESTROYED. Long Distance Attacks While they prepared a counterattack, Allied planes bombed Japan and Germany relentlessly. MOST GERMAN AND JAPANESE CITIES WERE 75-90% DESTROYED.

The Final Phase—Counterattack 1943 1943: USSR won the Battle of Kursk Kursk 1943: Allies Invaded Sicily Sicily 1943: The USA won several Pacific islands including Tarawa. “Bloody Tarawa”

Counterattack in the Pacific 1944 In 1944, the Allies moved closer to Japan US forces captured the islands of Tinian, Saipan and Guam From these islands, aircraft could reach and bomb Japan.

Allied Counterattack 1944 In 1944, the USSR recaptured the Ukraine, the Baltic States, and part of Poland. D-Day—Amphibious invasion of France On June 6, 1944, Britain, Canada, and the USA invaded Normandy, France. D-Day 1944

Two-Front War The invasion of France put pressure on both sides of Germany—EAST and WEST. The Nazis did not last very long once they had to fight on two fronts. Germany surrendered in less than one year.

Celebration in Times Square, New York City VE-Day May 8, 1945 Celebration in Times Square, New York City

Final Phase—The Pacific Japan held out a few months longer. Attacking Japan required many invasions Iwo Jima, 1945 Mount Suribachi is in the background.

Amphibious Attack One of the features of the Pacific war was the use of small boats to invade numerous islands.

“Island Hopping” Amphibious attack was extremely dangerous. The boats were slow and easy targets as they approached the beach. The Americans chose to capture some islands, and bypassed others. The HIGGINS Boat

Bitter Fighting Japanese soldiers usually would not surrender. They had very carefully prepared defenses of caves, concrete bunkers and log shelters. Each shelter had to be destroyed by fire and explosives.

Final Pacific Battles 1945 In 1945, US forces captured the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The defense was carefully prepared. Japanese defenders were stubborn. Most died. US Soldiers raise a flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

Okinawa 1945 At the battle of Okinawa, more than 100,000 civilians died. US soldiers together with Okinawan civilians.

Operation “Olympic” After Okinawa, the US planned to invade Japan in the same way. The Americans expected many hundreds of thousands of soldiers to die. If the pattern of Okinawa repeated, millions of Japanese civilians would also die.

JAPAN QUICKLY SURRENDERED. Invasion Avoided Atomic attack destroyed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Soviet armies invaded Manchuria on August 8, 1945 A second atomic attack destroyed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. JAPAN QUICKLY SURRENDERED.

VJ-Day: August 14-15, 1945

The End