World War II

War in Europe

• ATLANTIC CHARTER – Secret agreement

between FDR and Winston Churchill

– Outlined the war aims of the U.S. and Britain

• U.S. Armed Forces – Much Diversity – 300,000 Mexican

Americans

– 25,000 Native Americans, Navajo acted as radio operators

– 17,000 Japanese Americans

– Countless African Americans

Africa and Italy • May, 1943 – The Allies

captured North Africa under Dwight D. Eisenhower

• July, 1943 – The Allies invaded Italy under George S. Patton

Russia

• After losing the Battle of Britain Hitler turned his forces against Stalin

• The Red Army made its stand in Stalingrad, January, 1943

• The Russians surrounded the freezing Nazi army

• 330,000 German soldiers died, 90,000 surrendered

• The Battle of Stalingrad was the TURNING POINT ON THE EASTERN FRONT

France

• June 6th, 1944, Normandy – D-DAY

• The most massive amphibious assault in history

• 4,600 invasion craft • 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF)

Bombers • 1,000 American planes • 173,000 soldiers • 2,000 Allied soldiers died at

Omaha Beach alone • Within one week, 500,000

soldiers had come ashore

• Within 6 weeks, over 2 million soldiers had come ashore

• The Invasion of Normandy was the TURNING POINT ON THE WESTERN FRONT

• By August, 1944, the Allies had liberated Paris

Germany

• THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

– December 1944 – In a last-ditch effort to protect their homeland, Germany launched a counter offensive in Belgium/Luxembourg.

– The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle of WWII

– 80,000 Allies killed, 100,000 Germans killed

• Closing in – The Soviets advanced

from the East, 1941-1945

– The Soviets lost 13.6 million men, Germany lost 3 million

– By April, 1945, The Soviets had battled their way into Berlin

– April 25th, The Americans and Soviets met up at the Elbe River

– May 1st, commits suicide

– May 8th, Germany surrendered

The Yalta Conference

• The “BIG 3”, FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta

• The Yalta Conference planned for after the war

War in the Pacific

• The Philippines fell – Douglas MacArthur vowed “I will return”

• The Battle of Coral Sea

– First battle conducted entirely by aircraft

– Both American and Japanese forces heavily damaged

– Battle was a draw, but Japan lost what it needed to take Australia

Battle of Midway – June 4th, 1942

• Americans caught the Japanese loading bombs on planes

• 3 Japanese aircraft carriers were quickly destroyed

• The 4th carrier was destroyed while trying to escape

• Japan lost 4 carriers and over 250 planes

Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Bloodiest battles of WWII

• 75,000 Casualties trying to take the two, small islands

• Taking Okinawa was the last step before Japan

The Manhattan Project

• Robert J. OPPENHEIMER lead team of scientists

• The atomic bomb was developed

Japan • Truman ordered the

dropping of the A-bomb to save American lives

• August 6th, 1945 – Hiroshima destroyed

• August 9th, 1945 – Nagasaki destroyed

• August 14th, 1945 – Japan accepted surrender

• August 15th, 1945 – V-J Day (Victory in Japan)

• September 2nd, 1945 – official surrender