30 6 The End of the War BATTLE

30: 6 The End of the War

• BATTLE OF STALINGRAD: Summer 1942 • Germans attacked the SU • SU surrounded the Germ, forcing them to surrender • AFRICA • Nov. 1942: Gen. Eisenhower brought US troops there to help the GB troops there • Trapped Rommel’s (Desert Fox) Axis troops between them, forced surrender in May 1943 • Allies kept ctrl of Suez Canal, Mediterranean became safer to travel, ctrl. of Fr. colonies went back to the French govt, Italian ctrl in Africa fell apart

• “SOFT UNDERBELLY OF AXIS” • Italy & Balkans (Greece) were easiest areas to take over 1 st, force Mussolini out of office • Italy’s new govt. agreed to stop fighting vs. the Allies & decl. war on Germany in 1943 • GAINING STRENGTH: Allied bombing raids on Axis increased & Allies improved in Atlantic (sonar) • BATTLE OF CORAL SEA & BATTLE OF MIDWAY: Pacific island battles in summer 1942 that gained momentum for the US vs. Japan

• ISLAND HOPPING: US began to take over only key islands in Pacific instead of trying to win them all, by doing so they were able to cut off the ones they didn’t have ctrl over • DEC. 8, 1941 (day after Pearl Harbor): Philippine Islands under ctrl of Gen. Douglas Mac. Arthur were also attacked by Japan • Planes had been left on runway • Japanese made land invasion too, pushing all troops from US & Philippines to the Bataan Peninsula • Mac. Arthur was forced to escape to Australia, but vowed to return • BATAAN DEATH MARCH (1942): 78, 000 POWs were forced to walk 55 miles under ctrl of Japanese • armed guards that shot anyone the rebelled, was exhausted, etc. • Very little (if any) food & water • 10, 000+ Filipinos & approx. 600 Amer. died

• JUNE 6, 1944 D-DAY: Allies land on Normandy Beach in France (1 million + in a month) • Allies pushed north, freed Paris & cont. toward Germany • BATTLE OF THE BULGE: Allies finally reach the German line & fight a fierce 10 day battle before the Germ. start to retreat • SQUEEZING THE GERMANS: SU began to push toward Germ. from the east • Met US troops in eastern Germ. in April 1945 • Agreed SU would take Berlin • 2 days before SU entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide • MAY 8, 1945: V-E DAY: Victory in Europe Day

• PACIFIC BATTLES CONTINUE: Marines fought difficult battles @ Iwo Jima & Okinawa • many Allies dead & ships destroyed • Jap. kamikaze pilots • Jap. refused to give up, US began to think about invading the main islands of Japan • YALTA: SU agrees to join the fight vs. Japan in exchange for several Jap. territories • POTSDAM: New leaders (Attlee in GB, Truman in US) demand a Jap. surrender

• ATOMIC BOMBS: • Aug. 6, 1945: Hiroshima (80, 000 killed instantly) • Aug. 9, 1945: Nagasaki (40, 000 killed instantly) • radiation sickness, spontaneous fires, etc • JAP. SURRENDER: only ask that emperor retain his title & authority • US’s Gen. Mac. Arthur will also aid Jap. • Sept. 2, 1945 V-J DAY: Victory over Japan day • Surrender documents signed on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay THE NUMBERS *22 million+ soldiers killed *34 million+ soldiers wounded *Euro/Asia: 16 million+ civilians died