Winning the War

Chapter 11, Lesson 3

Let’s Watch a Clip

• https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/worldwarii/

Battles in North Africa and Europe

• 1930: Germany, Italy, and Japan prepare for war

• World was surprised by Axis power’s power• Adolf Hitler and Germany quickly conquer• Germany attack Soviet Union• Japan takes control of Pacific region

(Philippines)

• 1942, Allies move against Axis powers• Americans join Allies in North Africa to fight

Germans and Italians in Sahara desert• VICTORY: Axis surrender in Africa in 1943

Fighting in Italy

• One month later…– Allies attack Italian Island of Sicily

• October 1943…– Allied invade Italy– Move North, Germans retreat– Many killed and wounded on both sides– Tuskegee Airmen, African American pilots, fly over

Italy

• At the same time…– Germans suffer losses from the Soviet Union– Allied airplanes control skies of Europe

• By 1944, Germany is in trouble!– VICTORY: Soviet Union turns back German

invaders at Battle of Stalingrad• Hitler attempts to capture Stalingrad• Eastern turning point of the war

D-day and Victory• D-day– June 6, 1944– The LARGEST invasion by sea in world history

• Before battle, Dwight D. Eisenhower inspires the soldiers

• 200,000 Allied soldiers invade Normandy, France

• One million land in France in 10 days• Allows Allies to move toward Germany

V-E Day

• At the same time…• Soviet soldiers advance on Germany from East• May 8, 1945– Germany surrenders– Victory in Europe Day

But…the war is not over yet!

At the same time…

Fighting in the Pacific

• Japan in the Pacific• Japanese won many victories• By 1942, Japan controls large part of western

Pacific and eastern Asia• VICTORY: June 1942– Battle of Midway– Admiral Chester Nimitz

• Aircraft carrier: a large ship that carries airplanes far from land– Planes land and take off on deck

• Battle of Midway– US planes sink 4 Japanese aircraft carriers and

shoot down many Japanese airplanes– MAJOR TURNING POINT IN WAR AGAINST JAPAN

• Island Hopping– The plan to defeat Japan– Allies skip over some islands guarded by the

Japanese and capture others– Each island used to attack closer to Japan

Island Battles

• Began in August 1942– US invade Guadalcanal

• Next 3 years– Allies capture Guinea, Iwo Jima, and others

• Japanese launch fleet to stop U.S. navy from freeing Philippines

• Navy battle in Leyte Gulf• Japanese suffer heavy losses ENDS Japan’s

navy battle ability

Code Talkers• Navajo code talkers: Navajo Indians who

joined U.S. Marines• Use Navajo language to create secret code

that Japan could not understand• Sent messages and orders from Allied leaders

to soldiers

Victory of Japan

• Summer 1945• Allies close enough to invade Japan• President Harry Truman fears many will die in

the invasion• A new plan…atomic bomb• Atomic Bomb: a powerful bomb that can

destroy an entire city– Truman hopes will end the war

• August 6, 1945– U.S. airplane drops atomic bomb in Hiroshima

• August 9, 1945 (3 days later)– U.S. drops bomb in Nagasaki

• Japan’s emperor, Hirohito, surrenders• August 14, 1945– V-J Day: Victory in Japan Day

A Changed World

• Many ruins to pick up from WWII– No homes, no food, no jobs in Europe and in Asia

The Holocaust

• Allied soldiers discover horrors of the war• Nazis killed millions of people• Concentration Camp: a place where large

numbers of people are held prisoner an forced to work– Beaten, starved, killed

• ½ of those killed Jews: Hitler blamed for Germany’s problems

• 12 million people died or were killed in concentration camps

• 6 million of those being Jews• Holocaust: the mass murder through

concentration camps and injustice