WWII Ends An Allied Victory

The Tide Turns

• Key battles helped the Allies gain the advantage in Africa & the Eastern Front:
• The Battle of El Alamein: Egypt, 1942 • Rommel vs. Gen. Montgomery
• Operation Torch: Northern Africa, • 1942-43
• Rommel vs. Gen. Eisenhower

• Battle of Stalingrad: German army on the defensive, 1942-43
• Invasion of Italy: Italy surrendered, Mussolini murdered (April 1945)

Mussolini Hanging in Milan, Italy

Victory in Europe

• 1943, a secret invasion force was built in
Great Britain 	
• D-Day invasion force was ready forNormandy, France
• Called Operation Overlord
• Lead by U.S. Gen. Eisenhower
• Largest land/sea attack in history • Began June 6, 1944
• Germany knew of invasion, but where?
• Fake army sent to Calais, France, Germany duped
• France, Belgium & Luxembourg liberated Sept. 1944

D-Day Invasion

D-Day Invasion Images

The End is Near

• Battle of the Bulge:

and Soviet Union
in East
• Germany surrounded by Britain/America in West

• 2 front battle

pushed him back
• Hitler pushed through the line, but the Allies

Germany, Berlin bombed
• By March 1945, the Allies crossed into

• Hitler committed suicide, April 30, 1945

Hitler and Eva Braun

Unconditional Surrender

• Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945 • Accepted by General Eisenhower
• May 8th, surrender was officially signed • Known as V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day

ended in Europe
, fighting
Victory in the Pacific • Although the war had

Pacific.
would continue in the

as the Allies closed in.
• The Japanese lost ground

• Battle of Leyte

• Iwo Jima (March 1945)

Okinawa- (Apri -June
of the war)
• 1945-bloodiestl land battle

The Atomic Bomb

• Pres. Roosevelt died in April 1945, VP Truman became president.

• Pres. Truman was informed that an invasion of Japan could cost 1 million Allied lives.

• Truman had to decide whether or not to use a brand new weapon to end the war- the atomic bomb

• Known as the Manhattan Project

• Truman only knew about it when he became president.

• Truman gave Japan a surrender warning- no response from Japan.

The War is Over

• First bomb dropped Aug. 6, 1945 on Hiroshima • 73,000 killed instantly
• No surrender response from Japan

• Second bomb dropped Aug. 9, 1945 on Nagasaki • 37,000 killed instantly
• Radiation killed many more

Japanese surrendered to U.S. Gen MacArthur
• on Sept. 2, 1945: V-J Day, Victory. in Japan Day!

Victory in Japan Day!

Bombing Aftermath

Hiroshima Pictures

the most)
Aftermath of War • 60 million people dead (S.U. had

• 50 million uprooted from homes	

Property damage was in the
members
.
• billions (major cities destroyed) • Many searched for lost family

countries
• Communists rise up in war-torn

1945 to prevent future
• United Nations formed in June

aggressions

U.S. Occupies Japan

• General MacArthur- began process of demilitarization in Japan

• Goal- bring democracy to the people • New constitution signed May 3, 1947
• 2 billion dollars in U.S. aid

• Emperor had to declare “he was not a God.”

Nuremburg Trials

• In 1946, 23 nations attempted to punish high ranking German officials for their role in the Holocaust

• 22 Nazi leaders were put on trial in what became known as the Nuremburg Trials

• Tried for war “crimes against humanity”

• 12 of the 22 on trial were sentenced to death by hanging • Only 1 of those convicted expressed remorse
• 2 committed suicide before they were hanged

• After the hangings, the bodies were burned at the Dachau concentration camp in the same ovens that cremated the
Jews

Nuremburg Defendants