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World War II
From Appeasement to Victory
Why did Japan see the United States as an enemy?
Why did the United States end its isolationist policy?
-The U.S. attempted to stop Japanese aggression
in Asia by banning the sale of war materials. This
hampered the Japanese expansion in Asia, which
angered Japan.
- The U.S. was directly attacked at Pearl Harbor
and declared war on Japan.
Q.O.D. #13 2/4/10
Yalta Conference
 Stalin wanted control of Eastern Europe, Churchill and
Roosevelt wanted self-determination
 Needed Stalin to help win the war
 Big Three agreed:
 USSR would enter the war against Japan after Germany
surrendered
 USSR would be given some territory in Asia
 Germany would be divided into four zones to be governed
by the USSR, Britain, U.S. and France
 Stalin agreed to hold free elections in Europe
War in Europe
 In December 1944, the Germans made one last attempt to win a major
victory in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle ever fought by U.S.
Forces. Despite early German success, the Allies were victorious. During
the Battle the 101st Airborne Division held the key town of Bastogne,
despite being completely surrounded.
 By early 1945 Nazi defeat was imminent
 Nazis
 March 1945: Allies crossed the Rhine into western Germany
 Soviets were closing in on Berlin.
 The Soviets captured Berlin at the cost of over 81,000 battle deaths,
and thousands of other casualties.
Allied Generals
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bernard Law Montgomery
Omar N. Bradley
George S. Patton
Charles De Gaulle
Georgy Zhukov
Audie Murphy
Famous Army Division Patches
Elbe River
 In late April 1945, Americans advancing from the west
and Soviets coming from the east met at the Elbe River
in Germany
War in Europe
 Italy: Guerillas captured and killed Mussolini
 Germany: As the Soviets closed in on Berlin, Hitler
committed suicide in his bunker on April 30, 1945.
 May 7: Germany surrendered.
 May 8: V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
 Many factors contributed to Nazi defeat:
 Nazis had to fight on several fronts
 Hitler made bad decisions
 Underestimated the USSR (1 out of every 10 Wermacht
soldiers was killed by the Soviets).
 The productive capacity of the U.S.
Devastation in Berlin
Burned out City Dresden
War in Asia
 Japan controlled much of Southeast Asia by mid-1942.
 May 1942: Bataan Death March
 Japanese defeated the Allied troops at Bataan, the
Philippines and the American Maj. King surrendered
(against the orders of Gen. MacArthur).
 72,000 prisoners were forced to march 61 miles and
endured random beatings and were denied food and
water.
 54,000 made it to Camp O’Donnell
War in Asia
 Coral Sea
 Midway
 Decisive victory for U.S.
 Superior communications
 Knew Japanese were coming and were ready
 Code Breakers
 Guadalcanal: beginning of “island-hopping” campaign
 Goal to recapture some Japanese held islands while
skipping others.
 Served as stepping stones to the next objective
Famous Airplanes of WWII
F4F Wildcat
P-40 Warhawk
F6F Hellcat
P-47 Thunderbolt
B-17 Flying Fortress
P-38 Lightning
P-51 Mustang
B-29 Superfortress
Famous Navy Ships
Pt 109
U.S.S. Intrepid
U.S.S. Essex
U.S.S. Missouri
Island Hopping in the Pacific
 U.S. forces in the
Pacific, led by General
Douglas MacArthur,
moved north toward
Japan
 U.S. Navy, led by
Admiral Chester
Nimitz, was blockading
Japan
 British were fighting
Japanese in Burma
and Malaya
Key Battles in the Pacific
 American and Australian soldiers re-captured much of New
Guinea, the Aleutian Islands, and the Philippines.
 American Marines were victorious at Tarawa, Saipan, Pelileu,
Guam, Tinian, and Iwo Jima, enduring terrible casualties in each
campaign.
 Combined Marine and Army forces captured Okinawa, in one of
the bloodiest battles of the war.
 Important Naval victories included Midway, Leyte Gulf, Philippines
Sea, and many more.
 In each battle the Japanese were extremely reluctant to surrender,
often fighting to death.
 To attack the U.S. Navy, the Japanese used Kamikaze pilots, men
who intentionally flew their planes on suicide missions, crashing
directly into American ships.
The Horrors of War
MacArthur Returns
Famous Marine Division Patches
Navy Commanders
Chester Nimitz
William “Bull” Halsey
Raymond Spruance
Atomic Bomb
 Japanese would not surrender for any reason
 In 1944 Japanese introduced kamikazes
 Military planned invasion, but it would be costly
 Group of scientists had been working on the Manhattan
Project
 They could create the most powerful explosion ever
known by splitting atoms
 President Truman decided to use the bomb
Harry S. Truman
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 August 6, 1945: American plane dropped an atomic bomb on city
of Hiroshima
 Instantly killed more than 70,000
 Japanese did not surrender
 August 8: USSR declared war on Japan
 August 9: Second bomb dropped on Nagasaki
 40,000 killed
 August 10: Japan surrendered, but it was not agreeable.
 August 15: The terms of surrender were agreeable.
 September 2, 1945: formal peace treaty signed on USS Missouri
in Tokyo Bay