End of WWII

Battle of the Bulge, Winter 1944•Last ditch German offensive •Germans pushed a “bugle” in Allied line•101st airborne stood firm in Bastogne•General Patton brought in reinforcements•By January 1945, Allies pushed back

German offensive

End of War in Europe

•Allies continue on the offensive•Soviets reach Berlin in April 1945•Hitler commits suicide April 30

•May 8, 1945 Germany surrenders: V-E Day

•Focus attention on the Pacific Theater

V E Day

Okinawa, June 1945

•Needed for the invasion of Japan•Japan heavily bombed navy ships•over 12,000 Americans killed in fighting•Allies eventually take over the island

(three months of fighting)•Allies fear the death toll if they invaded

mainland Japan

Okinawa

Manhattan Project▫Top secret program to build an atomic

bomb▫Led by J. Robert Oppenheimer▫Began work in 1939, concerned Germany

was already working on one

The Atomic Bomb

•Truman (now President) had to decide whether or not to drop the bomb

•Order Japanese total surrender on July 26; no response

•August 6, 1945: Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima▫80,000 die instantly and destroy the city

•August 9, 1945: Second bomb dropped on Nagasaki▫40,000 die

Nagasaki

Atomic Bomb: Fat Man

Afterwards

Japanese Surrender

•August 15: Emperor Hirohito finally surrenders

•Known as V-J Day

Post War

•Create United Nations: organization to encourage peace among nations and prevent future wars

•America emerges as a superpower•America helps rebuild Europe and Japan•Nuremburg Trials: Nazis put on trial for

the Holocaust▫22 tried, 12 executed