Download Notes-16-End-of-WWII

Notes 16:
End of WWII
World Wars – Hamer
May 25, 2010
The Yalta Conference
February 1945
The “Big Three”
Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
What to do with Germany? PART 1
• There was an agreement that the priority would
be the unconditional surrender of Nazi
Germany.
• After the war Germany would be split into three
occupied zones with a three-power occupation
of Berlin, prior to unification of Germany.
– Stalin agreed that France might have a fourth
occupation zone in Germany and Austria but it
would have to be carved out of the British and
American zones. France would also be granted a seat
in the Allied Control Council.
What to do with Germany? PART 2
• A "Committee on
Dismemberment of
Germany" was to be set up
to decide whether Germany
was to be divided into
several nations, and if so,
what borders and interrelationships the new
German states were to
have.
• The eventual partition of Germany into Allied Occupation Zones:
British zone, French zone (two exclaves), American zone, Soviet
zone, and Allied-administered Austria
What to do with Germany? PART 3
• Germany would undergo demilitarization
and de-nazification.
• German reparations were not in the form
of forced labor.
• Creation of an allied reparation council
with its seat in Moscow.
Poland?
• It was agreed to reorganize the communist
Provisionary Polish Government that had been set
up by the Red Army through the inclusion of other
groups such as the Polish Provisional Government of
National Unity and to have democratic elections.
– This effectively excluded the Polish government-in-exile
that had evacuated in 1939.
• The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon
Line, and Poland would receive substantial territorial
compensation in the west from Germany
Purple is additional land given to Poland
Soviet Union PART 1
• Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were
to be handed over to their respective countries,
regardless of their consent.
• FDR obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate
in the UN once it was agreed that each of the five
permanent members of the Security Council would
have veto power.
– Churchill lobbied heavily to get France in the Security
Council
– 5 permanent members: China, USSR, England, France,
USA
Soviet Union PART 2
• Stalin requested that all of the 16 Soviet
Socialist Republics would be granted United
Nations membership, only 2 would in the end.
• Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the
Empire of Japan within 90 days after the defeat
of Germany.
– The Soviet Union would receive the southern part
of Sakhalin and the Kurile islands after the defeat
of Japan.
The Fall of Berlin
Allies Approach on the Western
Front PART 1
• The two sides of the Allied armies were
closing in on Germany by the spring of
1945.
• By March 27, 1945 all seven of the Allied
armies had crossed the Rhine into Germany
• On April 11, 1945 the Ninth Army reached
the Elbe River
Allies Approach on the Western
Front PART 2
• Eisenhower ordered the Ninth Army to stop
at the Elbe River:
– Had overstretched their supplies
– At Yalta it was agreed that Berlin would be part
of the Soviet Zone
Soviets Invade Berlin PART 1
• April 25, 1945, Russian units invaded Berlin
from the west
• Approximately 10,000 German soldiers
were left to defend the city.
• The Soviets captured the German Reichstag
(Congress) on May 2, 1945.
The Fall of Berlin
• Russian Katyusha rocket launchers fire on Berlin
Soviets Invade Berlin PART 2
• The Red Army
flew the Soviet
flag from the top
of the Reichstag
• Soviet troops
signed their
names on the
side of the
Reichstag
Hitler’s Death PART 1
• Hitler had made the Füherbunker, located in
Berlin, his primary base on January 16, 1945.
• By April 22, 1945 it seemed to those around him
that Hitler had finally admitted defeat and
realized that Germany would lose the war.
• Shortly after midnight on April 29, 1945, Hitler
married his long time companion, Eva Braun.
Earlier that day he had written his last will and
testament.
Hitler’s Death PART 2
• At approximately 2:30 pm on April 30,1945,
the Soviets raised their flag over the
Reichstag and Hitler and Eva Braun went
into their study.
• Approximately an hour later, a gunshot was
heard. Hitler’s valet opened the door to the
study and found Eva Braun and Hitler dead.
Hitler’s Death PART 3
• Braun had killed herself by ingesting a cyanide
capsule. Hitler shot himself in the right temple at
the same time that he had a cyanide capsule in his
mouth.
• Following Hitler’s orders, members of Hitler’s SS
bodyguards took the bodies outside, doused them
with gasoline, and tried to cremate the corpses.
• This did not completely work, so the bodies were
buried where they were later found and confiscated
by the Soviets.
Hitler Commits Suicide
April 30, 1945
Cyanide & Pistols
The Führer’s Bunker
Mr. & Mrs. Hitler
Hitler’s Death
• On the left, an American Military paper wrongly stated that Hitler
fell in Battle
• Time magazine cover after Hitler’s death (eyes wrong color)
Hitler’s Death PART 4
• Many believe that the
public and disturbing
execution of Mussolini
(April 28, 1945) and his
mistress further
encouraged Hitler to take
his own life instead of being
captured.
• Others in Hitler’s
command, such as
Goebbels, also killed
themselves and their
families.
V-E Day: May 8, 1945
• The Soviets lost more troops in the Battle
of Berlin than America had lost in all of
Europe
• Small pockets of resistance continued until
the official surrender on May 8, 1945.
• This was known as V-E Day – Victory in
Europe Day – when the war in Europe was
finally over.
The Death of FDR
• American President Roosevelt did not live
to see this victory, he died on April 12,
1945 at his home in Warm Springs,
Georgia.
• Vice President Harry S. Truman became the
33rd president and guided America through
the victory in Europe.
V-E Day
(May 8, 1945)
General Keitel
The Potsdam Conference
Finishing the War in the Pacific
• After fulfilling the promise to destroy
Germany first, America had to finish the
war in the Pacific
Potsdam Conference July 1945
• FDR was dead, Churchill
was out of office as Prime
Minister during conference.
• Stalin was the only original.
• The United States has the
A-bomb.
• Allies agree Germany is to
be divided into four
occupation zones
• Poland moved around to
suit
the Soviets.
P.M. Clement President Joseph
Atlee
Truman Stalin
Potsdam Declaration PART 1
• "We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now
the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces,
and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their
good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is
prompt and utter destruction.”
• "...The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably
greater than that which, when applied to the resisting
Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and
the method of life of the whole German people. The full
application of our military power, backed by our resolve,
will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the
Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter
devastation of the Japanese homeland..."
Potsdam Declaration PART 2
• Militarism in Japan must end.
• Japan would be occupied until the basic objectives set out
in this proclamation were met.
• The terms of the Cairo Declaration would be carried out
and Japanese sovereignty would be limited to the islands of
Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku, and such minor
islands as the Allies determined.
• The Japanese army would be completely disarmed and
allowed to return home.
• Those who had led Japan to war must be permanently and
finally discredited, and abandoned.
Potsdam Declaration PART 3
• War criminals would be punished including those who had
"visited cruelties upon our prisoners”.
• Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as
respect for the fundamental human rights shall be
established.
• Japan should be permitted to maintain a viable industrial
economy but not industries which would enable her to rearm for war.
• The treaty was not intended to enslave the Japanese as a
race or as a nation.
• Allied forces would be withdrawn from Japan as soon as
these objectives have been accomplished
America’s New Weapon
The Atomic Bomb PART 1
• The intensity of fighting at the Battle of
Okinawa made the Allied commanders worry
about how much worse the fighting would be
once the Allies invaded Japan.
• Churchill predicted that the cost of invading
Japan would be 1.5 million Allied lives.
• President Truman chose to use a newly
developed weapon instead of invading Japan
with troops. This new weapon was the Atomic
Bomb.
The Atomic Bomb PART 2
• The best-kept secret of the war was the
development of the Atomic Bomb through The
Manhattan Project.
• Before America entered the war, Albert
Einstein had written a letter to the President
warning that Germany was trying to develop an
atomic weapon.
• FDR chose J. Robert Oppenheimer to head up a
project to build an atomic weapon for America.
The Atomic Bomb PART 3
• Branches of the Manhattan Project were hidden
all over America with the original branch in
Manhattan and one of the most famous
branches in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• At its peak, more than 600,000 Americans were
involved in the project though few knew its
actual purpose.
• On the morning of July 16, 1945 in the middle of
the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the
first test of the new bomb occurred.
The Manhattan Project:
Los Alamos,
NM
Major General
Lesley R. Groves
Dr. Robert
Oppenheimer
I am become
death,
the shatterer
of worlds!
Tinian Island, 1945
Little Boy
Fat Man
Enola Gay Crew
Col. Paul Tibbets and the A-Bomb
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Less than a month later, on August 6, 1945, a
bomber named the Enola Gay released the Atomic
Bomb Little Boyover the Japanese city of
Hiroshima.
• Forty-three seconds later, almost every building
had collapsed into dust from the force of the blast.
• Japan still did not surrender and a second bomb,
Fat Man, was dropped three days later on
Nagasaki.
• By the end of the year over 200,000 people had
died as a result of injuries and radiation poisoning.
Hiroshima – August 6, 1945
• 70,000 killed
immediately.
• 48,000 buildings
destroyed.
• Hundreds of thousands
died of radiation
poisoning and cancer
later.
Hiroshima
• Model of
Little Boy
dropped on
Hiroshima
• Aftermath of
Hiroshima
Nagasaki – August 9, 1945
• 40,000 killed immediately.
• 60,000 injured.
• Hundreds of thousands died
of radiation poisoningand
cancer later.
Nagasaki
• Mushroom Cloud over Nagasaki ( L )
• Nagasaki Before and After ( R )
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Burn victims
• Map of Atomic Bomb Sites
V-J Day PART 1
• Emperor Hirohito began to circulate the idea of
surrendering among the less militant members
of the government.
• Many in the military still refused to surrender,
but Emperor Hirohito announced that the war
was over on the radio on August 14, 1945.
– This was the first time the Emperor was ever heard
on the radio!
V-J Day PART 2
• The Japanese surrendered on August 15,
1945, which was then celebrated as V-J Day
(Victory over Japan).
• On September 2, 1945, formal surrender
took place on the U.S. battleship Missouri
in Tokyo Bay.
Formal Signing of Treaty: September 2,
1945
V-J Day in Times Square,NYC