Download The United States Goes to War

The United States Goes to War
THE BIG THREE
• US Alliance with Great
Britain and the Soviet
Union
• Ideological differences
• Common Enemy – Hitler
• Stalin asked others to attack
from France and open a
second front to split the
Nazi forces
• Eastern Front took a heavy
toll on the Soviet
population
• Allies attacked through
Northern Africa
General George Marshall
• FDR’s Army Joint
Chief of Staff
• Orchestrated the “War
in Europe!”
• Later will win the
Nobel Peace Prize for
his “Marshall Plan.”
North Africa
• General George S.
Patton – Allies
• General Erwin
Rommell “Desert
Fox” – Axis (Nazi)
D-Day
• General Dwight D.
Eisenhower - leading officer
• Largest amphibious attack in
history
• June 6, 1944
• Operation Overlord
• D-Day = Designated Day
• 2 million troops involved
(largest invasion force ever
assembled)
• First waves experienced high
casualty rates
• Eventually liberated Paris
and Belgium
Battle of the Bulge
• December 1944
• Nazi troops squeezed b/w
Soviets and Allies
• Hitler launched a surprise
offensive in a weakened
part of the line
• Created a “bulge” in the
front line
• Hitler was defeated again
• One more nail in the
coffin
Allied Victory in Europe
• After “Bulge,” Allies closed in on Berlin
• Allies met at Yalta to discuss terms of German
surrender
• Berlin ended up under Soviet control. (Uh, oh)
• Hitler committed suicide at the end of April in 1945
• VE DAY = Victory in Europe!
• Discovery of the “death” camps
US Strategy in the Pacific
• Pearl Harbor launched the
Pacific side of the war
• American stronghold in
the Philippines was lost
• MacArthur was made to
leave some of his men, “I
shall return.”
• Bataan Death March of
those individuals left
behind, thousands died on
the long walk.
Island Hopping Campaign
• US made its way from island to island to stop the
Japanese control
• Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led several
raids on Tokyo (known as Doolittle Raids)
Turning Point in the Pacific
• Had to gain control of the skies and waters of the Pacific
• The Battle of Coral Sea was the 1st major battle for
US in the Pacific
• Battle of Midway in June of 1942 was THE turning
point
• Faced many Kamikazes
KAMIKAZES
• Japanese suicide
squadrons
• Aircrafts were loaded
with explosives
• Flew directly into US
naval vessels killing
themselves in an effort to
stop the American
advance
• Altogether, they sank
about 40 ships
Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
• US Island hopping
Dangers other than battle
included:
• 1. Monsoons
• 2. Malaria
• 3. Heat
• 4. Earthquakes
• 5. Jungle Conditions
• Iwo Jima – US 6,800
killed and 23,000
wounded
Okinawa
• Costliest
engagement with
50,000 casualties
• This victory,
however, gave the
US strong positions
to launch air strikes
Manhattan Project
• Key Players:
– Albert Einstein
– Enrico Fermi
– J. Robert Oppenheimer
• FDR died in April 1945,
Harry Truman took over
the Presidency. Only
being in office for three
months he had to make
the decision to use the
atomic weapon
Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Little Boy and Fat Man
A-Bomb
• On August 6, 1945 US
dropped the first A-bomb
on Hiroshima
• Japan still does not
surrender
• On August 9th, 1945 US
dropped the second Abomb on Nagasaki
• On August 14, 1945
Japan surrenders
unconditionally; VJ Day
Devastation
Innocents
Nagasaki
Effects of the War
•
•
•
•
•
Holocaust
Nuremberg Trials
Japanese War Criminals
Unbelievable death and destruction
US Home front :
– Japanese Interment Camps 
– Wartime Economy boost 
– Women (“Rosie the Riveter,” and Minorities join the
market economy, only to be booted out AGAIN after
the war.
– Women’s Baseball (A League of their Own!)
Country
USSR
Germany
China
Japan
British Empire
Romania
Poland
Yugoslavia
United States
Italy
TOTAL
Number Killed
13,600,000
3,300,000
1,324,516
1,140,429
357,116
350,000
320,000
305,000
292,131
279,800
21,268,992
THE WAR IS OVER!
Let the BABY BOOM begin 