Fighting and Winning the War

1. Fighting and Winning the War

2. Wartime Aims and Strategies • Allies • Britain, US, USSR, France, China • Atlantic Charter: Churchill and FDR • Was the vision of postwar international order • Stalin not a part of this, causes problems later

3. Ways to defeat Germany • USSR wanted a second front opened up • Would draw German troops from Russian soil • US said yes, but Britain said no, due to the fact that US was not at full capacity yet • By Nov. 1943, they agreed to open 2nd front • USSR bore the brunt of the land battle • Stalin left this situation very bitter

4. War in Europe • Allies were being crushed early on in both Europe and Asia • Moved towards Suez Canal • Turning point: Battle of Stalingrad! • By 1944 Stalin’s forces had moved Germany’s army out of USSR • Allies launched a major offensive in North Africa

5. War in Europe • Allies attacked Axis powers in Sicily and Italy • Mussolini fell in July 1943 • D-Day was June 6, 1944 • Eisenhower was General in charge • Germans made last attack in Belgium in Dec 1944 • Battle of the Bulge! • Germany surrendered in May 1945, shortly after Hitler committed suicide

6. Other European Battles?

7. Holacaust • You learned about this last year, in depth (at least you should have), but if you did not, you also read this on p. 770

8. War in the Pacific • Japan was still fighting after Germans surrendered • Japan had scored many victories, Hong Kong, Wake Island, Guam, Burma, Malaya, Solomon Islands, even making moves in Australia and India • Bataan Death March in 1942 was a huge defeat for the US mentally

9. War in Pacific • Battle of Coral Sea! • Battle of Midway! • Island Hopping! • Other Pacific Battles?

10. Victory over Japan • By mid-1945 US had major advantage over Japan • Japanese kamikaze efforts were unsuccessful • Refusal to surrender, Japan would fight no matter how badly they were being defeated

11. Yalta • FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met in Feb. 1945 at Yalta • FDR wanted Allied unity • Churchill wanted to keep British colonies such as India • Stalin agreed to fight against Japan if they got Pacific possessions in return

12. Yalta • Stalin also wanted to protect his western border with a band of satellite states • Use them as a buffer zone that would guarantee USSR’s national security • FDR wanted democratically elected governments in Poland and nearby areas • An agreement was not reached

13. What WAS agreed to? • FDR and Churchill agreed to a Soviet sphere of influence, but was very vague about it • Stalin pledged to hold “free and unfettered elections” (never happened!) • Also agreed to divide Germany into four zones to be controlled by US, Britain, France, and USSR, with Berlin in the middle

14. And… • The idea of the United Nations • 5 major Allied powers: US, Britain, France, China, USSR, and 6 others on a rotating basis • Permanent members would have veto power over decisions of the general assembly • FDR died April 12, 1945 of a cerebral hemorrhage

15. End of the War • Truman became president • Manhattan Project: development of an atomic bomb • Cost $2 billion, employed 120,000 people near Los Alamos, NM • Tested in remote areas of NM, and it worked • Hiroshima Aug 6 and Nagasaki Aug 9

16. Theories • Why not warn Japanese civilians? • Why drop two bombs? • Role of world supremacy? • USSR vs US • No surrender made it necessary, many said • Japan formally surrendered Sept. 2, 1945