Download World War II

3/21/2013
World War II
Atlantic Theater: Invasion of Europe
and the Holocaust
Learning Goals
• Analyze major military events and issues of
World War II.
• Evaluate the military contributions of leaders
during World War II.
• Discuss the importance of congressional
Medal of Honor recipient Vernon J. Baker.
War in Europe
• Although Japan attacked the
United States, FDR wanted to
focus on Germany, first
• Hitler declared war on the
United States in 1941 after
invading the Soviet Union
• FDR and Churchill promised
Stalin that they would open a
western front to relieve the
Soviet Union from the Nazis
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Mediterranean Campaigns
• Before invading Europe, the
Allies landed in North Africa
where they defeated the
Germans (then, Sicily and
Italy)
• George Patton was the
commander of the Third
Army
• Famous for his use of tanks
and unconventional
leadership style
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D-Day
“Operation Overlord”
• June 6, 1944
• 156,000 Allied troops
• Gen. Dwight
Eisenhower
• Five beaches at
Normandy, France
• Allied planes attacked
prior to the largest
amphibious invasion
up until that time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqSg7WO4tT4
D-Day
Assembly
point? Why?
Paratroopers?
How many
beaches on
map? How
many total?
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Battle of the Bulge
• 101st Airborne were
surrounded in
Bastogne (fog, German
surprise attack)
• Up against German
tanks, 101st fought with
hopes of taking out
enough infantry to
force a tank retreat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBeXRvdlmyY
Vernon Baker
• Single handedly took out
three German machine
gun nests, two
observation posts, and
two bunkers after slipping
through mine fields,
barbed wire, and German
defenses
• Awarded Congressional
Medal of Honor in 1997
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Holocaust
• Genocide is an effort to murder an entire
people or nationality
• Hitler blamed the Jewish people for all of
Germany’s problems
• His plan was called the “Final Solution”
• About six million Jews were killed
• Six million gypsies, Slavs, political prisoners,
elderly, mentally-disabled, and others killed
Liberation of the Concentration Camps
• During the last months of
the war, Allies advanced
into Germany, where the
true horror of Nazi
brutality was revealed
• U.S. soldiers were
shocked to find halfstarved, dehydrated,
disease-ridden prisoners
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36InTwfXx1g
Check for Understanding
Which of the following statements explains the
significance ‘of the Battle of Midway in 1942?
A. The Battle of Midway brought the United States
into the war on the side of the Allies.
B. Midway was a Japanese island possession
captured by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.
C. The Battle of Midway resulted in the destruction
of four Japanese aircraft carriers by the U.S.
Navy
D. Midway was the base where all U.S. aircraft
were stationed.
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Check for Understanding
General George Patton was known for –
A. Saying prayers before every tank battle
B. Tank strategy and unconventional leadership
C. Including colonels in major decisions
D. Moving carefully through the enemy lines
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