FIGHTING WWII CHAPTERS 36-37
AFTER PEARL HARBOR The U.S. was not prepared Not enough navy vessels German U-boats were destroying ships off the Atlantic coast Hard to send men and supplies Could not fight in Europe and Asia Had to pick one Europe
PREPARING FOR WAR IN EUROPE Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) controlled most of Europe Germany fighting in Soviet Union (want to control oil) Set up puppet governments or military rule in occupied regions Brutal treatment Jewish question = how to rid Germany of Jews Concentration camps/death camps = final solution
PREPARING FOR WAR IN EUROPE Did not know of the final solution Allied Strategy Options Occupied France Pro=French people would support, Britain close Con = Germany had a strong presence = difficult Italy Pro=Italian army was weak, good location to move into Europe Con= many U-boats in Mediterranean North Africa Pro=not well defended, could serve as gateway to Europe Con=far from Germany Soviet Union Pro=needed help to fight off Germany Con=hard to get to, difficult to send men/supplies
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Allied Strategy Options Occupied France Stalin wanted because it would force Germany to fight on more fronts BUT, U.S. army not enough training German U-boats making hard to get men/supplies across the Atlantic Italy North Africa Britain wanted, already fighting Germany in Egypt Soviet Union
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Allies invade North Africa Germany had to send troops from Europe Fought a series of battles eventually Axis forces surrendered (May 1943) Gave U.S. forces training North Africa became a staging area for the Allies to move into Italy Allies moved into Italy (July 1943) with little opposition Mussolini resigned Italy Surrendered BUT Germany still controlled part of Italy
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Soviets Fight Alone at Stalingrad Soldiers on both sides told to fight to the death Germans firebombed the city Eventually Soviets encircled the Germans January 1943 Germans surrendered (starving and frozen) Germany lost 200,00 men and the oil rich Caucasus Soviets lost over 1 million men
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Fighting Germany U.S. bombing = precision bombing specific targets (oil refineries, railroads, factories) Daytime High altitudes British bombing = saturation bombing Nighttime Large number of bombs, over a wide area Cities Destroy German civilian morale
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Operation Overlord General Eisenhower directed invasion Troops cross English Channel by ship and land in Normandy (Northern France) D-Day: June 6 th 1944 (the day of the invasion) First day- the Allies held the entire 59 miles of Normandy beach July- Allies move across France August-Allies liberated Paris September- Allies begin to cross German border
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Allies move toward Germany U.S. and Britain from the West (France) Soviet Union from the East (Poland) Liberated concentration camps as they moved west German SS officers killed and moved many prisoners to hide extend of the camps Genocide = systematic killing of a racial, political, or cultural group
WAR IN EUROPE 1942-1945 Battle of the Bulge Allies crossing from France to Germany met a lot of resistance Last German offensive on the western front Allied air support forced Germans to retreat Germany s Surrender Soviets had moved through Poland into Germany April 30 th 1945 Hitler killed himself, because the Allies were so close German forces quickly began surrendering V-E Day= Victory in Europe May 8 th 1945 FDR had passed away in April, Truman now President
PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC After Pearl Harbor the U.S. needed time to regroup Japan used this time build up resources; selfsufficiency was the goal While the U.S. was fighting in Europe Japan was taking over Asia Including Philippines, Guam, Dutch East Indies, Burma Philippines: Bataan Death March- 70,000 American and Filipino prisoners marched 63 miles to prison camp 7,000+ died along the way
PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC China s coast was controlled by Japan, no way to get supplies U.S. airlifted supplies over Himalayas U.S. confidence in the Pacific was low Plan: attack mainland Japan B-25 bombers fly from aircraft carriers, bomb Japan, land in China This attack: (Doolittle s raid) boosted U.S. confidence Japan caught off-guard Japan had to put more resources into protecting the mainland Japan decided to destroy the remaining American fleet
PREPARING FOR WAR IN THE PACIFIC Battle of the Coral Sea; May 1942 Completely carrier based battle Even losses, but U.S. gained strategic victory Blocked Japanese expansion to the south Learned the Japanese navy could be beat Option for fighting in Asia #1 Air bases in Alaska BUT snow, wind, fog, far for supplies from mainland #2 Bases in China BUT hard to get supplies to China by sea, because Japan controlled the seas #3 Liberating territories held by Japan Start with islands further from Japan and move toward Japan
WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945 Decided to liberate islands held by Japan Each island liberated then became a staging area Navajo code talkers Not a written language, understood by few people Battle of Midway June 1942 Japans LAST offensive move then all defense We intercepted a message so we knew they were coming Destroyed much of the Japanese navy (4 carriers, a cruiser, 300 aircraft)
WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945 Leapfrogging strategy of bypassing heavily defended island and capturing a nearby less defended island captured island becomes a base prevent Japanese supply ships from reaching the more heavily defended island This was a successful strategy BUT VERY COSTLY many soldiers died
WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945 Final Push toward Japan Iwo Jima and Okinawa key islands Airfield and staging area for invading Japan both were very bloody battles, but the Allies won Set stage for invading Japan
WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945 Manhattan Project Top secret project to develop the atomic bomb Ready by summer 1945 Truman had a decision to make Japan would fight to the death = many Allied soldiers lost if we invaded (1/2 million) The Allies had already destroyed many cities, and blockaded mainland Japan Leaders believed Japan could not win, but they would not surrender Some U.S. officials believe Japan was getting close to surrender
WAR IN THE PACIFIC 1942-1945 U.S. Bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki Truman offered one more chance for unconditional surrender BUT Aug 6, 1945 dropped A-bomb on Hiroshima Aug 9, 1945 dropped A-Bomb on Nagasaki 250,000 Japanese died in these two bombings Aug 14, 1945 V-J Day, informal surrender Official surrender a few day later on the Missouri
TOTAL LOSSES 55 million died 30 million civilians Soviets lost people 20 million U.S. 400,000 soldiers
AFTERMATH OF WWII Problems after WWI try not to repeat No more wartime productivity The Great Depression high unemployment Treaty of Versailles too harsh = set stage for WWII War-guilt clause helped Hitler come to power Reparations hurt world economy too League of Nations no U.S. ; not strong
AFTERMATH OF WWII End of Isolationism for the U.S. World Bank U.S. + 43 other nations provide loans to help countries recover from WWII Much of the funding from the U.S. International Monetary Fund Uniform exchange rates and stabilize world monetary system United Nations Replace the League of Nations Set-up by U.S. Great Britain, China, Soviet Union Four Freedoms speech and expression, worship, from want, from fear
AFTERMATH OF WWII Dealing With Defeated Axis Powers Disarm and give up territory Pay reparations BUT not a lot of money, more goods and services War Crimes Tribunal (court) Blame/punish only the leaders who had committed the crimes Nuremberg Trials Nazi/SS/Gestapo leaders responsible for concentration camps Tokyo Japanese leaders (Tojo too)
AFTERMATH OF WWII Dealing With Defeated Axis Powers Rebuilding Germany Divide Germany into 4 military occupation zones U.S., Soviet, France, Great Britain Divide Capital Berlin into 4 zones too U.S., Soviet, France, Great Britain
AFTERMATH OF WWII Rebuilding Japan Worked to bring democracy to Japan (Parliament) Emperor would be ceremonial position Worked with Japanese government to rebuild
AFTERMATH OF WWII Post War Life GI Bill Federal money (loans) to help transition back to civilian life Loans for: Education Buy a Home Start a Business Unemployment Compensation
AFTERMATH OF WWII Post War Life African Americans GI Bill helped some segregation/discrimination made it difficult to full use the GI Bill Median income did improve Women Out of factory jobs back to Men Into service jobs Teacher, bank teller, social worker, nurse