Download The War - Grants Pass School District 7

2/8/2017
THE WAR IN EUROPE
THE WAR IN EUROPE
The Big Three
FDR, Churchill, and Stalin
decided to defeat the Nazis before
turning to the Japanese
Stalin
wanted the Allies to open a second
front
Churchill and Roosevelt
attacked North Africa and Italy
first, the “soft underbelly”
MAJOR EVENTS
Stalingrad
August 1942 – February 1943
1.5 million casualties
Turning point on the European front
D-Day
June 6, 1944
Largest amphibious assault in history
160k soldiers, 5k ships, 1.5k tanks, 24k
paratroopers
100k casualties first day, 6.6k Americans
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MAJOR EVENTS
Bombing Raids on Germany
Strategic bombing – bombing major cities and civilian populations
By 1945 – US was dropping about 53k tons of bombs on Germany each
month
April and May 1945
April 12, 1945 – FDR died
April 30, 1945 – Hitler committed suicide
May 7, 1945 – Germany surrendered (V-E Day)
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
PEARL HARBOR
December 7, 1941
US enters WWII
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PEARL HARBOR
Video Link
Color Film
Pearl Harbor
FDR SPEECH
Video Link
THE PHILIPPINES
The day after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the
Japanese began to invade the Philippines (Dec
1941)
The US fought to hold the Philippines against Japan
In April 1942, General MacArthur was forced to
abandon the island and about 80k American and
Filipino troops total
MacArthur promised, “I shall return”
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THE PHILIPPINES – BATAAN DEATH MARCH
April 1942, Bataan fell to the Japanese
70k-80k troops were captured
They were forced to march, estimated that 7k-14k
died
Very little food and water
60-65 miles in six days
About 100 men loaded into railroad cars that
were designed to hold 30-40 men
ISLAND HOPPING
Island Hopping – what is it?
US attacks Japan on select Pacific islands and “hop” over others, this way
they could conserve resources
Focus on places where Japan had fewer defenses
This, along with relentless air bombing, helped the US be successful in the
Pacific
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DOOLITTLE RAID
April 18, 1942
Lieutenant James Doolittle
US aerial attack on Tokyo and other major cities
Took off from 400 miles off the Japanese coast
Dropped 500 pound bombs on Japan
Raises US morale, shocks Japan
BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA
May 1942
American code breakers knew of the Japanese attack
First naval battle fought exclusively by carrier based aircraft.
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BATTLE OF MIDWAY
June 1942
Code breakers again learned of
the Japanese attack – America
set up an ambush
Sank four Japanese aircraft
carriers
Turning point of the war in the
Pacific
stopped Japanese advance in
the Pacific
put Japan on the defensive
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BATTLE OF IWO JIMA
February 1945
American B-29 bombers unable to bomb the mainland of Japan from long
distances
America needed a base closer and set their sights on Iwo Jima
23,000 Japanese troops on 4 mile by 2 mile island
1,500 miles of caves on the island
only 216 were taken prisoner
IWO JIMA CONTINUED
250,000 American troops attack
Beach landing after sea and aerial bombing
tried to “soften” the Japanese defense
A little over a month to take the island
Brutal fighting – land mines, fighting day and
night
Around 22,000 American casualties (5,300
killed)
Japan started with 23,000 soldiers, only 1,000
survived
IWO JIMA
Video Link
Flags of our Fathers
Iwo Jima in Color
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OKINAWA AND THE PHILIPPINES
April-June 1945
After Iwo Jima, the US moved to take over Okinawa
They were also able to retake the Philippines
MacArthur proclaims, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!”
Only 1/3 of the soldiers MacArthur left behind in 1942 survived to see his
return
ATTACK ON JAPAN
Firebombing Japan
Napalm
Tokyo 80,000 killed
Battle of Okinawa
April 1945
Closer base to bomb Japan
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FIREBOMBING JAPAN
Fog of War Excerpt
HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI
August 6, 1945
Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
August 9, 1945
Atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki
August 15
Japan surrenders (V-J Day)
WAR IN THE PACIFIC – SYNTHESIS
Use the timeline you created for the War in Europe
Begin with 1941
Place all events we’ve covered that are related to the Pacific front on the top
portion of the timeline
Answer the following questions:
What impact might there be when fighting a war on two fronts?
What (if any) events in the Pacific and Europe were happening at nearly the
same time?
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