America in World War II (Part Two) The Allied Halting of

Hitler The Battle of the Atlantic

lasted from 1939-1945. Hitler entered war with large fleet of modern U-Boats.

                                                                                                           

 

The Allied Halting of Hitler The Battle of the Atlantic lasted from 1939-1945.

Hitler entered war with large fleet of modern U-Boats.

Submarines would act alone or in concert as “wolf packs”. Their goal: Sink as many merchant ships as possible and make it impossible for the allies to maintain their chains of supply. Large surface ships such as the battleship Bismarck were also used as raiders but were generally less successful.

Bismarck

Opening a Second Front from North Africa to Rome 1942-1944

A Second Front from North Africa to Rome Many Americans wanted a diversionary invasion of France in

1942 or 1943. British having tried and failed with Canadians to make a landing

along the now heavily fortified coast argued for the Mediterranean.

Fighting and Diplomacy in Africa 1942-1943

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower leads an invasion of North Africa in November 1942.

Largest amphibious landing in human history to that point.

German-Italian army eventually defeated and trapped in Tunisia

January 1943 FDR meets Churchill at Casablanca in Morocco. Agreed to step war in the Pacific, insist on “Unconditional Surrender” & invade Sicily and Italy

The Allied Invasion of Italy and Sicily 1943-1944

Sicily invaded and after hard fighting, captured in August 1943

September 1943, Italy surrenders unconditionally, Mussolini is overthrown but Germans fight on.

Rome was liberated June 4,1944 Fighting in Italy would continue until

May 1945 diverting key German resources from both Western and Eastern Fronts

                                                                                                           

 

D-Day: June 6th, 1944 FDR, Churchill, and Stalin met in

Tehran, Iran late in 1943. Agreed to coordinate Allied attacks on the Eastern and Western Fronts

Eisenhower given command of D-Day’s Operation Overlord

Along with a great deal of subterfuge Normandy is selected as sight of the invasion.

June 6, 1944 British, Canadian, and American led forces crash ashore and after determined resistance fight their way inland.

The Liberation of France Control of the air over France was

vital for Allies. Allies fought to break out from

Normandy’s “Hedge Country” Once out of Normandy progress was

fast. US General George Patton made fast progress. Paris was liberated in August 1944.

Attack carried forward and began to press Germany itself although it was delayed due to difficulty crossing the Rhine River.

FDR: The Fourth Termite 1944

Although ill, FDR ran again and won a fourth term in November 1944.

The Last Days of Hitler

Germany was faltering by December 1944.

Hitler had one more gamble: Attack the Western Allies and take Antwerp, the Allies’ chief supply depot.

Attack began in thinly guarded Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Americans driven back to village of Bastogne and surrounded. Winter weather prevented allied air forces from helping beleaguered ground forces.

Defiant American General A.C. McAuliffe refused to surrender. They were relieved by Patton’s 3rd Army and air power shortly after Christmas.

The Last Days of Hitler (Part Two)

Allied forces crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and the Elbe in April 1945

Soviets captured Berlin in April. Hitler committed suicide. US & Soviet soldiers meet a short distance from Berlin.

FDR dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at Warm Springs Georgia April 12, 1945. Harry Truman becomes president.

Holocaust Revealed Reports of death camps had

been circulating for years and Washington had failed to shelter Jews (St. Louis incident) or attempt liberation

Upon discovery, the world was sickened by the sight of mass graves and starving survivors at Auschwitz, Treblinka, & Dachau. Six Million Jews and millions of other “non-desirables” were killed.

Japan Dies Hard

Japan’s empire was shrinking fast. American submarines sank fifty percent of all Japanese merchant ships.

Tokyo and other cities were firebombed killing thousands

Battle of Leyte Gulf destroys Japanese Navy October 1944

MacArthur recaptures the Philippines October 1944-January 1945

The End is Near

Iwo Jima and Okinawa bloody American victories March-June 1945

Kamikaze pilots damage American ships. Would the Japanese ever surrender?

Potsdam Conference in July 1945 demanded unconditional surrender of Japan.

The Atomic Bombs

Manhattan Project headed by American & German exiles including Albert Einstein and J. Robert Openheimer

On July 16, 1945 test bomb is exploded at Alamagordo, New Mexico

August 6, 1945 Atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima ultimately killing 180,000 people. Nagasaki blast killed about eighty thousand three days later

Japan Surrenders, August 14,1945 World War II is over