Download WWII ABC Book

Julianne Boggs
SS5H6 The student will explain the reasons for America’s involvement in World War II.
b. Describe major events in the war in both Europe and the Pacific; include Pearl Harbor, Iwo
Jima, D-Day, VE and VJ Days, and the Holocaust.
c. Discuss President Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
d. Identify Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill, Hirohito, Truman, Mussolini, and Hitler.
e. Describe the effects of rationing and the changing role of women and African- Americans;
include “Rosie the Riveter” and the Tuskegee Airmen.
f. Explain the U.S. role in the formation of the United Nations.
I created the ABC book over World War Two so that students can see this information
presented in a different way, other than in a textbook or from a teacher’s lecture.
Adolf Hitler was the leader of Germany from
1933 to 1945. He believed that Germans were
supposed to rule over other people. This belief
led to World War II. He also believed that
there was no place in the world for Jewish
people and that led to the Holocaust.
"Any alliance whose purpose is not the
intention to wage war is senseless and
useless"
- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf"
Hiroshima was the first city to be bombed
on August 6th. Nagasaki followed on August
9th. The main reasoning behind the
bombings was to force the Japanese to
surrender.
Top picture: Nagasaki after the bomb.
Bottom picture Hiroshima after the
bomb.
The Battle of Coral Sea took place
between May 4th and May 8th of 1942.
The surface ships did not exchange a
single shot. Carrier planes did the
“attacking”. This battle was the first
major setback for the Japanese.
On June 6, 1944, over 130,000 troops
from the United States, Britain,
Canada, and France stormed the
coastline of Normandy, France. The
troops took the occupying Germans by
surprise. This attack was the largest
single-day invasion of all time.
Albert Einstein became a United States
citizen in 1940. Einstein encouraged FDR to
create an atomic bomb before the Nazis
built one themselves.
After the Battle of Kasserine Pass, U.S. troops
increasingly adopted the modern foxhole, a
vertical, bottle-shaped hole that allowed a soldier
to stand and fight with head and shoulders
exposed. The foxhole widened near the bottom to
allow a soldier to crouch down while under intense
artillery fire or tank attack. Foxholes could be
enlarged to two-man fighting positions, as well as
excavated with firing steps for crew-served
weapons or sumps for water drainage or grenade
disposal.
The Battle of Guadalcanal was one of the
most important battles of World War II. The
assault on the Japanese-occupied island of
Guadalcanal by the Allied navies and 16,000
United States troops on 7 August, 1942, was
the first offensive by US land forces in the
Pacific Campaign.
This was the purposeful killing of the Jewish
people who were living in Europe at this
time. This purpose was nearly fulfilled—out
of an estimated 9.5 million Jews living in
Europe before the war, about 6 million were
killed.
The Battle of Iwo Jima took place
during World War II between the
United States and Japan. It was the first
major battle of World War II to take
place on Japanese homeland. The island
of Iwo Jima was a strategic location
because the U.S. needed a place for
fighter planes and bombers to land and
take off when attacking Japan.
One of the most ruthless dictators of modern
times was Joseph Stalin, the despot who
transformed the Soviet Union into a major world
power.
“History has shown there are no invincible
armies.”
― Joseph Stalin
Japanese Kamikaze pilots are legendary for their
willingness to sacrifice their lives for their emperor
and country during World War II. These pilots
intentionally crashed their planes into Allied forces.
One of the most destructive weapons used in the
war was the land mine, millions of which were
placed throughout Europe, North Africa, and the
Pacific islands. Every participant in the war used
mines, and they came in dozens of shapes, sizes, and
designs.
On June 3–6, 1942, two American naval task
forces and land-based planes from Midway
Island intercepted 160 Japanese ships west of
Midway. In a pitched air-sea battle the Japanese
were repulsed, losing four carriers, two heavy
cruisers, three destroyers, and 330 planes. This
decisive defeat stopped the Japanese eastward
advance in the Pacific. It is considered the
turning point of the war in that theater.
The Nazi Party was a political group that ruled
Germany between 1933 and 1945. “Nazi” is a
short form of the official name. In English the
official name is the National Socialist German
Workers' Party. Under Adolf Hitler's
leadership, the Nazis started World War II.
They also carried out the Holocaust—the
murder of about 6 million Jewish people.
The battle of Okinawa, also known as
Operation Iceberg, took place in April-June
1945. It was the largest amphibious landing in
the Pacific theater of World War II. It also
resulted in the largest casualties with over
100,000 Japanese casualties and 50,000
casualties for the Allies. This article gives an
account of the 80 day plus battle for the
Island of Okinawa which some have
described as the "typhoon of steel".
The Imperial Japanese Navy made its attack on
Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7,
1941. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,
Oahu, Hawaii, was aimed at the Pacific Fleet of
the United States Navy and its defending Army
Air Corps and Marine air forces. This attack
was the reason the United States declared war
on Japan, and ultimately, joining World War
Two.
FDR speech about Pearl Harbor to Congress:
“Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live
in infamy - the United States of America was
suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval
and air forces of the Empire of Japan…”
These were heavily armed merchant ships
designed to lure submarines out of water so
they could attack. They were used by the
United States as a counter-measure for German
U-boats and Japanese submarines.
Rosie the Riveter is a cultural icon of the United
States, representing the American women who
worked in factories during World War II, many of
whom produced munitions and war supplies. These
women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing
the male workers who were in the military. Rosie
the Riveter is commonly used as a symbol of
feminism and women's economic power.
The Navy created Construction Battalions
(from which the abbreviation "C.B." became
Seabees). They went around building bases
and completed other construction jobs for the
military. These people were not armed and had
to rely on the Navy for protection.
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first AfricanAmerican military aviators in the United States
armed forces. During World War II, African
Americans in many U.S. states were still
subject to the Jim Crow laws. The American
military was racially segregated, as was much
of the federal government. The Tuskegee
Airmen were subjected to racial
discrimination, both within and outside the
army.
The United Nations officially came into existence on
24 October 1945, when the UN Charter had been
ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member
States. The purpose of the United Nations is to bring
all nations of the world together to work for peace
and development, based on the principles of justice,
human dignity and the well-being of all people. It
affords the opportunity for countries to balance
global interdependence and national interests when
addressing international problems.
V-E Day stands for Victory in Europe Day, and V-J Day
stands for Victory over Japan Day. After the German
surrender, a treaty was signed in Reims, France, the
headquarters of U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower. In
the early hours of May 7, 1945, U.S. President Harry S
Truman declared May 8 V-E Day, the end of World War
II in Europe. The war did not reach a final conclusion
until the surrender of Japan on August 14, 1945.
September 2, 1945, was declared the official V-J Day
because Japan signed the terms of surrender on that
date aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in
Tokyo Bay.
Winston Churchill was the British Prime Minister
during World War Two. He was the one who sent
commando units to disrupt the German forces. He
met with many different wartime leaders while he
was in office.
“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our
duties, and so bear ourselves that if the
British Empire and Commonwealth last for a
thousand years, men will still say, This was
their finest hour.”
-Winston Churchill
X-Day as in the name for the D-day of the
invasion of the Japanese home islands. X-Day
would have marked the beginning of the
invasion of the Japanese home islands with
the invasion of Kyushu.
Isoroku Yamamoto was the Japanese naval
commander during the war. He planned the attack
on Pearl Harbor. He believed that he needed the
time after the attack to build up his fleet without
American interference.
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping
giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
- Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, upon
learning of the success of the attack on Pearl
Harbor
Georgy Zhukov is known as the most successful
Russian general in World War Two. Zhukov
effectively led the attack on Berlin in April/May
1945 and throughout the whole Russian campaign
was known as the ‘man who did not lose a battle’.
“The longer the battle lasts the more force
we’ll have to use!”
-Georgy Zhukov