The United States Goes to War

1. The United States Goes to War

2. Allies United States Great Britain France Soviet Union Axis Germany Italy Japan WII Alliances

3. Dark Green: Allies before the attack on Pearl Harbor, including colonies and occupied countries. Light Green: Allied countries that entered the war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Orange: Axis Powers Grey: Neutral countries during WWII Dark green dots represent countries that initially were neutral but during the war were annexed by the USSR Light green dots represent countries that later in the war changed from the Axis to the Allies Orange dots represent countries that after being conquered by the Axis Powers, became puppets of those (Vichy France and several French colonies, Croatia) Map with the Participants in WW II

4. American GI’s Prepare for War • 15 Million Americans served in the Armed Services during WWII • They called themselves the nickname, “GI” which was short for Government-Issued.

5. A Diverse (But Segregated) Military • The Diverse American military included: • 300k Mexican Americans • 25k Native Americans • 17k Japanese Americans • 1 Million African Americans • Most units were segregated by race • Many of the segregated units were commended for bravery and valor • All Nisei 442nd • African American 761st • The Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd and the 99th Fighter groups • “Black Eagles” • Navaho code breakers

6. Women in the Armed Services • WAC • Women’s Army Corp • Included women officers and enlisted • WASPS • Women Air Force Service Pilots • Served on the Homefront and as practice pilots during training • WAVES • Women Accepted for VoluntEer Service • Naval aviators

7. WAC WASPS WAVES

8. The European Theater • When the Americans arrived in Europe, the Allied forces were weak and near defeat • London had suffered from the Blitz • France had been overrun by Nazi forces • The Battle of the Atlantic proved to be the help that the Allies needed • Food and supplies once again began to make their way into Allied hands

9. The Battle of the Atlantic • Germany's best hope of defeating Britain lay in winning the Battle of the Atlantic. • Used U-boats against Allied forces • Traveled in “Wolf packs” • Extremely successfully tactic

10. Losses in Atlantic • 1939 • 222 ships sunk (114 by submarine) •   1940 • 1059 ships sunk (471 by submarine) •  1941 • 1328 ships sunk (432 by submarine) •   1942 • 1661 ships sunk (1159 by submarine) • 1943 • 597 ships sunk (463 by submarine) • 1944 • 247 ships sunk (132 by submarine) • 1945 • 105 ships sunk (56 by submarine)

11. North Africa and Italy • The British had been battling in North Africa since 1940 • British General Montgomery finally defeated German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox) at El Alamein • The American joined Monty and pushed eastward through Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia towards southern Europe • Sicily and Italy were seen as the best place to mount a southern invasion Montgomery Rommel

12. Italy is Invaded • General George S. Patton led a successful Allied attack on Italy in 1943 • Mussolini was overthrown and executed • Hitler lost most important ally • The Allies won at Anzio and then captured Rome

13. The War in the USSR • 3.6 million Germans flowed into Soviet territory from 1941-1942 • Luftwaffe (German air force) and panzers (German tanks) were superior • In retaliation Russian/Soviet forces adopt a “scorched earth policy • As Russian retreated take and burn EVERYTHING • Battle of Stalingrad was turning point • Russia victory sealed the fate of the war in the east

14. Stalin’s Plan • “In case of a forced retreat... all rolling stock must be evacuated, the enemy must not be left a single engine, a single railway car, not a single pound of grain or gallon of fuel. The collective farmers must drive off all their cattle and turn over their grain to the safe keeping of the state authorities for transportation to the rear. All valuable property, including non-ferrous metals, grain and fuel that cannot be withdrawn must be destroyed without fail. In areas occupied by the enemy, guerilla units....must set fire to forests, stores and transports."

15. Tremendous Loss of Life in Victory • The Battle of Stalingrad is considered the bloodiest battle in recorded human history • Total casualties are estimated to be over two million. • The Axis powers lost large numbers of men and equipment, and never fully recovered from the defeat.

16. The Holocaust • When Allied troops swept into occupied Eastern Europe they were horrified at what they found • Concentration camps • Death camps- extermination camps

17. Cool site with animation of battles • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/launch_ani_campaign_maps.shtml

18. Battle of the Bulge • December 1944 • Nazi Troops squeezed between Soviets and Allies • Hitler launched a surprise offensive in a weakened part of the line • Created a “bulge” in the front line

19. Nurses of a field hospital who arrived in France via England and Egypt after three years service." Parker, August 12, 1944.

20. Allied Victory in Europe • After “Bulge”, allies closed in on Berlin • Allies met at Yalta to discuss terms of German surrender • Berlin ended up under Soviet Control • Hitler Committed Suicide • VE Day – Victory in Europe • Discovery of the death camps

21. The Death of Hitler • Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, 1945, but some people dispute how he died. • The Nazi leader is generally believed to have used arsenic to poison himself. But in 2004, a United States dealer offered for sale a pistol which he said Hitler had used to take his life. • The former Soviet Union said it cremated Hitler's body after capturing the bunker but the final resting place of the ashes is not known

22. This girl pays the penalty for having had personal relations with the Germans. Here, in the Montelimar area, France, French civilians shave her head as punishment."

23. US Strategy in the Pacific • Pearl Harbor Launched the Pacific War • American stronghold in the Philippines was lost • MacArthur – “I shall return” • Bataan Death March • Island Hopping Campaign • Doolittle (Tokyo) Raids • Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle

25. KAMIKAZES • Japanese suicide squadrons, known as Kamikaze, flew aircraft loaded with explosives directly into U.S. naval vessels, killing themselves in an effort to stop the American advance. Altogether, they sank about 40 ships

26. Bataan Death March • Approximately 75,000 Filipino and US soldiers formally surrendered to the Japanese on April 9 1942 • Japan was forced to accept emaciated, sick, and dying captives outnumbering them. • Captives were forced to march, beginning the following day, about 100 kilometers north to Camp O'Donnell, a prison camp • Prisoners of war were beaten randomly and denied food and water for several days. • Those who fell behind were executed through various means: shot, beheaded or bayonetted. • The commonly-used Japanese "sun treatment" forced a captive to sit silently in the humid April sun without water or even the shade of his helmet

27. While the Japanese pounded Corregidor (which would surrender on May 6), they led their prisoners on a forced march out of Bataan. Before the "Death March" was over, those who survived would march more than sixty miles through intense heat with almost no water or food. Somewhere between 5,000 and 11,000 never made it to Camp O'Donnell, where fresh horrors awaited.

28. Important Battles in the Pacific • Battles that helped establish US control over skies and waters of the Pacific • Battle of the Coral Sea • Battle of Midway

29. Battle of Coral Sea • First battle entirely in air • Officially a draw but counts as 1st major US win in Pacific because it blocked the Japanese from invading Australia

30. Battle of the Coral Sea

32. The Battle of Midway • June 1942 • Turning point in the Pacific • Japan’s naval fleet was devastasted • Was unable to fight on the offensive for the rest of the war • Fought backwards as US pushed closer to the Japanese mainland

33. The Turning Point- The Battle of Midway

34. Battle of Iwo Jima and Okinawa • US Island hopped their way through the Pacific • Dangers other than battle • Monsoons, malaria, heat, earthquakes, jungle conditions • Iwo Jima • US losses 6800 killed • 23,000 wounded • Okinawa • Costliest engagement 50,000 casualties • Gave U.S. strong positions to launch air strikes

35. "General MacArthur surveys the beachhead on Leyte Island, soon after American forces swept ashore from a gigantic liberation armada into the central Philippines, at the historic moment when the General made good his promise `I shall return.'"

36. "U.S. Marine `Raiders' and their dogs, which are used for scouting and running messages, starting off for the jungle front lines on Bougainville." T.Sgt. J. Sarno, ca. November/December 1943.

37. Manhattan Project • Key Players • Albert Einstein • Enrico Fermi • J. Robert Oppenheimer • White Sands test drop • July 1945 • Hiroshima • August 6, 1945 • Nagasaki • August 9, 1945

38. 11th airborne watching A-bomb test

40. "Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr., pilot of the ENOLA GAY, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, waves from his cockpit before the takeoff, 6 August 1945."

41. Actual photo of A-bomb over Hiroshima

42. August 9, 1945 • A dense column of smoke rises more than 60,000 feet into the air over the Japanese port of Nagasaki, the result of an atomic bomb, the second ever used in warfare, dropped on the industrial center August 8, 1945, from a U.S. B-29 Superfortress."

43. Hiroshima

47. Remains of a car. A strong blast caused the car to topple sidelong. (Photo by Tsuneo Tago)

48. Shadow of a value handle imprinted on a gas tank. The shadow was caused by intense thermal rays. (Photo by Shunkichi Kikuchi)

49. A Fatsia japonica near Meiji Bridge. The leaves of this Fatsia japonica threw a shadow on an electric pole near the Meiji Bridge. (Photo by US Army)

50. Loss of hair • Japanese women are proud of their lovely, black hair. • Many were reduced to a miserable state of baldness after exposure.