Major Battles and End of WWII

• Guiding Question: What battles were major TURNING POINTS that swung the course of WWII in favor of the Allies?

Japanese Strategy

• After Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the Philippines and Indonesia and planned to invade both Australia and Hawaii

• Japan hoped America would just accept Japanese domination of the Pacific rather than wage a bloody war to reverse Japanese gains

North Africa

• The British were fighting the Germans and Italians in North Africa

• Wait… why were European countries battling in Africa?

North Africa

• Battle of El Alamein: German forces threatening to seize Egypt and the Suez Canal were defeated by the British– This defeat prevented

Hitler from gaining access to Middle Eastern oil supplies

Europe

• Battle of Stalingrad: German forces besieged the Russian city of Stalingrad

• A long, cold, and bitter battle

Europe

• Hundreds of thousands of German soldiers were killed or captured in the months-long siege

• Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad prevented Germany from seizing Russian oil fields and was THE turning point against Germany in the east

• Bloodiest battle in human history (1.5 million casualties)

• vid

D-Day

• American and Allied troops under General Eisenhower landed in German-occupied France on June 6, 1944

• Largest amphibious invasion in history

D-Day

• Despite intense German opposition and heavy American casualties, the landings succeeded and the liberation of western Europe from Hitler had begun

• vid

Pacific

• Battle of Midway: Japanese forces moved toward Midway Island

• If the Japanese destroy American base on Midway, they will be able to invade Hawaii

Midway

• Americans had broken the Japanese code, and new the attack was coming

• Though out numbered, the US won the battle

Midway

• This American victory ended the Japanese threat to Hawaii and began a series of American victories which brought the war closer to Japan

• TURNING POINT

Pacific

• Iwo Jima and Okinawa: Big battles where Americans invaded Japanese-held islands

• Though America won these battles, they were incredibly costly in American and Japanese lives

Pacific

• Showed America that the Japanese intended to fight fiercely for every square mile of Japanese territory

• Even Japanese civilians were armed with swords and bows and arrows and would rather commit suicide than surrender

VE-Day

• Write this on your notes:

• May 8, 1945

• European Allies accept Germany’s surrender

• Hitler had killed himself in a bunker as Russian troops approached

Atomic Bomb

• Over the course of World War II, American and German scientists were both working on developing nuclear weapons

• America developed them first

Atomic Bomb

• As the war winded down, it became clear that for America to defeat Japan, the US would have to invade Japan itself

• This was a scary prospect because of the casualties for both Americans and Japanese would be horrendously high

• vid

Atomic Bomb

• America decides instead to use atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Tens of thousands of civilians killed in both cities

Question

• Is it OK to kill civilians if it helps your cause is just?

– What if killing them ‘saves lives’ in the long run?

– What about 9/11?

Japan Surrenders

• Shortly after the bombs are dropped, Japan surrenders, avoiding the needs for American invasion

Writing Activity

• On a separate sheet of paper, tell me if you think the use of the atom bomb on Japan was justified

• About 5 GOOD sentences

• Tell me why you think what you think– Legit to kill enemy civilians?– Did it save lives?