CW17 –p762 Vocab

Pacific Theater

• Spring 1945, the war in Europe is ending, FDR dies

• Allies change their attention to the Pacific and defeating the Japanese Empire

End of War in Europe

• Guerillas in Italy capture and execute Mussolini

• Soviets close in on Berlin, Hitler commits suicide in his bunker

• May 7th Germany surrenders, May 8th V-E Day

• Why?1. Several fronts2. Hitler’s bad decisions3. US produced 2x the entire Axis4. Lack of Oil

Battles in the Pacific

• Japan controlled much of Pacific at first

• Soon after Pearl Harbor, Japan took the Philippines, forced the soldiers there on Bataan Death March

Americans on the Offensive

• After winning the battle of Midway, US went on the offensive

• Gen. Douglas MacArthur plans was island hopping to take strategic Japanese controlled islands.

• Japanese were being pushed back, but refused to surrender

• Japanese were taking a toll on themselves and the US (kamikaze pilots)

End of the War in Pacific

• Seeing that it would take many more lives to take Japanese mainland, the US developed a new weapon, the atomic bomb (Manhattan Project)

• New US president Harry Truman decided to use the weapon on Aug 6, 1945 on Hiroshima.

• Japan still refused to surrender, another was dropped on Nagasaki the next day.

• Hirohito decided it was time to surrender on Sept 2, 1945. (V-J Day)

Controversy

Truman People Against

• Used it to avoid more death

• Japan refused to surrender

• Japan still was home to 2 million people

• Japan was mostly done• It was to impress the

Soviets• Unleashed a future arms

race (Cold War)