Chapter 8, Lesson 3 The World at War

1. Chapter 8, Lesson 3The World at War Mister Julian’s 5th Grade Class

2. Essential Question • What were the major battles that were the turning points in World War II?

3. Places • Normandy, France • Iwo Jima, Japan • Hiroshima, Japan

4. People • Chester Nimitz • Dwight D. Eisenhower • George S. Patton • Douglas MacArthur • Harry S. Truman • Anne Frank

5. Vocabulary • Battle of Midway • Battle of Stalingrad • Battle of the Bulge • Concentration Camps • Holocaust

6. American Soldiers • More than 16 million Americans served in the military during World War II • Thanks to the Navajo language our codes were never broken.

7. Major Turning Points • The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the war against Japan. • Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of the Pacific, was informed from code-breakers that an attack would happen at Midway. • After the battle Japan’s navy was no longer strong enough to take over new lands.

8. Major Turning Points • Another turning point came when the Soviet army stopped the German army from advancing at the Battle of Stalingrad. • The German army, for the first time, had to retreat.

9. Victory in Europe • By the Spring of 1944, the Soviet army had pushed the Germans out of the Soviet Union. • The Allies had defeated the Axis forces in North Africa and Italy. • American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, commanding Allied forces Europe, chose Normandy, France as the location of the Allied invasion.

10. Victory in Europe • On June 6, 1944 the largest invasion in history would begin with 175,000 soldiers and 6,000 ships. • The battle had heavy Allied loses but they were victorious. • The Allies began liberating towns on their way to Germany.

11. Victory in Europe • The German’s final attack happened at the Battle of the Bulge, in Belgium. • Both sides had heavy loses but when General George S. Patton’s Third Army came into position, the battle ended with an Allied victory. • As the Allies were approaching German from the west, the Soviet Union attacked from the east.

12. Victory in Europe • The Soviets captured the capital city of Berlin and reported that Hitler had killed himself. • On May 8, 1945 Germany surrendered. • The Allies named May 8 - “VE-Day” for Victory in Europe.

13. Victory in Asia • As the war was nearing the end in Europe, the battle for the Pacific still raged on. • General Douglas MacArthur’s plan to victory was called “island hopping.” • The idea was to slowly capture valuable islands closer and closer to Japan.

14. Victory in Asia • In February 1945 the United States Marines landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, Japan. • The battle was the most costly of the entire war. • Following the victory the Americans landed on the island of Okinawa. • American losses were nearly 50,000 and the Japanese were even higher.

15. Victory in Asia • On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt suddenly died. • Vice President Harry S. Truman was sworn into office. • Truman had the biggest decision any President has ever had to make, use the atomic bomb or not.

16. Victory in Asia • If we did not use the atomic bomb, American losses were projected well over 1,000,000 in taking Japan. • However, if we used the “bomb” it would unleash a force never seen before. • On August 6, 1945 an Air Force bomber named the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

17. Victory in Asia • Three days later the U.S. dropped another atomic bomb over Nagasaki, Japan. • The two bombs killed over 150,000 people. • Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945. • This was called “VJ-Day” or Victory over Japan.

18. The Holocaust • When Adolf Hitler came into power he hated the Jews and blamed them for all of Germany’s problems. • The Nazi government passed laws that limited the rights of Jews. • Soon these laws required all Jews to report to work camps.

19. The Holocaust • These work camps were actually concentration camps where the people were treated harshly. • Many of the people were killed when they arrived and others were tortured, starved, and used as slave labor. • As the allies liberated Europe these camps were discovered to the horror of the troops.

20. The Holocaust • The Nazi’s murdered about 6 million Jews and about 6 million non-Jews. • This period in history is called the Holocaust. • A Jewish girl named Anne Frank lived in an area of Europe that was taken over by the Germans in 1942.

21. The Holocaust • Anne and her family hid from the Germans instead of going to the concentration camps. • Anne was 13 when she went into hiding. • In 1944, the Germans found the hiding place and sent her, with her family, to the camps. • She died just 2 months before the camp was freed by the Allies.

22. The Cost of War • World War Two was the bloodiest war in the history of the world. • Between 40 and 50 million soldiers and civilians died in the conflict. • The only war where more Americans died was the Civil War. • The world now had a new threat, the atomic bomb. • The bomb will change the world forever!

23. Timeline • June 1944 - Allied forces began liberating Western Europe • May 1945 - Germany surrenders • August 1945 - After two atomic bombs, Japan surrenders.

24. Writing Response • Explain one major turning point in world War II.