Download The Last Years of WWII

The Last Years of WWII
1943-1945
Mr. Meester
World History
Vocabulary
Battle of Stalingrad
 D-Day/Invasion of Normandy
 V.E. Day
 Manhattan Project
 Hiroshima & Nagasaki
 V.J. Day

Battle of Stalingrad
This battle was the turning point of the
war in Europe
 Spring of 1942 Germany went on the blitz
again reaching Stalingrad by the fall

–
–
The battle lasted over 4 months
German generals want to retreat
 Hitler wouldn’t
allow it
Soviets Turn the Tide

The Soviets brought in
reinforcements &
encircled the German 6th
Army
–
–

January 1943, the Germans
surrendered
They lost over 350,000
troops.
The Soviet Union now
took the offensive in
Eastern Europe
The Russians Advance

Soviet forces next
defeated the
Germans in the
Battle of Kursk
–

Largest tank battle of
WWII
The Russians now had
the momentum
–
Pushed the Germans out
of Russia and liberate
eastern Europe.
The Allies focus on Italy

The Allies attempted to open a 2nd
European front by invading Italy in 1943.
–
–

Germany sent reinforcements and set up
defensive lines outside of Rome.
The persistency of the Allies forced the
Germans to retreat and Italy was taken.
The Alps, however, stopped the Allies from
advancing further north.
The Allies shift to France

General Dwight D.
Eisenhower decided it was
time to invade France
–

Hoped to surprise the
Germans
A series of Allied
deceptions caused the
Germans to spread out
their force all over the
coast of northern France
Allied troops storm the beaches of Normandy.
D-Day: Operation Overlord

Allied forces invaded on June 6 1944 (D-Day)
–
–

Allied forces pushed inland and re-took Paris
by August of 1944.
–

Captured the beaches of Normandy
Within 3 months the allies land over 2 million
soldiers and 1/2 million vehicles.
At this time they also invade southern France
By March 1945, the Allies had liberated
France.
Paris is liberated
Germany’s fate was Sealed

With the Soviets on the
east & British and U.S. on
the west the war was over.
–

Hitler moved into an
underground bunker 55
feet below the streets of
Berlin.
On April 30 Hitler
commits suicide and on
May 7, Germany’s
commanders surrender.
–
VE (Victory in Europe) Day
is a new holiday.
Mussolini, his mistress, and aides are shot and hung by
their feet for people to spit on.
General Keitel signs the surrender; the war in Europe is over.
Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was lead by
Robert Oppenheimer
–
–

Developed the world’s 1st atomic weapons
This top-secret US research was conducted
in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
The 1st successful test bomb was
detonated on July 16th of 1945.
“I have become death,
Destroyer of worlds”
Little Boy
Fat Man
Robert Oppenheimer
How to force Japan’s Surrender
Japan was prepared to fight to the last
man, woman, and child.
 U.S. President Harry Truman had to
decide between a bloody ground invasion
or using the atomic bomb to force a
Japanese surrender.

–
–
Truman decides to avoid heavy U.S. casualties
August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb (Little Boy) is
dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Pictures of the Enola Gay and the
bombing of Hiroshima.
Survivors of the Atomic
Bomb attacks.
V.J. Day: Victory in Japan

Japan refuses to surrender after thousands
are killed in the first atomic blast.
–

On August 9, a second bomb (Fat Man) was
dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
Japanese Emperor forces the military to
surrender
–
On August 14, 1945 they surrender ending the
deadliest war the world has ever seen
MacArthur presides over Japanese surrender