The Allies :  After Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese the US entered the war  FDR & Churchill meet, decide on a two front war  They target North Africa & The Mediterranean

North Africa  After Rommel took the port city of Tobruk the British sent General Bernard Montgomery to fight, he was succesful  Rommel retreated west  At the same time General Dwight D Eisenhower landed in Morocco to trap Rommel  The German Africa Corps was smashed

The Battle of Stalingrad  August Germans Bomb Stalingrad  Hitler wanted the oil from the Caucasus Mts.  Feb 1943 only 90,000 of 330,000 Germans were left  The city was 99% destroyed

Invasion of Italy  July Allies land in Sicily  Enter Rome June 1944  Found Mussolini dressed as a German soldier,  He was shot and hanged the next day in Milan

D- Day Invasion  Code named Operation OVERLORD  The greatest land & sea attack in history  June 6, 1944 (Saving Private Ryan)  3000 died on that day  Paratroopers & Amphibious landing  1 million troops landed after they took the Beach  Allies began moving eastward: Liberated Paris by August. Advanced across France; Belgium & Luxemburg by September

Germany’s last push  THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE  Dec 1944 Germans broke through a weak area in the 85 mile wide US front  The 101 st Airborne (Band of Brothers) held the Germans  General Patton & his 3 rd Corps marched non stop to deal the final blow

Race for Berlin  3 million Allies from the west  6 million soviets from the east race to Berlin (Berlin wall falls in 1989.)  Hitler Kills himself  May 8 th 1945 Surrender  V-E Day Victory in Europe  Fighting still going on in Japan!

The Holocaust  Genocide: An effort to murder an entire people or nationality  Blamed Jewish People for all of Germany’s problems  Holocaust: The attempted genocide of the Jews during WWII  The “Final Solution”: what Hitler and Nazi leaders decided to call the murdering of the Jewish people

The Holocaust  At First, Jews were machine gunned next to the trenches they dug themselves, or gassed in trucks.  Concentration Camps: Jews from Nazi controlled countries were sent in cramped railroad cattle cars to the camps. When they arrived, most were killed. Some were spared to do the work of running the camps. Half starved and subjected to inhumane conditions.  About 6 million Jews (2/3 of those living in Europe) were killed during the Holocaust.  6 million gypsies, Slavs, political prisoners, elderly, mentally disabled, and others also died in the Concentration Camps.

The War in Asia and The Pacific  Geography played a critical role in the Pacific campaign  After Pearl Harbor: the Japanese achieved Quick victories in: MalayaHong Kong The PhilippinesBurma Western Pacific IslandsIndonesia SingaporeHong Kong

Bataan Death March (1942)  Philippines attacked Dec. 7, 1941  Month Later: U.S. & Filipino forces surrender to Japan  Prisoners forced to march 60 miles through jungle.  Prisoners faced starvation, disease, exposure to the sun, and no water.  5,000 Americans died along on the way.

Bataan Death March

War Turns Against Japan (1943)  U.S. regained naval superiority in Pacific  Island Hopping – Liberating Pacific Islands from Japanese control, one at a time

Navajo Code Talkers  Played Key role in Pacific Campaign  U.S. military needed an undecipherable code to communicate that could not be broken by the Japanese  Navajo language is unwritten and extremely complex  American forces could transmit messages by telephone and radio in a “code” that the Japanese could not break

Navajo Code Talkers

Battle of Midway  Turning Point of the war in the Pacific  The Japanese Pacific fleet commander had devised a plan to lure the U.S. Pacific fleet into a battle near Midway (tiny mid- Pacific island), where he believed he could destroy them  U.S. Navy could decipher Japanese secret codes and knew that a surprise attack by the Japanese fleet was at hand.

Battle of Midway

 Admiral Chester Nimitz was appointed Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet just after Pearl Harbor.  Commanded forces at the Battle of Midway.  U.S. Army in the Pacific was commanded by General Douglas MacArthur.  U.S. destroyed 4 of Japan’s aircraft carriers, ending Japan’s superior strength in the Pacific  Battle Halted Japanese advance in the Pacific

Ending Japanese Control of Pacific  Reinforcements arriving: Took Solomon Islands  Drained Japanese resources  Americans retook Philippines and Guam  June 1945: Americans had captured Iwo Jima & Okinawa  Close enough to launch attacks on main island  Like earlier invasions of Europe on D-Day: Okinawa was a massive amphibious operation  General George Marshall – organizer of victory Worked closely with FDR to urge military preparedness Helped Oversee the creation of the first Atomic Bomb

Atomic Bomb  Famous scientist Albert Einstein sent a letter to FDR (1939)  (1942) FDR sends team of scientists (many European refugees) to New Mexico to develop and test A-Bomb  First success was July 1945  By then Germany had been defeated & America was preparing to invade Japan  FDR gets re-elected for a FOURTH term in dies of a heart attack suddenly in Just before German Surrender

Atomic Bomb  President Harry Truman: Feared invasion of Japan might lead to a million American casualties  Truman preferred to use the Atomic Bomb  Selected centers of Japanese military production as targets  August 6: Atomic Bomb explodes over Japanese City Hiroshima  Three days later: The second bomb explodes over Nagasaki  About 230,000 people were killed in the explosions  Critics: could have exploded bombs over unoccupied islands in the Pacific to demonstrate.  Japan surrenders shortly after the second explosion

Atomic Bomb

Legacy of WWII  U.S. Soldiers killed in battle: 292,000  U.S. Troops Wounded: 672,000  Estimated Number of Deaths Worldwide: > 70 Mil  Killed/Missing from Japanese Bombings: 230,000  Over 100 Million military personnel fought in the war, making it the largest war in history  The majority of people killed were civilians, making this the deadliest conflict in history

Nuremberg Trials  With the full extent of the Nazi brutality revealed, the Allies put surviving Nazi leaders on trial for “Crimes Against Humanity”  Trials took place in Nuremberg, Germany  They defended themselves saying they had only been following orders  Many found guilty: Hung or Imprisoned  Demonstrated that individuals are responsible for their actions, even in times of war.

Nuremberg Trials

“Denazification” & The Division of Germany  Germany was divided into 4 zones  United States  Britain  France  Soviet Union  Occupying powers introduced programs explaining the evils of the Nazi beliefs to the German people  Hitler’s attempts to put his racist doctrines into practical effect also played a large role in discrediting racism, anti-Semitism, Social Darwinism, eugenics, and similar ideas worldwide.  Nazi Germany showed where these ideas could lead  This contributed to the later Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

The Occupation of Japan  General MacArthur (Supreme Commander of Allied forces in the Pacific) was assigned to rebuild and reforming post- war Japan  Changes were made to make Japan less aggressive  Japan’s overseas empire was taken away  Military leaders were put on trial and punished  Japan renounced the use of nuclear weapons  Japan renounced the waging of war  Japan was forbidden from having a large army or navy again  New constitution went into effect in 1947 – turned Japan into a democracy