The War Ends

The Third Reich Collapses Well before the war ended the allies were aware that the Germans were committing atrocities Roosevelt felt the best way to put an end to the concentration camps was to To do that they would have to break out of Normandy,

D-Day had been a major success, but the surrounding fields of Normandy were hedgerows- they were built for livestock but allowed Germans to fiercely defend their positions The battle of the hedgerows ended on July 25, 1944 when 2,500 American bombers As the Allies broke out of Normandy the French On August 25, the streets of Paris were filled with citizens as the city was liberated-three weeks later

Battle of the Bulge As the Allies closed in on Germany, Hitler decided to stage one last desperate offensive. His goal was to December 16,1944 the battle began with six inches of snow on the ground and bitter -the attack became known as the Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge Part of the German plan called for the capture of the town of Bastogne, where several important roads converged. At this town Germans surrounded the American forces that refused to surrender-Eisenhower sent Patton to rescue them- On Christmas Eve out of fuel and weakened by heavy losses-the Germans were forced to stop their move towards Antwerp. Two days later Patton’s troops were in Bastogne. The United States won the Battle of the Bulge and

V-E Day: The War Ends in Europe While the Americans and British were liberating France the Soviets began a massive attack on the Germans in Russia. By the time the Battle of the Bulge ended Germany was now under attack from the East and West. Soon the Americans would cross the

The Death of Hitler (?) As German defenses crumbled-Americans closed in on Berlin. Deep inside a Berlin bunker, Adolph Hitler knew the end was near. On April 30, 1945, after giving poison to his bride Eva Braun, he put a pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger. His secretary carried his body outside and burned it.

Japan is Defeated Sadly Franklin Roosevelt would not live to see the defeat of Germany-On April 12, 1945 Vice President Harry S. Truman was now president ( quote pg 767 ). He at once began making decisions.

Uncommon Valor on Iwo Jima On November 24, 1944 bombs began falling on Tokyo for the first time since the Doolittle raid. Unfortunately the bombing was ineffective because the bombs kept missing their targets. It was determined that the best solution was to invade a nearby island-

Uncommon Valor on Iwo Jima The island was perfectly located, but was covered with rocky terrain, caverns, and dozens of caves, as well as a dormant volcano Mount Surabachi On February 19, ,000 U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima. As the troops left there amhptracs ( quote pg. 768) The Marines would crawl inch by inch, fighting their way with flamethrowers and explosives destroying Japanese bunkers-

Firebombing Devastates Japan Curtis LeMay-the commander of the B-29’s- decided to use a new strategy to help the bombers hit their The use of these firebombs was very controversial-the fires would kill civilians-but there was seemingly no other way to destroy Japanese production facilities (quote pg. 768 )

The Invasion of Okinawa Despite the bombing by the spring of 1945 there were no signs that Okinawa was chosen as the site-Japanese soldiers took positions in the mountains of Okinawa-facing

The Terms of Surrender Shortly after Okinawa was captured the emperor urged the government to find a way to end the war. The problem is that America was demanding an unconditional surrender. The Japanese were willing to surrender, but He also knew that the United States was developing

The Manhattan Project In 1939 Leo Szilard, one of the worlds top physicists, learned that German scientist had split the uranium atom. He believed Worried that the Germans were gone to develop a weapon using this energy, he asked the worlds most famous physicists Albert Einstein to

The Manhattan Project Roosevelt responded by setting up a scientific committee to study the issue. They were skeptic until they met with British scientists and 1941 that were already working on the The American project was called the Manhattan Project and was headed by General Leslie R. Groves. After the first nuclear reactor was built at Chicago University-Groves organized a team of engineers and scientists to build and test an atomic bomb at a secret lab in Los Alamos, New Mexico-the team was lead

The Decision to Drop the Bomb

Japan Surrenders Faced with such massive destruction and the shock of the Soviets entering the war-Japan surrendered-August 15, 1945-V-J Day On the other side of the world Americans celebrated. Quote pg. 771 The long war was finally over