C H A P T E R S 3 6 - 3 7

FIGHTING WWII

AFTER PEARL HARBOR

• The U.S. was not prepared • Not enough navy vessels • German U-boats were destroying ships off the

Atlantic coast • Hard to send men and supplies

•Could not fight in Europe and Asia • Had to pick one…Europe

PREPARING FOR WAR IN EUROPE

• Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) controlled most of Europe • Germany fighting in Soviet Union (want to control

oil) • Set up puppet governments or military rule in

occupied regions • Brutal treatment • “Jewish question” = how to rid Germany of Jews • Concentration camps/death camps = “final

solution”

PREPARING FOR WAR IN EUROPE

• Did not know of the “final solution”

•Allied Strategy Options • Occupied France

• Pro=French people would support, Britain close • Con = Germany had a strong presence = difficult

• Italy • Pro=Italian army was weak, good location to move into Europe • Con= many U-boats in Mediterranean

• North Africa • Pro=not well defended, could serve as gateway to Europe • Con=far from Germany

• Soviet Union • Pro=needed help to fight off Germany • Con=hard to get to, difficult to send men/supplies

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

•Allied Strategy Options • Occupied France

• Stalin wanted because it would force Germany to fight on more fronts

• BUT, U.S. army not enough training • German U-boats making hard to get men/supplies across the

Atlantic

• Italy • North Africa

• Britain wanted, already fighting Germany in Egypt • Soviet Union

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Allies invade North Africa • Germany had to send troops from Europe • Fought a series of battles…eventually Axis forces

surrendered (May 1943) • Gave U.S. forces training

• North Africa became a staging area for the Allies to move into Italy • Allies moved into Italy (July 1943) with little opposition • Mussolini resigned • Italy Surrendered • BUT Germany still controlled part of Italy

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Soviets Fight Alone at Stalingrad • Soldiers on both sides told to fight to the

death • Germans firebombed the city • Eventually Soviets encircled the Germans • January 1943 Germans surrendered

(starving and frozen) • Germany lost 200,00 men and the oil rich

Caucasus • Soviets lost over 1 million men

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Fighting Germany • U.S. bombing = precision bombing

• specific targets (oil refineries, railroads, factories) • Daytime • High altitudes

• British bombing = saturation bombing • Nighttime • Large number of bombs, over a wide area • Cities

• Destroy German civilian morale

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Operation Overlord • General Eisenhower directed invasion

• Troops cross English Channel by ship and land in Normandy (Northern France) • D-Day: June 6th 1944 (the day of the invasion) • First day- the Allies held the entire 59 miles of

Normandy beach • July- Allies move across France • August-Allies liberated Paris • September- Allies begin to cross German border

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Allies move toward Germany • U.S. and Britain from the West (France) • Soviet Union from the East (Poland)

• Liberated concentration camps as they moved west

• German SS officers killed and moved many prisoners to hide extend of the camps

• Genocide = systematic killing of a racial, political, or cultural group

WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945

• Battle of the Bulge • Allies crossing from France to Germany met a lot of

resistance • Last German offensive on the western front • Allied air support forced Germans to retreat

• Germany’s Surrender • Soviets had moved through Poland into Germany • April 30th 1945 – Hitler killed himself, because the Allies were

so close • German forces quickly began surrendering

• V-E Day= Victory in Europe May 8th 1945 • FDR had passed away in April, Truman now President

PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC

• After Pearl Harbor the U.S. needed time to regroup

• Japan used this time build up resources; self-sufficiency was the goal

• While the U.S. was fighting in Europe Japan was taking over Asia • Including Philippines, Guam, Dutch East Indies,

Burma • Philippines: Bataan Death March- 70,000

American and Filipino prisoners marched 63 miles to prison camp 7,000+ died along the way

PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC

• China’s coast was controlled by Japan, no way to get supplies • U.S. airlifted supplies over Himalayas

• U.S. confidence in the Pacific was low • Plan: attack mainland Japan

• B-25 bombers fly from aircraft carriers, bomb Japan, land in China

• This attack: (Doolittle’s raid) • boosted U.S. confidence • Japan caught off-guard • Japan had to put more resources into protecting the mainland • Japan decided to destroy the remaining American fleet

PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC

• Battle of the Coral Sea; May 1942 • Completely carrier based battle

• Even losses, but U.S. gained strategic victory • Blocked Japanese expansion to the south • Learned the Japanese navy could be beat

• Option for fighting in Asia • #1 Air bases in Alaska

• BUT – snow, wind, fog, far for supplies from mainland • #2 Bases in China

• BUT – hard to get supplies to China by sea, because Japan controlled the seas

• #3 Liberating territories held by Japan • Start with islands further from Japan and move toward Japan

WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945

• Decided to liberate islands held by Japan • Each island liberated then became a staging

area • Navajo “code talkers”

• Not a written language, understood by few people

• Battle of Midway – June 1942 • Japans LAST offensive move – then all defense • We intercepted a message – so we knew they

were coming • Destroyed much of the Japanese navy (4 carriers, a

cruiser, 300 aircraft)

WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945

• Leapfrogging – strategy of bypassing heavily defended island and capturing a nearby less defended island • captured island becomes a base • prevent Japanese supply ships from reaching

the more heavily defended island • This was a successful strategy

• BUT VERY COSTLY – many soldiers died

WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945

• Final Push toward Japan • Iwo Jima and Okinawa – key islands

• Airfield and staging area for invading Japan • both were very bloody battles, but the Allies

won • Set stage for invading Japan

WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945

• Manhattan Project • Top secret project to develop the atomic bomb • Ready by summer 1945

• Truman had a decision to make • Japan would fight to the death = many Allied soldiers

lost if we invaded (1/2 million) • The Allies had already destroyed many cities, and

blockaded mainland Japan

• Leaders believed Japan could not win, but they would not surrender

• Some U.S. officials believe Japan was getting close to surrender

WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945

• U.S. Bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki • Truman offered one more chance for unconditional

surrender…BUT • Aug 6, 1945 – dropped A-bomb on Hiroshima • Aug 9, 1945 – dropped A-Bomb on Nagasaki

• 250,000 Japanese died in these two bombings

• Aug 14, 1945 –V-J Day, informal surrender • Official surrender a few day later on the Missouri

TOTAL LOSSES

•55 million died • 30 million civilians

•Soviets lost people • 20 million

•U.S. 400,000 soldiers

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Problems after WWI – try not to repeat • No more wartime productivity

• The Great Depression –high unemployment • Treaty of Versailles – too harsh = set stage

for WWII • War-guilt clause – helped Hitler come to power • Reparations – hurt world economy too

• League of Nations – no U.S. ; not strong

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• End of Isolationism for the U.S. • World Bank – U.S. + 43 other nations

• provide loans to help countries recover from WWII • Much of the funding from the U.S.

• International Monetary Fund • Uniform exchange rates and stabilize world monetary

system • United Nations – Replace the League of Nations

• Set-up by U.S. Great Britain, China, Soviet Union • Four Freedoms

• speech and expression, worship, from want, from fear

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Dealing With Defeated Axis Powers • Disarm and give up territory • Pay reparations

• BUT not a lot of money, more goods and services

• War Crimes Tribunal (court) • Blame/punish only the leaders who had committed

the crimes • Nuremberg Trials

• Nazi/SS/Gestapo leaders responsible for concentration camps

• Tokyo • Japanese leaders (Tojo too)

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Dealing With Defeated Axis Powers

• Rebuilding Germany • Divide Germany into 4 military occupation zones

• U.S., Soviet, France, Great Britain • Divide Capital Berlin into 4 zones too

• U.S., Soviet, France, Great Britain

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Rebuilding Japan • Worked to bring democracy to Japan

(Parliament) • Emperor would be ceremonial position • Worked with Japanese government to rebuild

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Post War Life • GI Bill

• Federal money (loans) to help transition back to civilian life

• Loans for: • Education • Buy a Home • Start a Business • Unemployment Compensation

AFTERMATH OF WWII

• Post War Life • African Americans

• GI Bill helped some • segregation/discrimination made it difficult to full use the GI

Bill • Median income did improve

• Women • Out of factory jobs – back to Men • Into service jobs

• Teacher, bank teller, social worker, nurse