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The End of World War II. Important Offensives. January, 1942, 26 nations came together in Washington D.C. – each nation promised to use all its resources to defeat the Axis, not sign secret treaties and follow the Atlantic Charter
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Important Offensives • January, 1942, 26 nations came together in Washington D.C. – each nation promised to use all its resources to defeat the Axis, not sign secret treaties and follow the Atlantic Charter • Battle of Stalingrad – Summer 1942, lasted 6 months, German forces suffered terrible losses but were determined to beat the Soviets. • November, 1942, Soviets counter attacked and trapped the Germans in Stalingrad • Feb. 2nd, 1943, Those that were left of Hitler’s troops surrendered • This was a major turning point, Germans never recovered
Nov. 1942, Allies made progress in North Africa, General Dwight D. Eisenhower landed his American and British troops. • May, 1942, Axis forces in North Africa were forced to surrender. • North Africa was completely under allied control.
Stalin demanded that British and American troops open a second front in Europe to lessen the German pressure in the Soviet Union. • Churchill suggested “soft underbelly of Axis” through Italy and Balkans • Mussolini was forced to resign. • Marshal PietroBadoligo became Prime Minister, he dissolved the Fascist Party and began secret talks with the Allies • Sept. 1943, Italy agreed to stop fighting the Allies • Italy declared war on Germany
The War at Sea and Air • 1943, American and British bombing attacks against Germany increased, nearly every German city was bombed. • May 1942, Battle of Coral Sea, American and Australian air and naval forces defeated Japanese forces. • Battle of Midway, June 1942, Americans defeated the Japanese turning the tide against Japan
August 1942, American marines took the airfield on Guadalcanal. • This allowed Australian supply lines to be protected. • Island hopping, under this policy only certain Japanese islands were captured.
Victory in Europe • Operation Overlord, the invasion of Northwest France. • D-Day, June 6th, 1944, landing began on France’s Normandy coast. Within a month 1 million allied troops had landed. • August 25th, 1944, Allied troops entered Paris and faced the Siegfried Line along Germany’s western edge.
Soviets began fighting the Germans from the East. • After five weeks of fighting, Americans broke through the Siegfried Line. • Battle of the Bulge- a ten day battle, Allies turned back the Germans. • Germany Surrendered April, 1945 • April 30th, 1945, Hitler committed suicide • May 8th, 1945, Became known as VE Day.
Victory over Japan • American marines captured the island of Iwo Jima after a month of fighting, then took Okinawa. • Japan refused to surrender • Feb. 1945, Roosevelt and Churchill met with Stalin at Yalta in the Soviet Union. • They agreed Germany would be divided and occupied by Allied troops. • By their second meeting in July 1945, Roosevelt had died, Harry Truman was President and Churchill was replaced by Clemente Attlee, the new leaders wanted unconditional surrender of Japan.
Japan Surrenders • When Japan refused to surrender, President Truman made the decision to drop the atomic bomb. • August 6th, 1945, The atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, killing 80,000 instantly and destroying the city. • August 8th, 1945, Soviet Union declared war on Japan • August 9th, 1945, a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki killing 40,000 instantly. • August 14th, Japan surrendered • September 2nd, became known as V-J Day.