World War II

War in Europe

• ATLANTIC CHARTER – Secret agreement

between FDR and Winston Churchill

– Outlined the war aims of the U.S. and Britain

• U.S. Armed Forces – Much Diversity– 300,000 Mexican

Americans– 25,000 Native Americans,

Navajo acted as radio operators• Code Talkers

– 17,000 Japanese Americans

– Countless African Americans

Africa and Italy• May, 1943 – The Allies

captured North Africa under Dwight D. Eisenhower

• July, 1943 – The Allies invaded Italy under George S. Patton

Russia• After losing the Battle of

Britain Hitler turned his forces against Stalin

• The Red Army made its stand in Stalingrad, January, 1943

• The Russians surrounded the freezing Nazi army

• 330,000 German soldiers died, 90,000 surrendered

• The Battle of Stalingrad was the TURNING POINT ON THE EASTERN FRONT

France• June 6th, 1944, Normandy – D-

DAY • The most massive amphibious

assault in history• 4,600 invasion craft• 1,000 Royal Air Force (RAF)

Bombers• 1,000 American planes• 173,000 soldiers• 2,000 Allied soldiers died at

Omaha Beach alone• Within one week, 500,000

soldiers had come ashore

• Within 6 weeks, over 2 million soldiers had come ashore

• The Invasion of Normandy was the TURNING POINT ON THE WESTERN FRONT

• By August, 1944, the Allies had liberated Paris

Germany

• THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE– December 1944 – In a last-

ditch effort to protect their homeland, Germany launched a counter offensive in Belgium/Luxembourg.

– The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle of WWII

– 80,000 Allies killed, 100,000 Germans killed

• Closing in– The Soviets advanced

from the East, 1941-1945– The Soviets lost 13.6

million men, Germany lost 3 million

– By April, 1945, The Soviets had battled their way into Berlin

– April 25th, The Americans and Soviets met up at the Elbe River

– May 1st, commits suicide– May 8th, Germany

surrendered

The Yalta Conference

• The “BIG 3”, FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta

• The Yalta Conference planned for after the war

War in the Pacific

• The Philippines fell – Douglas MacArthur vowed “I will return”

• The Battle of Coral Sea– First battle conducted

entirely by aircraft– Both American and

Japanese forces heavily damaged

– Battle was a draw, but Japan lost what it needed to take Australia

Battle of Midway – June 4th, 1942

• Americans caught the Japanese loading bombs on planes

• 3 Japanese aircraft carriers were quickly destroyed

• The 4th carrier was destroyed while trying to escape

• Japan lost 4 carriers and over 250 planes

Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

• Bloodiest battles of WWII

• 75,000 Casualties trying to take the two, small islands

• Taking Okinawa was the last step before Japan

The Manhattan Project

• Robert J. OPPENHEIMER lead team of scientists

• The atomic bomb was developed

• Could shatter windows over 125 miles away

Japan• Truman ordered the

dropping of the A-bomb to save American lives

• August 6th, 1945 – Hiroshima destroyed

• August 9th, 1945 – Nagasaki destroyed

• August 14th, 1945 – Japan accepted surrender

• August 15th, 1945 – V-J Day (Victory in Japan)

• September 2nd, 1945 – official surrender