World World War IIWar II

VictoryVictory

The Big ThreeThe Big Three

• USSR – Joseph Stalin

• U. S.– Franklin D.

Roosevelt

• Great Britain– Winston Churchill

The PlanThe Plan

• Focus on Europe first, then Japan.

• Stalin wanted a second European front opened

• FDR and Churchill focus on Africa instead

Who’s In Charge?• European Theatre

– General Eisenhower• future President of

the United States

• Pacific Theatre– no one leader like

Europe

– Admiral Nimitz

– General MacArthur

Admiral Nimitz General MacArthur

Operation Torch• British strike back at the Germans• British led by General Montgomerey• U. S. attacks from the other side

– Led by General Patton

• (1943) Germans are pushed out of N. Africa

Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad(August 1942 – February 1943)

• Germans head south for oil, iron and the Volga River

• Germans destroy over 90% of the city

• Soviets refuse to give up the city

• Stalin “Not one step backwards!”

Turning Point on the Eastern Front

• November, Russians counterattack

• Germans are surrounded• Hitler refuses to let generals

surrender– Friedrich von Paulus

• General not allowed to surrender• Blamed for the loss

• Attempt to fly in supplies– complete failure

“The bloodiest battle in recorded human history.”

Combatants

Axis Powers Soviet Union

Commanders

Erich von MansteinFriedrich Paulus   

Georgy ZhukovVasily Chuikov

Strength

500,000 Germans 1,700,000

Casualties

740,000 killed or wounded 110,000 captured

750,000 + killed, wounded and captured40,000+ civilian dead

Italy

• 1943 Britain and U. S. send in 180,000 troops

• Mussolini is arrested– King Victor Emanuelle new ruler

• Germans reinforce northern Italy– Free Mussolini

• 1945 Germans finally pushed out– Mussolini captured, shot and hung in

Milan

Japanese Internment in America

• Executive Order #9066• Japanese sent to

relocation camps– 2/3 were American

citizens

• Thought they might be spies or help Japan during an invasion

Over 100,000 were “relocated” without cause

442nd Regiment

• Many Japanese Americans volunteered for service

• 1943 allowed to form a regiment

• Fought in Europe

• Became the most distinguished regiment, based on size and service, in the history of the army.

Operation Overlord• Planned invasion of Europe,

specifically France

• Operation Fortitude– Created fake armies and sent fake

signals about possible invasions at Norway and Calais

– Keep the Germans guessing about where to protect

Soldiers preparing in Southern England

June 6, 1944D-Day

• Attack is at Normandy

• Rommel is the German in charge of the area– Back in Germany for

his wife’s 50th Birthday

Multiple beach front attackCode named:

Juno, Utah, Omaha, Sword, and Gold

3,0003,000 American soldiers die on the first day. American soldiers die on the first day.(Memorial at Normandy, France)(Memorial at Normandy, France)

Why did we do it?• Over 1.4 million allied troops arrive in France

within a month

On the attack!

• By August 1944, Paris is liberated

• By September:– All of France

– Netherlands

– Belgium

Battle of the Bulge

• December 1944- January 1945 • Allies closing in on Germany• Germans looking for a one

punch knockout• Breaks allied line

– Ardenne forrest

– Creates a “bulge” in allied defense lines

• Allies hold and then push back• Last major offensive by

Germany