1. WW2 & its Aftermath

2. Victory in Europe & the Pacific
March 1945, Allies crossed the Rhine
Soviets enter in East
Axis armies begin to surrender
April 25, 1945, Elbe River

3. April 28, 1945
Mussolini was executed

4. April 30, 1945
Hitler commits suicide in underground bunker

5. V-E Day May 7, 1945 – Nazis surrendered
May 8, 1945 – Official, V-E Day

6. Reasons for Allied Victory
Germany’s location
Fought on multiple fronts
Hitler took almost complete control of military
Made some poor decisions
Underestimated Soviet Union
Strength of the USA
1944, US was producing twice as much as all Axis powers combined
Allied bombing
Hindered German production
Made oil very scare (almost grounded German air force)

7. Struggle for the Pacific
“A macabre litany of heat, dust, starvation, thirst, flies, filth, stench, murder, torture, corpses, & wholesale brutality that numbs the memory.”
Until mid-1942, Japan won all battles
Controlled much of Southeast Asia & Pacific islands
By May, 1942, Japanese gained Philippines
Bataan Death March
(65 miles)

8. Defeat for Japan “Island-hopping” campaign
Recapture some islands, bypass others
Use as steppingstones to next objective
US forces, lead by General Douglas MacArthur gradually moved towards Japan

9. Defeat for Japan
Mid-1945, most of the Japanese navy & air force had been destroyed
… But Japanese still had an army of 2 million
1945, Battles on Iwo Jima & Okinawa proved Japanese would fight to the death rather than surrender
Kamikazes
Suicide pilots

10. Manhattan Project Allied scientists (some German & Italian refugees)
“If the dismissal of Jewish scientists means the annihilation of contemporary German science, we shall do without science for a few years” - Hitler
Allied scientists (some German & Italian refugees)
Understood that by splitting an the atom, they could create an explosion far more powerful than any known to man
July 1945, successfully
created it

11. Invasion or the Bomb? Operation Downfall Harry Truman
FDR died April 12, 1945
Terrible new force of destruction
But how many Allied lives could be saved?
Allies issued warning to Japan, “Surrender or face complete destruction & utter devastation”

12. Hiroshima Little Boy August 6, 1945
Killed 70,000 people & flattened 4 square miles instantly
Many more died of radiation
Little Boy

13. j August 8, Soviet Union declares war on Japan Invades Manchuria
Japanese leaders don’t respond

14. Emperor Hirohito surrendered
Nagasaki
August 9, 1945
40,000 people killed
Fat Man
August 10, 1945
Emperor Hirohito surrendered

15. V-J Day
September 2, Japanese sign formal peace treaty

17. End of WWII Battle Deaths 15,000,000 Battle Wounded 25,000,000
Civilian Deaths
45,000,000

18. End of WWII

19. End of WWII
Germany, Poland, Soviet Union, Japan, China, & other countries in ruins
Total war
More than 20,000,000 refugees in Europe
Devastation, hunger, disease, mental illness
Allies faced some
difficult decisions

20. War Crimes Horrors of the Holocaust
Allies charged Axis leaders with “Crimes against humanity”
Top Japanese & Nazis received death sentences or were imprisoned
How could all of this happen?
Western Allies helped set up democratic constitutions protecting the people in Germany & Japan

21. United Nations April 1945 Delegates from 50 nations
Each get one vote in General Assembly
5 permanent members
Security council
Much more power
Can veto any decision
Peacekeeping
Today: prevent disease, ensure education, help refugees, help economies

22. 2 countries emerge as world leaders

23. 2 countries emerge as world leaders
USA & Soviet Union
US abandons policy of isolationism
To battle communist threat
Mutual distrust, different ideologies, disagreement on German reparations & governments of E. Europe
Cold War

24. 2 countries emerge as world leaders
USA & Soviet Union
US abandons policy of isolationism
To battle communist threat
Mutual distrust, different ideologies, disagreement on German reparations & governments of E. Europe
Cold War

25. Cold War Begins Stalin’s goals in E. Europe 1. Spread communism
2. Create buffer from Germany

28. Truman Doctrine
US policy for decades
March 12, 1947
“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.”
Containment
Limiting communism to the
areas already under
Soviet control

29. Marshall Plan USA offered massive aid packages
Strengthen democratic governments (mostly in Western Europe)
Billions of $
Helped war-shattered Europe recover
quickly
Offered help to everyone
Stalin forbade countries to accept

30. Normandy

31. New Alliances North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Warsaw Pact
28 members today
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
USA, UK, Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Luxemburg & Netherlands
Pledged to attack if any member is attacked
Warsaw Pact
Soviet Union & 7 satellites in E. Europe
People’s republic of Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovak republic,
& German Democratic Republic
1949
1955

32. Propaganda War
USA defending capitalism and democracy against communism & totalitarianism
Soviet Union claimed moral high ground in the struggle against Western imperialism
"The people's of the world do not want a repetition of the deprivations of poverty. -Stalin."