1. End of WWII

2. What happened to Mussolini?

3. Mussolini Mussolini surprised by the Italian army’s collapse
Italian government forced Mussolini to resign
King stripped Mussolini of his power and arrested him in 1943.
German forces rescued him in April 1945.
While trying to escape to Switzerland he was captured by Italians, executed, and …

4. Sept. 1944- Allies free France completely FDR elected to 4th term
Also Belgium & Luxemburg
FDR elected to 4th term
Onward to Germany
Oct U.S. captures 1st German town- Aachen

5. Battle of the Bulge December 1944
Hitler’s Last Ditch Effort *Being attacked on two fronts*
8 German tanks break through weak Allied front
Moved 60 miles into Allied territory
120 Americans captured and killed
Lined up in a field & fired upon by a machine gun
Fighting continued for 1 month
Germany lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks
No other choice but retreat

6. April 1945
April 12, 1945 FDR Dies
April 25, Soviet troops storm Berlin
April 30, Hitler commits suicide
“I die with a happy heart of immeasurable deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself and my wife
choose to die in order to escape
The disgrace of capitulation.”
May 8, Victory in Europe

7. Feb 1945 July-August 1945 Britain USSR Goal: Create plan for Europe
USA
July-August 1945
USSR Goal: Post war treaties
USA1945

8. What had been the outcome up to this point of the battle in the Pacific?

10. The Japanese Surrender
• Advisors warn Truman that invasion of Japan will cost many lives
• He has alternative; powerful new weapon called atomic bomb
• Manhattan Project—secret program to develop the bomb
• Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945; about 75,000 die
• Nagasaki bombed on August 9th - 70,000 die immediately
• Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945

12. Military Occupation
From 1945 to 1952, Japan was occupied by the United States army.
The military leaders were removed from power, and the emperor was stripped of political powers.
Japan was forbidden to rebuild its military.
A democratic constitution was introduced, giving women legal equality with men.
Large farms and businesses were broken up and sold to poor citizens.
Japan’s Self Defense Forces