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World War II Time Line: 1941 – 1945

Key Battles: Atlantic and Pacific

Appeasement fails, Winston Churchill was convinced that this strategy would not stop Hitler.

Hitler using a strategy of blitzkrieg, or “lightning war” to attack Poland. Blizkrieg, a massive attack using tanks and planes.

In August of 1940 Hitler ordered Luftwaffe to begin bombing British cities in the hope of crushing British morale. But Winston Churchill, the new prime minister, refused to give in. “We shall fight on the beaches, he vowed. “We shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall never surrender.”

Battle of Britain

Using the new technology of radar, the RAF was able to detect and destroy some 2300 of German aircraft. Hitler canceled the invasion.

Pearl Harbor Japan was also quickly building

an empire. After conquering much of China in the 1930s, Japanese forces moved into Southeast Asia. Japanese military leaders planned a large-scale attack to destroy the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii.

At 7:55 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor

Was Japanese attack on pearl Harbor successful?

Key Battles Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad: by 1942, Axis armies had driven deep into Soviet territory. German forces hope to take over the key industrial city of Stalingrad.. Joseph Stalin was determined to hold on to Stalingrad at all costs. His tenancies paid off, but at a high price. Germans began to run out of supplies, and not used to Russia’s harsh winters thousands of of Germans froze or starved to death. In January 1943 the German commander at Stalingrad defied Hitler and surrendered to save his remaining troops. The Battle of Stalingrad became the turning point of the war.

D - Day

In 1944, Allied forces were ready to undertake the invasion of France. Under the command of General Eisenhower, the Allies carefully planned the landing.

On June 6, 1944-known as D-Day-more than

155,000 American, British, and Canadian troops crossed the English Channel. They landed on five beaches at Normandy, in western France. Troops at four of the beaches quickly overcame German opposition.

Beaches of Beaches of Normandy

V-E Day: Victory in Europe – May 8th, 1945When Germany surrendered to the Allies, officially ending the war in Europe, wild celebrations took place all over the world – but Americans still had another war to fight – in the Pacific Theatre, against Japan. Many predicted a long war.

War in the PacificBattling toward Japan:

A. Island Hopping: allied war planners developed a strategy called island hopping where Allied forces took only the most strategically important islands, instead of each Japanese-held island.

B. Kamikaze – purposely crashing piloted planes into enemy ships. Japanese planes struck U.S. ships with the tactic of kamikaze.

Battle of Midway began on June 4, 1942, when Japan started bombing the islands. American dive bombers destroyed four of Japan’s aircraft carriers, severely weakening Japanese naval power. American forces fi nally took control of the island in February 1943. The battle of Midway had halted Japan's advance in the Pacifi c. After that , the Americans went on the off ensive.

Iwo Jima; The last stops on the way to Japan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Americans were victories, but at a terrible price.

Mt. Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima

Ending the War in the Pacific!Two Plans:

1. Plan one, invade Japan. They estimated that the invasion could result in more than 1 million death.

2. Plan two, use a new weapon, atomic bomb.

3. The decision was a difficult one for President Truman to make. One could cause greater casualties for American Soldiers, and the other would bring enormous devastation to Japan.

Roosevelt dies before the war fiscally ends. President Truman has to decide what to do. Which plan would you choice ?

Why?