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■ Essential QuestionEssential Question:
–What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?
When the U.S. entered WW2 in late 1941, victory seemed remote
Germany controlled almost all of Europe
Axis armies controlled
Northern Africa & threatened
the Suez Canal
Germany pressed into Russia
Japan dominated the western half of the Pacific Ocean
But…over the next 2 years, the U.S. & the Allies began to win the wars in Europe & the Pacific
Europe 1941-1943
To win the European campaign, 2 different plans were proposed
The U.S. wanted to attack across Nazi-controlled France by 1943
England wanted to attack Italy from Northern Africa in 1942
In 1942, U.S.-Anglo troops began the Italian campaign
& Stalin was ANGRYIn 1943, the Soviet army won at Stalingrad; Germany was never again on the offensive
The USSR “freed” Poland, Hungary, Romania
The Allies began to win the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941 with Lend-Lease aid, but took control in
1943 with America’s entry into the war
The long-awaited 2nd front came on June 6,
1944 with D-Day
U.S. & British troops landed at 5 strategic points, pushed through France drove
towards Germany
Europe 1944-1945
Hedgerows in Normandy Allied ingenuity helped win the war: U.S. soldiers were trained to problem-solve
rather than wait for orders
Yalta Conference in February 1945 ■ The “Big 3” met at Yalta to
discuss post-war Europe given the eminent defeat of Germany:–Stalin refused to give up
Eastern Europe but he did agree to “self-determination”
–Stalin agreed to send Soviet troops to the Pacific after the German surrender if the USSR could keep Manchuria
To recognize the independence & sovereignty of nations in Eastern Europe
Soon after the Yalta Conference in Feb 1945, FDR died…and Harry Truman became president
In late April 1945, the Allies broke through the Eastern & Western Fronts forcing both
Italy & Germany to surrender
The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942 was a morale boost
U.S. victory at Midway in 1942 gave the Allies naval supremacy
“Island-hopping” allowed the Allies to win strategic islands without investing precious
time, resources, & American lives
The Japanese refused to play by according to the Geneva Convention “rules” of war
World War II in the Pacific
Victories at Saipan in 1944 & Iwo Jima & Okinawa in 1945 allowed for bombings on Japan
The German surrender in May 1945, allowed the U.S. to turn its full attention towards Japan
The Decision to Drop the A-Bomb■ With no definitive end it sight, how
would the Allies defeat Japan?–The U.S. military favored a full-
scale invasion of Tokyo by 1946–The Japanese refused to
surrender & were arming civilians for an Allied invasion
–At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, Truman gave the order to use the atomic bomb
Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago
Triumph & Tragedy in the Pacific■ In August 1945, the USA forced
Japan to surrender by dropping 2 atomic bombs
■ Effect of the atomic bomb:–Saved hundreds of thousands
of American (& Japanese) lives–Revenge for Pearl Harbor –Showed the USSR that the USA
had the ultimate weapon (began the Cold War nuclear arms race)
HiroshimaNagasaki
WW2 Timeline (Allies, Axis, USSR)
Its Finally Over!