1. European Theatre
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How were the United States and its Allies able to achieve victory in WWII?

2. TEKS and Objectives We will… I will…
(7B) evaluate the domestic and international leadership of FDR during WWII (7D) analyze major issues of WWII (7E) analyze major event of WWII (7F) evaluate the military contributions of WWII leaders (26F) discuss importance of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients
Summarize the United States contributions to WWII on the European front

3. The War in Europe German success Battle of Britain Soviet Union
Hitler in control of most of Europe and North Africa
Battle of Britain
British able to stop German invasion
Soviet Union
Hitler violated non-aggression pack
Invasion of Soviet Union was a huge disaster
Soviet Union switched sides

4. Who fought in World War II?
Allied Powers (2 Words)
Axis Powers (JIG)
United States
Franklin D. Roosevelt (President)
Great Britain
Winston Churchill (Prime Minister)
Soviet Union
Joseph Stalin (Dictator)
Japan
Hideki Tojo (General)
Italy
Benito Mussolini (Dictator)
Germany
Adolf Hitler (Dictator)

5. The Campaign in Africa and Italy
General George Patton
Senior officer of the U.S. Army
Had participated in expedition against Pancho Villa
Served in WWI under Pershing
American Third Army
Regiment under Patton’s command
Soldiers must have a “killer instinct”
High survival rates
Very successful in the war

6. Allies Invade France and Germany
D-Day (June 6, 1944)
156,000 Allied troops under General Dwight Eisenhower
Landed on five beaches on the coast of France at Normandy
Omar Bradley
Lead the first American army into France
Paris liberated in August

7. Battle of the Bulge – December 1944
Last German Offensive
Allied troops defeated Germans
U.S., British, and French invaded Germany from the west
Soviets invaded from the east
Germans surrender (May 1945)
Soviets captured Berlin
Hitler committed suicide

8. Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Vernon Baker
African-American soldier
Slipped through mine fields, barbed wire, and German defenses
Single-handedly removed 3 machine gun nests, 2 observation posts, and 2 bunkers
Awarded Congressional Medal of Honor 52 years later by President Clinton for heroism in WWII

9. The Holocaust Genocide “Final Solution” Concentration Camps
An effort to murder and entire people or nationality
“Final Solution”
Hitler’s plan was to exterminate all European Jews
Concentration Camps
Built across Europe
Most Jews killed with poison gas
Bodies burned in large ovens
Concentration camps liberated by Allied forces