The End of Wor ld War II

1. The End of World War II

2. War in the Pacific A major turning point took place in May and June 1942, when American ships damaged two Japanese fleets at the battle of Coral Sea and Midway Islands After the Battle of Midway, the United States Marines, under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, landed at Guadalcanal.

3. The goal was to recapture some of the Japanese held islands. • This island hopping campaign was successful moving American forces closer to Japan itself. • The Americans built air bases on conquered islands to help defeat Japan. • By 1944, American ships blockaded Japan, while American airplanes bombed Japanese cities and industries

4. The Nazis Defeated The last major action in Europe was the battle for Berlin. The Allies were marching from the west, but German fears focussed on the Red Army to the east, which came to avenge the years of havoc wreaked by Nazi forces in the Soviet Union. After bitter fighting Soviet troops entered the city on 21 April 1945. Germany was facing defeat.

5. Battle of the Bulge • After freeing France, the Allies advanced toward Germany • In December 1944, when the Allies entered Belgium, Hitler launched once last offensive. • The Battle of the Bulge was a bloody battle resulting in terrible loss for both sides. • The battle slowed the Allied advance, but it was Hitler’s last success.

7. Band of Brothers in 2 minutes - Part 6 Bastogne

11. The Air War For two year, the Allies bombed the Germans round-the-clock. By 1945, Germany could no longer defend itself in the air

12. On to Berlin • By March, the Allies entered western Germany. • In Italy, Mussolini was captured and executed. • Hitler knew that he would be captured and committed suicide in his underground bunker. • On May 7, Germany surrendered. • The end of the war in Europe was called V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

14. Defeat of Japan • After winning the war in Europe, the Allies focused on defeated on defeating Japan. The road to victory would be long and costly.

15. Invasion Versus the Bomb Many Americans estimated that an invasion of Japan would result in one million or more American casualties. The Japanese would rather die than surrender. Japanese pilots, known as Kamikaze pilots, would crash their planes loaded with explosives into American warships.

16. Scientists had different plans. Since the early 1900s, scientists were working on creating the atomic bomb. • In July 1945, at Alamogordo, New Mexico, the Allies successfully tested the first atomic bomb. • The decision was made to drop the bomb

17. President Truman issued a warning to Japan at a meeting in Potsdam, Germany. The warning was surrender of face utter and complete destruction The Japanese ignored the warning.

18. Hiroshima • On August 6, 1945 an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. • The bomb destroyed 4 square miles and instantly killed more than 70,000 people. • In the months to follow, many more Japanese died from radiation. • After Hiroshima, Truman warned the Japanese again. • He said that if they did not surrender they could expect a “Rain of ruin from the air like had never been seen before.”

21. Nagasaki • On August 8th, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. • The Japanese did not respond, so the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on August 9th, the next day, on the city of Nagasaki, killing more than 40,000 people. • Finally on August 10th, Emperor Hirohito agreed to surrender.

23. The End of the War • On September 2, 1945, the formal peace treaty was signed on the American battleship the Missouri.

24. The War had Ended!!!!!

26. An ongoing controversy • The dropping of the atomic bomb brought a quick end to World War II. • However, there is much controversy over whether the United States should have used the bomb or not.

27. Why did Truman use the bomb? • He was convinced that Japan would not surrender without an invasion that would have cost an enormous amount of lives. • Truman wanted to impress the Soviets with American power.