America At War

U.S. In World War II

■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

Its Finally Over!

WW2 Timeline (Allies, Axis, USSR)

Results of War

■ 60 million killed

■ European empires ended

■ Independence movements begin

■ America becomes world economic, military and political superpower

■ GI Bill of Rights– Provided education

costs for veterans

■ Nuremberg– Trial to punish Nazis

for Holocaust and crimes against Humanity

– Establish precedent that leaders and military people are responsible for wartime actions