Essential Question : What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?
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Transcript of Essential Question : What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?
■Essential Question:–What role did the U.S. play in
winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?
■Warm-Up Question:–What other major American war is most similar in its resemblance to the U.S. entrance into WW2?
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
Tehran Conference, 1943■In 1943, FDR, Churchill, Stalin met
in Tehran, Iran for the first of three wartime conferences: –The USA, Britain, USSR
coordinated their war strategy–FDR & Churchill finally committed
to Stalin’s demands to open a western front (D-Day)
–Discussed plans to create a “general internat’l organization” to promote “peace & security” (UN)
By agreeing to “Operation Overlord” (D-Day), the Allies would divide the
Axis military across two frontsFDR proposed a future United Nations dominated by “4 policemen” (USA, Britain, China, & USSR)
with power to “deal immediately with any sudden emergency which requires action”
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
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
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
■Essential Question:–What did the American
government know & what was the government’s response to the Holocaust?
■Reading Quiz Ch 26 A (930-948)
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
WW2 Timeline (Allies, Axis, USSR)
Its Finally Over!
Conclusions■WW2 was the largest & deadliest
war in history & changed the U.S.–Wartime industry ended the
Great Depression, expanded the size of the federal gov’t, & ushered in affluent decade
–The USA emerged as a world superpower, developed a nuclear arsenal, & engaged a Cold War against the USSR