WWII Battles & Events

ALBERT EINSTEIN & OTHERS SEND LETTER TO PRES. FDR URGING RESEARCH

INTO THE ATOM & NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Aug. 1939

Sept. 1939

Nazi invasion of Poland

Official start of WWII

May-June 1940

Battle of Dunkirk

Allied troops escape to the safety of England

Miracle at Dunkirk

June 1940

The Fall of France Nazis take control of

N. France

Vichy France: Nazi run puppet gov’t. in S. France

Aug. –Sept. 1940

Battle of Britain

England’s RAF defeats the German Luftwaffe after 1 month of bombing

Radar helped RAF win!!

The Battle of Britain was effectively over by Sept. 15, 1940. The Luftwaffe lost 1,800 aircraft & 2,660 crew.

The RAF lost 1,020 aircraft & 537 crew. The RAF controlled the skies!

Pearl Harbor, HawaiiDec. 7th, 1941

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, home of the Pacific Fleet After attack, many feared of land invasion “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy”

A date which will live in infamy….

D E C . 8 , 1 9 4 1 : F D R A S K E D C O N G R E SS T O

D E C L A R E WA R O N J A PA N !

US Joins the War

After Pearl Harbor, the US joins the Allies Fall of France &

attack of USSR United under

“Remember Pearl Harbor!”

Japanese boastful

Dec. 1941 – May 1942 The Philippines

Japan invaded the islands & took Americans prisoners

Douglas MacArthur lead US troops stationed there Forced out by Japanese “I Will Return”

Bataan Death March: Captured US troops forced to march over 50 miles to POW camp Many died (30,000)

Japan controlled Philippines Disproved theory of white

domination in SE Asia

• FDR ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 & BEGINS THE INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE -AMERICANS & OTHERS

Feb. 1942

April 1942

Doolittle Raids

Showed Japan could be attacked by plane

Japanese islands

vulnerable to attack

Dampened Japanese spirits & lifted US morale

May 1942

Battle of the Coral Sea

Allies stop Japan from invading Australia

Coral Sea: May 1942Japan eyeing

AustraliaUS & Australian

troops stop Japanese advance (1st time)

Australia not invaded

New type of naval warfare: no ships, fought with airplanes from aircraft carriers

Allies lost most, but Japan unable to continue, out of fuel

Battle of Midway: June 1942“US Avenged Pearl Harbor”

• Led by Admiral Nimitz• US intercepted info. abt. Japanese movement toward strategic island of Midway, then off to finish Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor• US outnumbered 4 to 1• US took big chance, sent bulk of Navy for this sneak attack • Worst Japanese defeat

• 4 aircraft carriers, 322 planes & 1 cruiser

• Turning point of Pacific Theater• Japan begins to weaken, loses power in Pacific

Battle of Stalingrad: Aug. 1942- Feb. 1943 (Left Side)

Germany stuck on Eastern Front (Near Soviet Union) Stalingrad major Soviet industrial center,

Germany needs the resources because it’s low on oil & machinery

Nov. 1942-Feb. 1943 Hitler tried to take Stalingrad, burned city

Soviets retaliated, fighting back in -44 weather Turning point of the European Theater (1943)

US upset because already lost 200,000

USSR loses that many by breakfast everyday

8 million soldiers (estimate)

16 million civilian (estimate)

• Stalin wants US & Britain to get involved with land troops ASAP• Distract German troops• Fighting Germany alone for months

Guadalcanal: Aug. 1942 – Feb. 1943(Right Side)

1st land offensive of Pacific War

6 months battleIsland of DeathImportant for use as

an airstrip: toehold to attack on Japan

Showed how costly this would be (30%)

US moving closer to Japan

Oct. 1942

Battle of El Alamen

Allied victory in N. Africa!

Allies able to invade Europe via Italy “Belly of the Beast”

OPERATION TORCH

CODENAME OF ALLIED ASSAULT ON NAZI FORCES

IN N. AFRICA

Nov. 1942

GERMANY SURRENDERS IN TUNISIA

May 1943

June 6, 1944Operation Overlord D-DAY

June 6, 1944: Allied invasion of Normandy, France Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in charge of Allies Largest amphibious invasion in history Problems: Drop zones, fortifications, underwater mines etc. Several beaches attacked – Omaha Beach heaviest Led to the Liberation of France By Sept. 1944, most of N. Europe was free

Since you are all so clearly well versed in your knowledge of WWII, you will be

happy to know there is a quiz tomorrow

Leyte Gulf, Philippines: Oct. 1944

Guess who made good on his promise to return to the Philippines? “People of the Philippines: I have returned!”

3 major battles take place US takes the Philippines: MacArthur in charge Islands completely taken by 1945 Japanese desperate & use Kamikaze pilots: Suicide pilots

Lost 424 pilots

Dec. 1944 – Jan. 1945Battle of the BulgeBattle of Aachen: 1st

German city takenGermany broke through

American lines (creating bulge)

80 mile front & took 1 month to get back under Allied control; Germany defeated

Germany’s last major attack

Germany’s Demise2 front war: USSR &

US1945: US & Soviet

troops met in BerlinHitler hiding in

bunker with new wife & other friends

April 30, 1945: Hitler shot himself, wife took poison, gave dog cyanide-bodies burned

Hitler blamed Jews in final letter

Feb. – March 1945

Iwo JimaStrategic: serve as

base for heavy bombers (couldn’t take off from carriers)

Most protected place on earth – 20,000 Japanese

Only 200 survived

April – May 1945

Battle of Berlin

Soviet troops invade the city…

Many Nazis flee, leaving Berlin unguarded

April 28, 1945 April 30, 1945

B. Mussolini killed by Partisans as he attempted to escape into Switzerland.

Body hung in Milan to serve as proof of death

A. Hitler commits suicide & has his body burned

Death of the European Dictators

Death of Mussolini

April – June 1945

OKINAWA LAST ISLAND IN US’S WAY TO JAPAN

HEAVY CASUALTIES: SHOWED POSSIBLE HIGH LOSSES IF US INVADED

JAPAN Estimated over 1,000,000 would be lost in land invasion

of Japan

V-E DAYVICTORY IN EUROPE DAY

1 S T PART OF WAR OVER

May 8, 1945

TRINITY EXPLOSION• 1st atomic weapon detonated in Los Alamos, New Mexico: 7/16/45• 20,000 tons of TNT• Flash seen 450 miles away & heard 200 miles away

• More powerful than dared hoped• Oppenheimer: “I have become Death, the shatterer of worlds, waiting that hour that ripens to their dooms.”• $20 billion to develop• 4 bombs made (1 test, 2 for war, I unused)

August 6, 1945: US drops A-Bomb on Hiroshima Enola Gay: Plane which dropped 1st A-Bomb (Little Boy); 70,000 dead in blink of eye, 30,000 from radiation & injuries W/i 43 seconds, most buildings collapsed into dust Japan refused to surrender

Why?

Before

After

Barefoot Gen.

Aug. 9, 19452nd A-Bomb dropped

on Japan - Fat Man7,000 degrees

CentigradeEmperor horrified &

surrenders: 8/14/45

It was perhaps unforgivable, but in fact at the time, I was completely calm & composed. In other words,

it was just too much, too enormous to absorb.- Yosuke Yamahata- Nagasaki Survivor

Aftermath

Hirshima

Gone in an Instant

Art of a Survivor

Aug. 15, 1945 September 2, 1945

V-J Day: Victory in Japan. War in the Pacific

over!!!

Japan’s formal surrender is accepted!

Japan Surrenders

• NUREMBERG TRIALSWar crimes trials

Nov. 1945 – Oct. 1946