Download American Soldiers Major Turning Points Victory in Europe

American Soldiers
Major Turning Points
Victory in Europe
Victory in Asia
• How did Truman arrive at the decision to use
nuclear weapons?
American Soldiers
More than 16 million men served in
the military during WWII. Millions of
soldiers were children of immigrants.
This turned out to be a great
advantage. In any large group of
soldiers at least one could speak
German, Russian, Italian, French,
Spanish, or Japanese.
Major Turning Points
The battle of Midway was a major
turning point in the war against Japan.
Japan hoped to destroy the remaining
US ships in one major battle. Japan
chose to attack Midway Island, located
northwest of Hawaii.
American code breakers discovered
Japan’s plan to attack at Midway.
Americans knew where the Japanese
aircraft carriers would be. This
knowledge helped Americans destroy
four Japanese aircraft carriers. After
the battle at Midway, Japan’s navy was
no longer strong enough to keep
capturing islands.
Americans soon began taking back
territory from Japan.
The Battle of Stalingrad was another
major turning point. When Germany
invaded the Soviet Union, the main
goal was to capture the industrial city
of Stalingrad.
The Soviet army fought desperately to
hold onto Stalingrad. Soon the entire
city was destroyed and the Soviets
began gaining ground. After a long
battle, the German army surrendered.
After Stalingrad, the Soviet army forced
the German army to retreat.
Victory in Europe
The Soviet army had pushed back the
German army and the Allies defeated
the Axis forces in North Africa and Italy,
but the war was far from over. The
Allies knew they had to invade Western
Europe and the Germans knew this too
and were preparing.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of
the Allied forces, chose the coastal
region of Normandy, France for the
Allied invasion. On June 6, 175,000
soldiers invaded France. This would be
the largest invasion by sea in world
history and become known as D-Day.
American, British, and Canadian
soldiers jumped from boats and began
wading up to the land. Facing deadly
blasts from German guns, Allied
soldiers fought their way onto the
beach. By the end of the day, Allied
forces had captured the beaches of
Normandy, France.
Allied troops battled their way toward
Germany. Allies liberated towns that
were under German control. German
forces made one final attack called the
Battle of the Bulge. This turned into
the biggest battle ever fought by US
forces. General George S. Patton
helped lead the Allies to victory and
soon crossing the border into Germany.
The Soviet Union was invading
Germany from the east. When Soviet
forces closed in on the German capital
Berlin, Hitler killed himself. On May 8,
1945, Germany surrendered and this
day became known as V-E Day, “Victory
in Europe”
Victory over Asia
General Douglass MacArthur planned
to fight his way to Japan by using a
strategy called “island hopping”. The
Allies would keep capturing islands
closer and closer to Japan.
The US Marines invaded a small Pacific
island of Iwo Jima, Japan. American
forces then attacked Okinawa. Nearly
50,000 Americans were killed or
wounded before Japan was defeated at
Okinawa. Military leaders began
planning an invasion of Japan, but
feared that it might cost Millions of
American lives.
The new president Harry S. Truman
had the biggest decision of his life.
American scientists had successfully
tested the world’s first atomic bomb.
Truman had to decide whether or not
to use the bomb against Japan.
Truman decided to use the bombs
forcing Japan to surrender. Air Force
bomber named Enola Gay dropped an
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on
August 6. The bomb killed more than
80,000 people in a few seconds. Three
days later another atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki, killing nearly
60,000 people.
Japan surrendered on August 14. This
was called V-J day for “Victory in
Japan”. WWII was finally over.