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Part 4The End of the War 1944-’45

World War II, 1930-1945. Part 4The End of the War 1944-’45. War Ends in Europe. D-Day (June 6, 1944) “Operation Overlord” Allied invasion of France at Normandy (opens a 2 nd front) High casualties as Germans were entrenched all along coast By end of August, Paris had been liberated

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Part 4The End of the War 1944-’45

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  1. World War II, 1930-1945 Part 4The End of the War1944-’45

  2. War Ends in Europe • D-Day (June 6, 1944) • “Operation Overlord” • Allied invasion of France at Normandy (opens a 2nd front) • High casualties as Germans were entrenched all along coast • By end of August, Paris had been liberated • Soviet Victories • By end of 1945, Red Army only 40 mi. outside Berlin

  3. Battle of the Bulge • December, 1944: Germans launch fierce counter-offensive in Belgium • U.S. forces were pushed back in the middle of their lines, causing a “bulge” in Allied front • January, 1945: U.S. break through German line of attack and start rolling eastward to Germany • Germany Surrenders (May 7,1945) • Soviet and U.S. armies meet in Berlin early May • May 8: “V-E Day” (Victory in Europe)

  4. War Ends in the Pacific • Final Battles • Late 1944, Allies moving closer to Japan • Battle of Iwo Jima (Feb.1945) • Only 750 mi. from Japan; U.S. needed launch area for its bombers to reach Japan safely • High casualties: U.S. lost 7,000; Japanese around 19,000 • Okinawa(March-June,1945) • Only 350 mi. from Japan • Americans lost 12,000 to Japan’s 100,000! • Way now open for U.S. invasion of Japan

  5. The Atomic Bomb • The Manhattan Project (code name for the development of an atomic bomb) began in 1939; FDR wanted to build it before Nazis • Los Alamos, N.M. (July 1945): 1st successful test of the bomb completed • Oak Ridge Tennessee, government facility where much of the research was done. • Pres. Harry S. Truman forced to make decision---invade Japan/ or drop bomb? • July 26, 1945: U.S. demands unconditional surrender from Japanese; no response

  6. The Bomb (cont.) • August 6, 1945: • Col. Paul Tibbets and crew of the Enola Gay, drop the 1st atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima (killing 70,000 instantaneously while destroying much of the city) • August 9: • 2ndbomb (Fat Man) is dropped on Nagasaki killing 75,000. • Allies ask for undconditional surrender, threaten the city of Tokyo with next bomb (Secret: the U.S. had no more bombs, they had built 3, and the first (Gadget) they had tested in the desert in Los Alamos New Mexico) • August 15: Japan formally agrees to surrender (V-J Day)

  7. The Postwar World Europe in state of destruction, chaos, and instability • Farms, buildings, & entire towns had been destroyed • Many Central European nations’ economies near collapse • Thousands had been uprooted: POWs, concentration camp survivors looking for lost loved ones, refugees who had fled homes during war

  8. The Allies Try to Plan for Future • Yalta Conference (February,1945) • “Big Three” meet to discuss plans for future of postwar Europe • Germany was to be divided into Allied sectors • Stalin would be allowed to keep some of Poland as a “buffer” btwn. USSR & Germany • USSR promised to allow democratic elections in nations of Eastern Europe that had been taken by Red Army • FDR got Stalin to promise to enter Pacific war with Japan and join a United Nations organization that was being established after WWII

  9. Planning for the Postwar Future • The Potsdam Conference (July,1945) • Big Three (Truman replaced FDR who had died in May) met once again amid growing suspicion that Stalin could not be trusted in Eastern Europe • Truman and Stalin took immediate dislike for one another as Truman was given the news about the successful test of the atom bomb at this conference • Stage was set for beginnings of a new conflict: The Cold War

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