1. Two Theaters: Europe and Pacific
WWII: Battlefronts
Two Theaters: Europe and Pacific

2. Strategies
Allies: unified in their goals…get Hitler in Europe and then turn to the Pacific
Had General George Patton controlling efforts in Africa
Allies attacked Italy, overthrew Mussolini and removed Hitler’s help…new gov’t declared war on Germany
Russia wanted Allies to set up western front in France so Germany was fighting a two-front war
Axis: Germany, Italy and Japan had their own goals only shared common enemies
Main goal: prevent American war materials from getting into Europe…u-boats patrol seas (“wolf packs”) but radar use will level the playing field

3. War in Europe: Stalingrad
Germany had attacked Russia and he wanted Stalingrad for the oil fields
Hitler would not admit defeat even though his troops were surrounded
Turning Point of War In Europe because it ended any plans Hitler had for domination

4. Operation Overlord (D-Day)
Plan to invade German occupied France to create two-front war for Germany led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower
D-Day: when Allies hit Germany on the beaches of Normandy
Now Germany fought a hopeless two front war with Allies closing in on Germany

5. Battle of the Bulge Germany’s counterattack to D-Day
An attempt to separate British and American troops that only pushed Hitler further back into Germany…defeat would come soon
Ends war in Europe
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
Hitler commits suicide on April 30, 1945
7 days later Germany surrender on May 7th

6. War in Pacific: Midway
Japan was trying to conquer all of Asia…turned its sights to the American naval base at Midway
American Admiral Chester Nimitz knew of these plans and dealt them the most decisive defeat of the war…turning point of war in the Pacific because it ended the Japanese advance

7. Island Hopping
Americans captured some Japanese-held islands and ignored others in a steady path to Japan
Deadly process when Japanese kamikazes deliberately crash their planes into American ships

8. Iwo Jima
36 day campaign in the process of island hopping to obtain the 5 mile island of Iwo Jima
US Marines plant the American flag on Japanese territory… symbolic of American successes and later victory over Japan

9. The Atomic Bomb Ends the War
Albert Einstein split atoms and it created large amounts of energy…FDR creates the Manhattan Project (but bombs are tested in Arizona) to develop the atomic bomb for military use
led by J. Robert Oppenheimer not realizing its potential and future impact on war would be so devastating

10. V-J Day
President Harry Truman ordered for two atomic bombs to be dropped on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima
Emperor Hirohito surrendered and Americans celebrated V-J (Victory in Japan) Day
WWII was over

11. Holocaust The Nazis attempt to kill all Jews (genocide)
Hitler’s Final Solution to the Jewish problem was to exterminate all Jews
6 million total
Concentration/death camps warehoused Jews until extermination
After war, America helps liberate (free) remaining Jews