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Essential Question : What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?

Essential Question : What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific? Warm-Up Question: What other major American war is most similar in its resemblance to the U.S. entrance into WW2?. When the U.S. entered WW2 in late 1941, victory seemed remote.

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Essential Question : What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific?

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  1. Essential Question: • What role did the U.S. play in winning the wars in Europe & the Pacific? • Warm-Up Question: • What other major American war is most similar in its resemblance to the U.S. entrance into WW2?

  2. When the U.S. entered WW2 in late 1941, victory seemed remote Japan dominated the western half of the Pacific Ocean Germany controlled almost all of Europe Germany pressed into Russia Axis armies controlled Northern Africa & threatened the Suez Canal But…over the next 2 years, the U.S. & the Allies began to win the wars in Europe & the Pacific

  3. Europe 1941-1943 The U.S. wanted to attack across Nazi-controlled France by 1943 The USSR “freed” Poland, Hungary, Romania England wanted to attack Italy from Northern Africa in 1942 In 1942, U.S.-Anglo troops began the Italian campaign & Stalin was ANGRY To win the European campaign, 2 different plans were proposed In 1943, the Soviet army won at Stalingrad; Germany was never again on the offensive

  4. The Allies began to win the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941 with Lend-Lease aid, but took control in 1943 with America’s entry into the war

  5. Tehran Conference, 1943 By agreeing to “Operation Overlord” (D-Day), the Allies would divide the Axis military across two fronts FDR proposed a future United Nations dominated by “4 policemen” (USA, Britain, China, & USSR) with power to “deal immediately with any sudden emergency which requires action” • In 1943, FDR, Churchill, Stalin met in Tehran, Iran for the first of three wartime conferences: • The USA, Britain, USSR coordinated their war strategy • FDR & Churchill finally committed to Stalin’s demands to open a western front (D-Day) • Discussed plans to create a “general internat’l organization” to promote “peace & security” (UN)

  6. Europe 1944-1945 U.S. & British troops landed at 5 strategic points, pushed through France drove towards Germany The long-awaited 2nd front came on June 6, 1944 with D-Day

  7. Yalta Conference in February 1945 To recognize the independence & sovereignty of nations in Eastern Europe • The “Big 3” met at Yalta to discuss post-war Europe given the eminent defeat of Germany: • Stalin refused to give up Eastern Europe but he did agree to “self-determination” • Stalin agreed to send Soviet troops to the Pacific after the German surrender if the USSR could keep Manchuria

  8. Soon after the Yalta Conference in Feb 1945, FDR died…and Harry Truman became president

  9. In late April 1945, the Allies broke through the Eastern & Western Fronts forcing both Italy & Germany to surrender

  10. “Island-hopping” allowed the Allies to win strategic islands without investing precious time, resources, & American lives The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942 was a morale boost U.S. victory at Midway in 1942 gave the Allies naval supremacy

  11. The Japanese refused to play by according to the Geneva Convention “rules” of war

  12. The German surrender in May 1945, allowed the U.S. to turn its full attention towards Japan Victories at Saipan in 1944 & Iwo Jima & Okinawa in 1945 allowed for bombings on Japan

  13. Essential Question: • What did the American government know & what was the government’s response to the Holocaust? • Reading Quiz Ch 26 A (930-948)

  14. The Decision to Drop the A-Bomb • With no definitive end it sight, how would the Allies defeat Japan? • The U.S. military favored a full-scale invasion of Tokyo by 1946 • The Japanese refused to surrender & were arming civilians for an Allied invasion • At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, Truman gave the order to use the atomic bomb

  15. Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago

  16. Triumph & Tragedy in the Pacific • In August 1945, the USA forced Japan to surrender by dropping 2 atomic bombs • Effect of the atomic bomb: • Saved hundreds of thousands of American (& Japanese) lives • Revenge for Pearl Harbor • Showed the USSR that the USA had the ultimate weapon (began theColdWarnucleararmsrace)

  17. Nagasaki Hiroshima

  18. WW2 Timeline (Allies, Axis, USSR)

  19. Its Finally Over!

  20. Conclusions • WW2 was the largest & deadliest war in history & changed the U.S. • Wartime industry ended the Great Depression, expanded the size of the federal gov’t, & ushered in affluent decade • The USA emerged as a world superpower, developed a nuclear arsenal, & engaged a Cold War against the USSR

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