Standard 7.0 Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of World War II on the US and the nation s subsequent role in the world. Opening: Pages 249-250 and 253-254 in your Reading Study Guide. Work Period: WW II European Front Notes Video Clip WW II Pacific Front Notes Video Clip Closing: Quiz
Tensions between the US and the USSR The US and Soviet Union were allies only because both were enemies of Germany. They had fundamental differences in their economic and political systems. The Soviets became recipients of Lend Lease. To fully understand the growing tensions, let s take a look at the major events of WW II.
The Big Three Winston Churchill of Great Britain Franklin D. Roosevelt of the US Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union Met throughout the war to plan strategies and later make postwar plans. The Soviets were taking the brunt of the war on the eastern front, and wanted the Allies to draw away some attention. The delay in opening a second front was based on the decision to produce bombers rather than the landing craft needed to launch a full scale invasion of Europe.
1. THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN In the summer of 1940 Germany launched an air attack on England The goal was to bomb England into submission Every night for two solid months, bombers pounded British targets: airfields, military bases and then cities
RAF FIGHTS BACK The Royal Air Force fought back the new device called radar With radar, British pilots could spot German planes even in darkness The British Spitfire Plane was instrumental in downing 175 Nazi planes on September 15, 1940 Six weeks later, Hitler called off the attack on England A Spitfire dogs a German Domier Do-17 as it crosses the Tower of London
2. THE NORTH AFRICAN FRONT Operation Torch an invasion of Axis -controlled North Africa --was launched in 1942 Purpose was to free the Mediterranean Sea from German control and protect the oil fields of the Middle East. This operation took some pressure off of the USSR. American tanks roll in the deserts of Africa and defeat German and Axis forces
THE EASTERN FRONT & MEDITERRANEAN Battle of Stalingrad was a huge Allied victory Hitler wanted to wipe out Stalingrad a major industrial center In the summer of 1942, the Germans took the offensive in the southern Soviet Union By the winter of 1943, the Allies began to see victories on land as well as sea The first great turning point was the Battle of Stalingrad
3. BATTLE OF STALINGRAD For weeks the Germans pressed in on Stalingrad Then winter set in and the Germans were wearing summer uniforms The Germans surrendered in January of 1943 Wounded in the Battle of Stalingrad The Soviets lost more than 1 million men in the battle (more than twice the number of deaths the U.S. suffered in all the war)
4. ITALIAN CAMPAIGN ANOTHER ALLIED VICTORY The Italian Campaign got off to a good start as the Allies easily took Sicily American and British landings in Italy opened another front in Europe but delayed a direct attack on Germany. Italy surrendered but German forces continued to fight on the Italian peninsula and tied down Allied forces there.
TUSKEGEE AIRMEN Among the brave men who fought in North Africa and Italy were pilots of the all-black 99 th squadron the Tuskegee Airmen The pilots made numerous effective strikes against Germany and won two distinguished Unit Citations
On May 31, 1943, the 99 th Squadron, the first group of African-American pilots trained at the Tuskegee Institute, arrived in North Africa
ALLIES LIBERATE EUROPE Allies sent fake coded messages indicating they would attack here Even as the Allies were battling for Italy, they began plans on a dramatic invasion of France It was known as Operation Overlord and the commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower Also called D-Day, the operation involved 3 million U.S. & British troops and was set for June 6, 1944
5. D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944 D-Day was an amphibious landing soldiers going from sea to land D-Day was the largest land-sea-air operation in military history Despite air support, German retaliation was brutal especially at Omaha Beach Within a month, the Allies had landed 1 million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies and 170,000 vehicles
OMAHA BEACH 6/6/44
Landing at Normandy
Planes drop paratroopers behind enemy lines at Normandy, France
Losses were extremely heavy on D- Day
6. BATTLE OF THE BULGE After D-Day, Germany was engaged on three fronts in Europe (Italy, France and the Soviet Union) The Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive and the beginning of the end for the Nazis. American, British and French forces marched towards Berlin from the west and the Soviets moved towards Berlin from the east.
Activity One Watch video clip from Saving Private Ryan.
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC The US pursued a strategy of islandhopping. The goal was to get close enough to the Japanese home islands to launch air attacks in preparation for an invasion of the Japanese home islands.
7. THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY Japan s next thrust was toward Midway Island a strategic Island northwest of Hawaii Admiral Chester Nimitz, the Commander of American Naval forces in the Pacific, moved to defend the Island The Americans won a decisive victory as their planes destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and 250 planes This put Japan on the defensive.
The Battle of Midway was a turning point in the war soon the Allies were island hopping toward Japan
KAMIKAZE PILOTS ATTACK ALLIES In the Battle for the Philippines, 424 Kamikaze pilots sank 16 ships and damaged 80 more The Americans continued leapfrogging across the Pacific toward Japan Japanese countered by employing a new tactic Kamikaze (divine wind) attacks Pilots in small bomb-laden planes would crash into Allied ships
General MacArthur and the Allies next turned to the Islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa The islands were critical to the Allies as a base for an attack on Japan Demonstrated the tenacity of Japanese soldiers and the cost in American lives that nay invasion of the Japanese home islands would entail. 8. IWO JIMA and OKINAWA American soldiers plant the flag on the Island of Iwo Jima after their victory
In February 1945, as the Allies pushed toward victory in Europe, an ailing FDR met with Churchill and Stalin at the Black Sea resort of Yalta in the USSR A series of compromises were worked out concerning postwar Europe 9. THE YALTA CONFERENCE (L to R) Churchill, FDR and Stalin at Yalta
YALTA AGREEMENTS 1) They agreed to divide Germany into 4 occupied zones after the war 2) Stalin agreed to free elections in Eastern Europe 3) Stalin agreed to help the U.S. in the war against Japan and to join the United Nations
INVADE JAPAN? After Okinawa, MacArthur predicted that a Normandy type amphibious invasion of Japan would result in 1,500,000 Allied deaths President Truman saw only one way to avoid an invasion of Japan... Okinawa The loss of life at Iwo Jima and Okinawa convinced Allied leaders that an invasion of Japan was not the best idea
ATOMIC BOMB DEVELOPED Japan had a huge army that would defend every inch of the Japanese mainland, and an invasion would cost large numbers of American casualties So Truman decided to use a powerful new weapon developed by scientists working on the Manhattan Project the Atomic Bomb
10. U.S. DROPS TWO ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN Truman warned Japan in late July 1945 that without a immediate Japanese surrender, it faced prompt and utter destruction On August 6 (Hiroshima) and August 9 (Nagasaki) a B-29 bomber dropped Atomic Bombs on Japan The plane and crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan Show Atomic bomb video
August 6, 1945 HIROSHIMA
August 9, 1945 NAGASAKI
The End of the War The Soviets occupied northern Korea, laying the foundation for the Korean War of the 1950s. The atomic bomb increased the distrust between the US and the USSR since the technology was not shared before the bombs were dropped or after the war. The US and the USSR began an arms race.
Activity Two Watch video clip from Flags of Our Fathers
CLOSING QUIZ