WWII, COLD WAR, KOREAN WARAmerican History II - Unit 5

Ms. Brown

Review• Provide 3 pieces of evidence that proved FDR was preparing for war

before US entrance into WWII in 1941?• Cash and carry policy• Lend-Lease Act• Selective Training and Service Act• Atlantic Charter with GB• Shoot-on-sight u-boat policy

• What happened on December 7, 1941 and what the US response?• Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor• US declared war on Japan on Dec. 8

• Which 3 major countries were considered the Axis Powers? • Axis Powers – Germany, Italy, Japan

• In what ways did the US gov’t regulate wartime economy and production?• Office of Price Administration – fought inflation through price freezing• War Productions Board – converted factories to wartime production, allocated

raw materials, ensured constant wartime production• Mandatory rationing of certain goods – sugar, meat, coffee, gasoline, etc

5.4 – WWII IN EUROPE

US & GB Join Forces• Dec. 1941 – Jan. 1942 – Churchill

in DC with FDR to devise war plans• Agreed Hitler was a greater threat than

Japan start with Europe, then move to Pacific

• Why would Churchill have an interest in stopping Hitler in Europe first?

• FDR-Churchill bromance…• “[We formed] a very strong affection,

which grew with our years of comradeship.” – Churchill

• “It is fun to be in the same decade with you.” – FDR to Churchill

Battle of the Atlantic• Early 1942 – Hitler ordered u-boat raids of ships along the US

east coast• aimed to prevent food and materials from reaching GB and the USSR

(cutting their US lifeline)• By Sept 1942 – 681 ships sunk by wolfpacks

• Allies organized cargo ships to use to convoy system as in WWI (groups of ships traveling with destroyers for protections)

Battle of the Atlantic• By mid 1943 – Allies had upper hand in the Atlantic

• Convoy system very effective in thwarting attacks and destroying u-boats

• US had launched an intense period of ship building to replace lost ships (140 ships/month)

Battle of Stalingrad• June 1941 – Hitler violated the

nonaggression pact and attacked USSR• USSR received support from GB

and US

• Nov 1941 – cold winter stopped the advance of German troops outside of Moscow and Leningrad

• Summer 1942 – Hitler set up an offensive in southern USSR with 2 goals:• Capture Soviet oil fields in the

Caucasus Mountains• Wipe out Stalingrad – major

industrial center on Volga River

Battle of Stalingrad• August 1942 – German troops

approached Stalingrad while the Luftwaffe (German air force) bombed the city

• Stalin ordered Soviet troops to defend his namesake town but Stalingrad was in ruin By Sept 1942, 9/10 of city German controlled

• Winter 1942 – Soviet tanks surrounded Stalingrad with German troops inside and cut off their supplies starving German troops surrendered on Jan. 31, 1943

• TURNING POINT in WWII in favor of USSR• German troops retreated • Soviet troops advanced westward

North African Front• 1942 - To divert German focus away

from the Soviet front, Stalin urged GB and the US to open a second front in Western Europe opened 2nd front in northern African instead.• the Allies didn’t have enough troops to fight

the mass of German soldiers in Europe• Restrict scope of Axis power by taking

African possessions

• Allies launched an assault on Axis-controlled areas in North Africa Nov. 1942, Operation Torch, led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower• Allied forces chased German troops under

General Erwin Rommel eastward• Months of heavy fighting Rommel’s

troops surrendered in May 1943

The Italian Campaign• Spring 1943 – FDR and Churchill

decided to attack Italy before attacking Germany through France

• Summer 1943 – Allied troops moved from North Africa into southern Italy quick capture of Sicily• Embarrassed Italian king forced

Mussolini to retire and stripped Il Duce of all power

• Italians relieved, thinking the war is over for Italy… not yet!

• Hitler defended Italy (last stronghold before Germany) and battles continued in mainland Italy through the end of the war in 1945

Mussolini’s Death• After resignation, German

troops rescued Mussolini from prison and put him in charge of a Nazi puppet-gov’t in northern Italy (Italian Social Republic)

• 1945 – Axis powers in Italy to surrender, Mussolini and mistress captured while trying to escape to Spain

• April 28, 1945 – executed (shot) by anti-fascist Italian forces• The bodies of Mussolini, his

mistress, and several other fascist officials were hung in a public square

Notable Heroes• 99th Pursuit Squadron aka the Tuskegee

Airmen• All-black squadron• Influential in capturing Sicily, effectively battled

the German Luftwaffe• Earned 2 Distinguished Unit Citations

• 92nd Infantry Division aka the Buffaloes• All-black infantry unit• In only 6 months 7 Legion of Merit Awards, 65 Silver Stars, and 162 Bronze

Stars for courage under fire

• Company E of the 141st Regiment, 36th Division• All Mexican-American unit, one of the most decorated in the war

• 100th Battalion• 1,300 Hawaiian Nisei (2nd generation Japanese American)• Purple Heart Battalion – most decorated unit in US history

Allies Liberate Europe• Late 1943 – enough troops and momentum

to launch an attack on German-occupied France Operation Overlord led by General Eisenhower• 3M British, American, and Canadian troops

and large amounts of war supplies sent to GB • Planned to attack Normandy in Northern

France

• Need to keep plans secret Operation Fortitude• Phantom army with fake headquarters and

equipment, fake messages detailing an attack on the French port of Calais

• Hitler sent troops to Calais to brace for the attack

D-Day• Operation Overlord – planned

real invasion of German-occupied France (day of attack – “D-Day”)

• June 6, 1944 – “D-Day”• Invasion of the Normandy shores

shortly after midnight• Amphibious landing – air, land, and

sea largest in history• German attention was directed at

Calais, but German troops in Normandy retaliated

• Omaha Beach saw the most casualties

Allies Gain Ground• Despite heavy casualties, the Allies held

80 miles of beaches within a week of D-Day.

• July 25, 1944 – General Omar Bradley launched a massive air and land attack on Axis troops at St. Lô created a gap in the German line for General George Patton on the way to Paris.

• July 27, 1944 – French resistance and American troops reached Paris and liberated France from German occupation.

• Sept. 1944 – France, Belgium, and Luxembourg freed

Election of 1944• Democrat – FDR

• VP – Harry Truman

• Republican – Thomas Dewey• Campaigned for smaller gov’t

and less spending

• POTUS – FDR 4th term• “don’t change a horse mid-

stream”• Despite rumors of ailing health

The Battle of the Bulge• Oct. 1944 – American troops

captured 1st German town (Aachen) Hitler’s last resort – break through Allied lines to capture the Belgian port of Antwerp

• Dec. 16, 1944 – Hitler’s tanks attempted to break the Allied lines but created a bulge The Battle of the Bulge• Raged for a month with no German

gain but many losses• Eventually Hitler retreated

Liberation of Death Camps• Allied troops pressed eastward through Germany, while

Soviet troops pushed westward across Poland• July 1944 – Soviet troops found first death camp• Nazi guards tried to hide and burn evidence of crimes• Soviet troops entered Majdanek to find 1,000 starving prisoners,

the world’s largest crematorium, and a storehouse containing 800,000 shoes

• American troops were equally horrified in Germany

Unconditional Surrender• Allied leaders had already decided in 1942 that

they would not accept anything but unconditional surrender by the Axis powers.• Unconditional surrender – enemy nations have to

accept whatever terms of peace the victor dictate

• April 25, 1945 – Soviet troops stormed Berlin• German soldiers who tried to desert were

shot/hung

• April 29, 1945 – Hitler retreated to underground bunker• Married long-time partner Eva Braun• Wrote last address to Germans – blamed Jews

for starting war and his generals for losing it

• April 26, 1945 – Hitler and Braun committed suicide then bodies burned

End of War in Europe• April 12, 1945 – FDR

died of stroke• 33rd POTUS - Harry Truman

(will face some DIFFICULT decisions concerning the war in the Pacific)

• Mary 8, 1945 – Victory in Europe Day aka “V-E Day”• Third Reich unconditionally

surrendered to Allied forces• WWII in Europe ended