Download World War II * The Battlefronts

World War II –
The Battlefronts
Unit 9.2
Two Wars
European Theater
• When the U.S. got
involved in Dec. 1941,
Germany controlled
most of Europe.
Pacific Theater
• In the Pacific it was
largely the U.S.
challenging Japan.
Military Leaders to Know
• George Marshall – Chief of Staff of Military
• Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower – Supreme Commander of
Allied forces in Europe
• Gen. Douglas MacArthur – Leader of Pacific Forces
o Others to be familiar with:
• U.S. – Gen. Omar Bradley, Gen. George Patton, Adm. Chester Nimitz
• German – Erwin Rommel, British – Bernard Montgomery, French –
Charles de Gaulle, Chinese – Chaing Kai Shek, Mao Zedong
Atlantic Ocean War
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U.S. had to overcome German subs (Wolfpacks)
Used Convoys and produced more Liberty Ships
Use of sonar, radar and bombing of bases.
What was the impact of subs on Florida?
Africa and Europe 1942 & 1943
• Operation Torch – taking of North Africa. What was
important about North Africa?
• 2nd Front – Stalin was calling for a 2nd front. In Feb.,
1943, the Soviets stopped the German advance at
the Battle of Stalingrad. Began slow push back.
• U.S./British would invade Sicily and Italy in 1943. It
would take 2 years to fully defeat Germans there.
France
• On June 6, 1944, the 2nd front requested by Stalin
finally came with the largest air-sea-land battle.
• D-day with the codename Operation Overlord with
the landing on the Normandy coast of France.
• By the end of August, Paris was liberated.
German Surrender
• Germans had desperate counterattack at the
Battle of the Bulge in Dec., 1944, but eventually lost.
• April 30, 1945 – Hitler kills himself
• May 8, 1945 – VE Day
o In final months, U.S. troops discovered the concentration camps.
Pacific Theater
• After Pearl Harbor, Japan continued their expansion.
• April, 1942 – MacArthur pushed out of Philippines and
the Bataan Death march.
• Turning point – Battles of Coral Sea and Midway in
May and June 1942. Stopped invasion of Australia
and destroyed four Japanese carriers (& 300 planes)
Island Hopping
• Plan in Pacific – skip over (and
isolate) strongly held islands and
advance towards Japan
• Aug. 1942 –
Guadalcanal - 1st
land defeat
1944 & 1945 Pacific
• Oct, 1944 – Leyte Gulf (Philippines) – Mac returns as
Japanese Navy is virtually wiped out. (kamikazes used)
• Spring, 1945 – Iwo Jima and Okinawa – fierce fighting to
the death by the Japanese.
o From Iwo Jima, U.S. could now launch air bombing raids on Japan
• Question for new President Truman – If the Japanese would fight
that hard on other land, what would happen in an invasion of their
home country?
Manhattan Project
• Who convinced FDR to approve the Manhattan Project
in the early part of the war?
• Robert Oppenheimer – head of project
• What was the decision that now President Truman had to make?
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki – only places in world that
have ever had an atomic bomb used.
o Enola Gay – plane that dropped 1st bomb (Little Boy)
• Besides saving lives, what was another reason Truman decided?
VJ Day
• VJ Day – September 2, 1945
• On USS Missouri
• Japan accepts unconditional surrender
Wartime Conferences
• Atlantic Charter – FDR and Churchill before U.S. in war
• Casablanca – FDR and Churchill (Jan ’43)
o Will accept only an Unconditional Surrender
• Teheran – FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (Nov ’43)
o Plan for 2nd front
• Yalta – FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (Feb ’45)
o Plan for post-war Eastern Europe and U.N.
• Potsdam – Truman, Attlee, and Stalin
o Truman does not trust Stalin (how will that affect bomb decision?)
Nuremberg Trials
• Military Tribunals to try the lead Nazis.
• Why is this something different from prior history?
Marshall Plan
• George Marshall’s plan to rebuild war-torn Europe
• Any other reasons?
• Did it work?
• Why did the USSR and Eastern bloc countries not participate?
Reflection Questions
• How did the actions of the U.S. and the British in
delaying a 2nd front later caused conflicts?
• How did the U.S. win the war in the Atlantic?
• How did the U.S. defeat the Japanese?
• How did the war conferences impact the future
events that would occur?
Links
• http://www.history.com/shows/wwii-inhd/interactives/inside-wwii-interactive - WW II
interactive site
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GHyoFOxEy0 –
European Theater review
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U17uIXINetM –
Pacific Theater review
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3sypTxhFGw –
Saving Private Ryan D-day video (with music)