Victory in Europe and the Pacific

1. Victory in Europe and the Pacific Chapter 14 Section 4

2. End of WWII • In Europe, World War II officially ended on May 8, 1945, or V-E Day (Victory Europe Day) • The Allies were able to defeat the Axis powers for many reasons • Because of their location, the Axis powers had to fight on several fronts at the same time • Hitler also made some poor military decisions • Example: Hitler underestimated the Soviet Union’s ability to fight

3. War Ends in Europe

4. End of WWII • The huge productive capacity of the United States was another factor • At the same time, Allied bombing hindered German production and caused oil to become scarce which nearly grounded the Luftwaffe (German Air Force)

5. War in the Pacific • Although Germany was defeated, the Allies still had to defeat the Japanese in the Pacific • By May 1942, the Japanese had gained control of the Philippines, killing thousands of prisoners during the Bataan Death March • However, after the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea, the United States took the offensive • General Douglas MacArthur began an island-hopping” campaign to recapture islands from the Japanese

6. Pacific War

7. Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March began at Mariveles on April 10, 1942. Any troops who fell behind were executed. Japanese troops beat soldiers randomly, and denied the POWs food and water for many days. One of their tortures was known as the sun treatment. The Philippines in April is very hot. Therefore, the POWs were forced to sit in the sun without any shade, helmets, or water. Anyone who dared ask for water was executed. On the rare occasion they were given any food, it was only a handful of contaminated rice. When the prisoners were allowed to sleep for a few hours at night, they were packed into enclosures so tight that they could barely move. Those who lived collapsed on the dead bodies of their comrades. For only a brief part of the march would POWs be packed into railroad cars and allowed to ride. Those who did not die in the suffocating boxcars were forced to march about seven more miles until they reached their camp. It took the POWs over a week to reach their destination.

8. Route of Bataan Death March

9. Bataan Death March

10. Bataan Death March

11. Execution of a Prisoner of War (POW)

12. War in the Pacific • The captured islands served as stepping stones to the next great objective—Japan • The Americans gradually moved north and were able to blockade Japan • Bombers pounded Japanese cities and industries • At the same time, the British pushed Japanese forces back into the jungles of Burma and Malaya

13. Burma and Malaya

14. Jungle

17. B-29 Bomber

18. War in the Pacific • In early 1945, bloody battles on Iwo Jima and Okinawa showed that the Japanese would fight to the death rather than surrender • Some young Japanese became kamikaze pilots who flew their planes purposefully into U.S. ships

19. Iwo Jima

20. Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima

21. Iwo Jima

22. Okinawa

23. Kamikaze Pilots

24. A kamikaze Attacking USS Columbia

25. Kamikaze Crashing Into the USS Essex

26. Building the Atomic Bomb • While Allied military leaders planned to invade, scientists offered another way to end the war • They had conducted research, code-named the Manhattan Project, that led to the building of an atomic bomb for the United States • The new U.S. President, Harry S. Truman, decided that dropping the bomb would save American lives • The Allies first issued a warning to the Japanese to surrender or face “utter and complete destruction”, but the warning was ignored

27. Manhattan Project

28. President Harry S. Truman

29. Dropping the Bomb • On August 6, 1945, a U.S. plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, instantly killing more than 70,000 people • Many more died from radiation sickness • When the Japanese did not surrender, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 • The next day, Japan finally surrendered ending World War II

30. Hiroshima and Nagasaki As many as 140,000 had died in Hiroshima by the bomb and its associated effects, with the estimate for Nagasaki roughly 74,000.

31. Atomic Bomb

32. Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima“Little Boy”

33. Bomb Dropped on Nagasaki“Fat Man”

34. Replicas of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” in a Museum

35. Injuries from Atomic Bomb

36. Powerpoint Questions (13 points) 1. On what date did World War II officially end? What is this day called? (2 points) 2. The Japanese killed thousands of prisoners in a long walk known as the ? 3. Identify the strategy to recapture islands occupied by the Japanese. 4. Identify the two islands on which bloody battles were fought in early 1945. (2 points) 5. Define kamikaze.

37. Powerpoint Questions (13 points) 6. What was the name of the plan to build the first atomic bomb? 7. What event occurred on August 6, 1945? 8. What event occurred on August 9, 1945? 9. Identify the names of the two atomic bombs. (2 points) 10. Which President made the decision to drop the atomic bombs?

38. The End