World War II

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World War II
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Battle of the Atlantic

• US countered German U-boat attacks against
  shipping by enforcing blackouts along the East
  Coast (so U-boat commanders couldnt see activity
  on the US coast) and by using the convoy system
  (ships traveling in large groups with naval
  escort)
• Also used new technologies like sonar and depth
  charges to combat the U-boat threat
• As the war progressed, the Germans began to lose
  more U-boats than they could replace and Allied
  shipping was able to deliver more supplies

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Operation Torch

• November 1942
• US troops landed in Algeria and Morocco in North
  Africa
• Landings were designed to bring relief to British
  forces in Egypt who had been holding off
  Germanys Afrika Korps under the command of the
  Desert Fox, Gen. Erwin Rommel
• Despite the inexperience of the US forces, Axis
  troops were forced out of North Africa by May of
  1943

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Erwin Rommel

• 1891 1944
• Highly decorated hero from WWI, became Germanys
  top officer during WWII
• Commanded German forces in the invasion of
  France, in North Africa, and against the Allied
  invaders at Normandy
• Implicated in an assassination plot against
  Hitler, Rommel quietly committed suicide to spare
  Germany and his family from his public disgrace

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

• 1890 1969
• Master strategist who helped devise the US plans
  for winning the war against both Germany and
  Japan
• Placed in charge of US forces in North Africa
  and, later, over all Allied forces in Europe
• Would go on to be elected President of the United
  States in 1952

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George Patton

• 1885 1945
• Outlandish and outspoken (but highly effective)
  US general
• Played a pivotal role in the US invasions of
  North Africa and Italy, but was removed from
  command after slapping a soldier for cowardice
• Returned after the D-Day invasion, helping with
  the final push of Allied forces into Germany
• Killed in a car crash shortly after the end of
  the war

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Casablanca Conference

• Jan. 1943
• FDR and Churchill met in Morocco to determine the
  next steps to take in the war
• Decided on an increased bombing campaign in
  Germany
• Also decided to attack mainland Europe through
  Italy, rather than France

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Invasion of Italy

• July Aug. 1943 Allied forces invaded and
  captured Sicily
• The Allies easy conquest of Sicily was
  disheartening to the Italian army and alarming to
  the King of Italy

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Mussolini overthrown

• July 25, 1943 Mussolini was fired and ordered
  arrested by Italian King Victor Emmanuel III
• Italian people had lost all confidence in
  Mussolini and rejoiced at his ouster
• Italy broke its alliance with Germany in
  September and joined the Allies in October 1943

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Germans Defend Italy

• The German army seized control of northern Italy,
  freed Mussolini from prison, and forced the
  Allies to fight a long and costly campaign in
  Italy
• Particularly bloody battles took place at Monte
  Cassino (Jan. May 1944) and Anzio (Jan. June
  1944)
• Took Allies until May 1945 to gain complete
  control of Italy and cost them over 300,000
  casualties

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The Tehran Conference

• Nov. 1943
• Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Tehran,
  Iran
• US and Britain agreed to invade France, providing
  relief to the Soviets by dividing Germanys
  troops along several fronts
• Agreed to break up Germany after the war to
  permanently remove them as a threat to peace
• Stalin agreed to help fight Japan once Germany
  was beaten
• Stalin agreed to the creation of an international
  organization to help keep world peace after the
  war

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The Normandy Invasion

• Operation Overlord
• Allies created fake camps along one section of
  the British coast to trick Germany into believing
  that the Allied attack would be farther north on
  the French coast than was actually planned
• Allies then had to wait for a perfect combination
  of weather, tides, and moonlight to launch the
  real invasion, aimed at Normandy

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D-Day

• June 6, 1944
• 7000 ships moved over 100,000 troops across the
  English Channel
• 23,000 paratroopers were dropped behind the
  German lines
• Allied bombers hit critical German defense and
  communication sites
• Naval warships began a bombardment of German
  fortifications along the French coast
• By the end of the day, the Allies had established
  a foothold in France

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Allies Liberate France

• By July 25, Allied forces had shattered the
  German defensive positions in Northern France
• August 25 Allies retook Paris, to much
  celebration by the French population
• By mid-September, Allies were at the German
  border and ready to begin an invasion of Germany
  itself

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Battle of the Bulge

• Dec. 1944 Jan. 1945
• Germans made one last effort to break the Allied
  lines and cut their supplies by taking the port
  of Antwerp, Belgium
• The initial surge caused a bulge in the Allied
  lines, but the Germans could not maintain the
  surge, especially after Patton arrived with
  reinforcements
• The battle cost Germany over 100,000 casualties
  and used up their remaining war materials

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Yalta Conference

• Feb. 1945
• Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in the
  Soviet Union to discuss postwar plans
• Agreed to reestablish Poland
• Issued the Declaration of Liberated Europe
  agreement to let all the peoples of Europe to
  choose their own forms of government through free
  elections
• Agreed to strip Germany of its industrial
  machinery as war reparations
• Agreed to divide Germany (and its capital city of
  Berlin) into four zones, one each for the US,
  France, Britain, and USSR

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Roosevelt Dies

• After months of noticeably declining health,
  Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April
  12, 1945
• He was replaced by his Vice-President Harry S.
  Truman

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Benito Mussolini Dies

• Mussolini was captured by Italian communists on
  April 28, 1945
• He and his entourage were shot
• Bodies were then hung from meat hooks, stoned by
  an angry crowd, and left to rot (Mussolinis
  corpse was later stolen by loyalists and not
  recovered until August!)

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Adolf Hitler

• Committed suicide on April 30, 1945
• Took cyanide and shot himself (along with his
  newlywed wife Eva Braun)
• Body was then burned by his secretary
• No verifiable remains have ever been recovered
  Hitler lives theories circulated for many years
  after the war

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Germany Falls

• Berlin captured by the Soviets on May 5, 1945
• May 7, 1945 Germany formally surrendered to the
  Allies their surrender was unconditional,
  meaning that they had to accept whatever terms
  the Allies offered to end the war
• May 8 celebrated as V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

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Island-hopping

• US forces elected to focus on capturing only
  certain strategic islands in the Pacific ones
  that would allow US bombers to get within
  striking range of Japan and create a safe route
  for troop and supply movement

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Pacific Battles

• Tarawa (Nov. 1943)
• Kwajalein (Feb. 1944)
• Saipan, Tinian, Guam (Jun. Aug. 1944)
• US Marines took heavy losses unseating Japanese
  defenders, but US B-29 bombers could reach Japan
  once these islands were secured

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Battle of Guadalcanal

• Aug. 1942 Feb. 1943
• U.S. amphibious attack on Japanese fortifications
• Land, sea, air battle
• Eventually 31,000 of the 36,000 Japanese on the
  island were killed

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Douglas MacArthur

• 1880 1964
• Seasoned veteran of WWI, highly decorated soldier
  who had won the Medal of Honor
• Had vowed to return to the Philippines when
  forced to evacuate in 1942
• Led US effort to retake the Philippines and
  proclaimed I have returned when he finally
  landed in Oct. 1944
• Later was US commander of occupied Japan after
  WWII and led UN forces in the Korean War

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The Philippines

• US forces landed at Leyte in Oct. 1944 to begin
  the retaking of the Philippines, but relied
  entirely on the US Navy for air cover for
  protection
• Japanese navy counterattacked, drawing the US
  Navy into a major naval battle that left
  MacArthurs forces unprotected and nearly led to
  disaster
• US forces would not gain full control of the
  Philippines until July 1945, just weeks before
  the war ended

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Kamikaze Attacks

• The Battle of Leyte Gulf marked the first
  coordinated use of suicide attacks by Japanese
  pilots known as kamikaze (divine wind)
• Japanese high command was now resorting to
  desperate tactics as Japan ran out of experienced
  pilots and the industrial capacity to continue
  making new weaponry

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Iwo Jima

• Feb./Mar. 1945
• First Japanese home-island captured by the US
• 20,700 of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the
  island were killed about 6800 of the 60,000 US
  Marines who landed on Iwo Jima were killed
• Badly damaged Japanese morale placed Japan
  within easy bombing range for US bombers

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Firebombing of Japan

• Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the use of napalm
  (jellied gasoline) bombs on Japanese cities
  because his bombers were having trouble hitting
  their targets
• The napalm was designed to start massive fires,
  which would ensure the destruction of the desired
  military targets, but would also lead to heavy
  losses of civilian life
• Mar. 9, 1945 firebombing of Tokyo killed over
  80,000 by the wars end, 67 Japanese cities had
  been destroyed using napalm

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Battle of Okinawa

• Apr.-June 1945
• Most brutal battle of the Pacific war about
  125,000 Japanese killed and 12,500 Americans
• Nearly 700,000 men fought in this battle (550,000
  Americans)
• Okinawa was needed to set up a base of operations
  for an invasion of Japan itself

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The Manhattan Project

• US effort to build a new type of weapon that
  would unleash tremendous destructive energy by
  splitting uranium atoms an atomic bomb
• Led by Gen. Leslie Groves and researcher J.
  Robert Oppenheimer, the team produced 3 bombs
• 1 bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert,
  leaving just 2 bombs for military use
• Bombs were code-named Fat Man and Little Boy

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Harry S. Truman

• 1884 1972 (life)
• 1945 - 1953 (Pres.)
• Became president upon FDRs death
• Truman now had to decide how to end the war
  should the US mount an invasion of Japan, which
  would cost an estimated 1 million American lives
  or should it use the new atomic bomb, which would
  kill an unknown number of Japanese civilians and
  whose after-effects were still unknown?

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Hiroshima

• Japan was warned that unless they surrendered
  immediately and without conditions, they faced
  prompt and utter destruction
• When the Japanese did not reply, orders were
  given to destroy the industrial city of Hiroshima
• August 6, 1945 The B-29 Enola Gay dropped
  Little Boy on the city, destroying 76,000
  buildings and killing over 120,000 people

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Nagasaki

• When the Japanese still did not surrender, the
  B-29 Bocks Car dropped Fat Man on the port of
  Nagasaki, killing over 50,000 on August 9, 1945
• On the same day, the Soviets declared war on
  Japan and began to prepare to enter the war in
  the Pacific

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Japan Surrenders

• Faced with destruction on an unforeseen scale
  (and unaware that the US had no more atomic bombs
  to use), Emperor Hirohito ordered his government
  to surrender unconditionally
• Fighting stopped August 15, 1945 (V-J Day)
• Formal surrender took place on September 2, 1945
• As part of the terms of surrender, Japan was
  occupied by U.S. forces until Apr. 1952

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