Presentation on theme: "World War II The Pacific. 2 North Africa Invasion: November 1942 Invasion of Italy: September 1943 Normandy Invasion: June 6, 1944 Battle of the Bulge:"— Presentation transcript:
2 North Africa Invasion: November 1942 Invasion of Italy: September 1943 Normandy Invasion: June 6, 1944 Battle of the Bulge: Dec 1944- Jan 1945 Okinawa: April 1945 and Saipan: June 1945 Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki August 1945 Turning Points in the War
3 U.S. troops surrender to the Japanese in the Philippine Islands, May 6, 1942. A total of 11,500 Americans and Filipinos became POWs. War in the Pacific
4 Battle of the Coral Sea: May 7-8, 1942 American naval forces stopped the Japanese and saved Australia from invasion. Australia was called the Great Britain in the Pacific. First battle that opposing ships did not come within sight of each other. AIR POWER!!
6 Background: The Soviet Union pressed the United States and Britain to start operations in Europe, and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Russian troops. American commanders favored landing in occupied Europe as soon as possible but British commanders believed that such a move would end in disaster. An attack on French North Africa was proposed. North Africa: Operation Torch
7 The battle for North Africa was a struggle for control of the Suez Canal and access to oil from the Middle East and raw materials from Asia. The Goal: clear the Axis Powers from North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare an invasion of Southern Europe. The Allied invasion of French North Africa, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, started on November 8, 1942 and ended May, 1943
8 North Africa The Germans were also fighting in North Africa. The Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel broke through British lines in Egypt and advanced on Alexandria. By the fall of 1942, the war had turned against the Germans. In the summer of 1942, the British in North Africa had stopped the Germans at El Alamein. The Germans retreated. In November, British and American forces invaded French North Africa and forced the German and Italian troops to surrender by May.
9 The Second Battle of El Alamein October 23 – November 4, 1942 General Bernard Montgomery General Erwin Rommel, The “Desert Fox” Winston Churchill said of this victory: "This is not the end, nor is it even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." He also wrote "Before Alamein, we had no victory and after it we had no defeats". The British 8th Army under General Bernard Montgomery defeats Axis army at the Second Battle of El Alamein
10 Germans in USSR-Eastern Front What: Stalingrad major Soviet industrial center on the Volga River, and main transportation route. Goal: Hitler believed that with the fall of the city, Russia would collapse and he would get his hands on the oil fields in Caucasus. Stalin believed that since the city bore his name it was a personal and symbolic matter to push the Nazis out.
11 Battle of Stalingrad November 23, 1942-February 2, 1943 The Russians surrounded the Germans and cut off their supply lines. The Germans were forced to surrender. They lost some of their best troops. Hitler realized that he would not defeat the Soviet Union Germans in USSR
12 As a result of Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor: Japanese internment was the forced relocation and confinement by the United States government of Approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans living along the Pacific coast of the US. These people were moved to camps called "War Relocation Camps," Japanese Internment
13 Japanese Internment Japanese in the U.S.-History Issei-1st generation Nissei-2nd generation Most “Issei” arrived in the U.S 1885-1921 Most lived in Hawaii or W Coast Most worked in the agricultural sector FDR passes Executive Order #9066 on Feb. 19th,1942
20 At Utah Beach, members of an American landing party help others whose landing craft was sunk by the Germans off the coast of France. The survivors reached Utah Beach, near Cherbourg, by using a life raft.
21 De Gaulle in Triumph! The Liberation of Paris: August 25, 1944
22 Fought near Luxembourg, France and Germany The Germans began a counterattack against the Allies as the Allies attempted to drive the Germans completely out of France. This battle showed the desperation of the German forces. The Germans were able to slow down the Allied advance, but could not stop it completely. Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944
24 Yalta Conference-February 4–11, 1945 FDR wants quick Soviet entry into Pacific war. FDR & Churchill concede Stalin needs buffer, FDR & Stalin want spheres of influence and a weak Germany. Churchill wants strong Germany as buffer against Stalin. FDR argues for a ‘United Nations’.
25 The Allies March East After D-Day the Allies eventually broke through the German lines in occupied France. French resistance fighters rose up in German- occupied Paris. Paris was liberated by the end of August. In March of 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine River. In the north they linked up with the Soviet army that was moving from the east.
26 The Allies March East US & Russian Soldiers Meet at the Elbe River: April 25, 1945
27 Hitler had moved into an underground bunker in Berlin. April 28, 1945 Italian partisans– resistance fighters–shot Mussolini. April 30, Hitler committed suicide. May 7, 1945, German commanders surrendered, and the war in Europe was over. The End of the War in Europe
28 Mussolini & His Mistress, Claretta Petacci Are Hung in Milan, 1945
30 The Allies came closer to the Japanese home islands in 1945. The Manhattan Project was the project, conducted during World War II primarily by the United States, to develop the first atomic bomb. U.S. president Harry S Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on Japanese cities. Goal: avoid an invasion of Japan and save American lives. War in Asia Continued First Fusion Bomb Test This test was conducted on an island. After the bomb went off, the entire island was gone.
31 The first bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6 The Japanese did not surrender The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki August 9, 1945 The Bomb is Dropped Enola Gay: B-29 Superfortress bomber.
32 Hiroshima and Nagasaki were completely destroyed. Thousands died immediately, and thousands more died later of radiation sickness. The Japanese surrendered on August 14. Effects of Atomic Bomb
33 The Hiroshima landscape after the use of the atomic bomb
45 Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) was on May 8, 1945, the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin, and so the surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. The administration headed up by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government. The act of military surrender was signed on May 7 in Reims, France, and May 8 in Berlin, Germany.