Winning World War II

Alliance: Great Britain, U.S., Soviets

• Big Three alliance uneasy due to idealogical differences

• Created out of necessity of war• Defeat Hitler first, then Japan• Stalin wants allies to take pressure off of

Soviet Union and launch attack on Western Front

• U.S. and Britain attack North Africa and Italy instead, war takes toll on Soviets

Allied invasion of Northwestern Europe

• Amphibious attack on Normandy nicknamed Operation Overlord or D-Day

• Began June 6, 1944 from sea• High casualty rates• By fall of 1944, allies defeat the Germans at

coast, push inland, and liberate Paris and Belgium

Battle of the Bulge

• By Dec. 1944, Hitler’s armies pinched by Soviets to the East….British and Americans to the West

• Allies killed thousands of civilians in air raids on Germany

• Hitler launches a surprise offensive• American troops hold Germans 8 days waiting on

reinforcements and push Germans back• Allies cross bridge at Remagen over the Rhine

River into Germany

Allied Victory in Europe

• After Battle of the Bulge, Allied forces close in on Berlin from East and West

• Terms of German Surrender discussed at Yalta Conference

• Eisenhower stops allied advance 50 miles from Berlin to ensure Soviet control

• Soviets meet British and Americans at Elbe River• Hitler commits suicide, Karl Donitz surrenders Germany

on May 7, 1945• Discovery of Nazi death camps

Pacific War

• Launched by Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 1941

• Thousands of Americans die in Bataan Death March in Philippines

• Island hopping strategy• Doolittle Raids in April 1942 bomb key

Japanese cities

Turning point in the Pacific War

• Battle of Coral Sea fought with aircraft carriers, fighters, bombers, in May 1942

• US decodes plan to attack island of Midway and forces japan to retreat, turning point of war for Allies

Battle for Iwo Jima

• In 1943 and 44, US captures islands: Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Marshall Islands, and Mariana Islands

• Fighting for Iwo Jima causes great casualties for both sides

• Americans take Iwo Jima, then Okinawa placing them in strong position to launch air attacks on Japan

End of WWII

• US bombs Japan relentlessly with traditional bombs• US blockades Japanese supply lines• Japanese use kamikaze missions • Atomic bomb successfully tested in July 1945• Aug. 6 1945-1st atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima• Aug. 9-2nd atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki• Over 170,000 people killed from blast alone• Japan surrenders Aug. 14, 1945

Casualties of War

• Over 400,000 Americans killed in WWII• Over 50 million died world wide