Goal 10.02: (Part 2): Identify military, political, and diplomatic turning points of the war and determine their significance to the outcome and aftermath of the conflict.

  1. Ending the War in Europe
  2. Battle of the ______
  3. US countered German U-boat attacks against shipping by enforcing blackouts along the East Coast (so U-boat commanders couldn’t see activity on the US coast) and by using the convoy system (ships traveling in large groups with naval escort)
  4. Also used new technologies like ______and depth charges to combat the U-boat threat
  5. As the war progressed, the Germans began to lose more U-boats than they could replace and Allied shipping was able to deliver more supplies
  6. Operation ______(Launched in November 1942)
  7. US troops landed in Algeria and Morocco in North Africa
  8. Landings were designed to bring relief to British forces in Egypt who had been holding off Germany’s Afrika Korps under the command of the “Desert Fox,” Gen. Erwin Rommel
  9. Despite the inexperience of the US forces, Axis troops were forced out of N. Africa by May 1943
  10. Erwin ______(1891 – 1944)
  11. Highly decorated hero from WWI, became Germany’s top officer during WWII
  12. Commanded German forces in the invasion of France, in North Africa, and against the Allied invaders at Normandy
  13. Implicated in an assassination plot against Hitler, Rommel quietly committed suicide to spare Germany and his family from his public disgrace
  14. Dwight D. ______(1890 – 1969)
  15. Master strategist who helped devise the US plans for winning the war against both Germany and Japan
  16. Placed in charge of US forces in North Africa and, later, over all Allied forces in Europe
  17. Would go on to be elected President of the United States in 1952
  18. George ______(1885 – 1945)
  19. Outlandish and outspoken (but highly effective) US general
  20. Played a pivotal role in the US invasions of North Africa and Italy, but was removed from command after slapping a soldier for cowardice
  21. Returned after the D-Day invasion, helping with the final push of into Germany
  22. Killed in a car crash shortly after the end of the war
  23. ______Conference (Jan. 1943)
  24. FDR and Roosevelt met in Morocco to determine the next steps to take in the war
  25. Decided on an increased bombing campaign in Germany
  26. Also decided to attack mainland Europe through Italy, rather than France
  27. Invasion of ______
  28. July – Aug. 1943: Allied forces invaded and captured ______
  29. The Allies easy conquest of Sicily was disheartening to the Italian army and alarming to the King of Italy
  30. Mussolini Overthrown
  31. July 25, 1943: Mussolini was fired and arrested by Italian King Victor Emmanuel III
  32. Italian people had lost all confidence in Mussolini and rejoiced at his ouster
  33. Italy broke its alliance with Germany in September and joined the Allies in October 1943
  34. Germans Defend Italy
  35. The German army seized control of northern Italy, freed Mussolini from prison, and forced the Allies to fight a long and costly campaign in Italy
  36. Particularly bloody battles took place at ______(Jan. – May 1944) and ______(Jan. – June 1944)
  37. Took Allies until May 1945 to gain complete control of Italy and cost them over 300,000 casualties
  38. The ______Conference (Nov. 1943)
  39. Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin met in Tehran, Iran
  40. US and Britain agreed to invade France, providing relief to the Soviets by dividing Germany’s troops along several fronts
  41. Agreed to break up Germany after the war to permanently remove them as a threat to peace
  42. Stalin agreed to help fight Japan once Germany was beaten
  43. Stalin agreed to the postwar creation of an international organization to help keep world peace
  44. Invasion of ______(Operation Overlord)
  45. Allies created fake camps along one section of the British coast to trick Germany into believing that the Allied attack would be farther north on the French coast than was actually planned
  46. Allies then had to wait for a perfect combination of weather, tides, and moonlight to launch the real invasion, aimed at Normandy
  47. ______(June 6, 1944)
  48. 7000 ships moved over 100,000 troops across the English Channel
  49. 23,000 paratroopers were dropped behind the German lines
  50. Allied bombers hit critical German defense and communication sites
  51. Naval warships began a bombardment of German fortifications along the French coast
  52. By the end of the day, the Allies had established a foothold in France
  53. Allies Liberate France
  54. By July 25, Allied forces had shattered the German defensive positions in Northern France
  55. August 25: Allies retook Paris, to much celebration by the French population
  56. By mid-September, Allies were at the German border and ready to begin an invasion of Germany itself
  57. Battle of the ______(Dec. 1944 – Jan. 1945)
  58. Germans made one last effort to break the Allied lines and cut their supplies by taking the port of Antwerp, Belgium
  59. The initial surge caused a “bulge” in the Allied lines, but the Germans could not maintain the surge, especially after Patton arrived with reinforcements
  60. The battle cost Germany over 100,000 casualties and used up their remaining war materials
  61. The ______Conference (Feb. 1945)
  62. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met in the Soviet Union to discuss postwar plans
  63. Agreed to reestablish Poland
  64. Issued the Declaration of Liberated Europe: agreement to let all the peoples of Europe to choose their own forms of government through free elections
  65. Agreed to strip Germany of its industrial machinery as war reparations
  66. Agreed to divide Germany (and its capital city of Berlin) into four zones, one each for the US, France, Britain, and USSR
  67. Death of Leaders
  68. Roosevelt
  69. After months of noticeably declining health, Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945
  70. He was replaced by his Vice-President Harry S. Truman
  71. Mussolini
  72. Mussolini was captured by Italian communists on April 28, 1945
  73. He and his entourage were shot
  74. Bodies were then hung from meat hooks, stoned by an angry crowd, and left to rot (Mussolini’s corpse was later stolen by loyalists and not recovered until August!)
  75. Hitler
  76. Committed suicide on April 30, 1945
  77. Took cyanide and shot himself (along with his newlywed wife Eva Braun)
  78. Body was then burned by his secretary
  79. No verifiable remains have ever been recovered; “Hitler lives” theories circulated for many years after the war
  80. Germany Surrenders
  81. Berlin captured by the Soviets on May 5, 1945
  82. May 7, 1945: Germany formally surrendered to the Allies; their surrender was unconditional, meaning that they had to accept whatever terms the Allies offered to end the war
  83. May 8: celebrated as “______” (Victory in Europe)
  84. Ending the War in the Pacific
  85. ______
  86. US forces elected to focus on capturing only certain strategic islands in the Pacific – ones that would allow US bombers to get within striking range of Japan and create a safe route for troop and supply movement
  87. Early Pacific Battles
  88. Tarawa (Nov. 1943)
  89. Kwajalein (Feb. 1944)
  90. Saipan, Tinian, & Guam (Jun. – Aug. 1944)
  91. US Marines took heavy losses unseating Japanese defenders, but US B-29 bombers could reach Japan once these islands were secured
  92. Battle of Guadalcanal (Aug. 1942 – Feb. 1943)
  93. U.S. amphibious attack on Japanese fortifications
  94. Land, sea, & air battle
  95. Eventually 31,000 of the 36,000 Japanese on the island were killed
  96. Douglas ______(1880 – 1964)
  97. Seasoned veteran of WWI, highly decorated soldier who had won the Medal of Honor
  98. Had vowed to return to the Philippines when forced to evacuate in 1942
  99. Led US effort to retake the Philippines and proclaimed “I have returned” when he finally landed in Oct. 1944
  100. Was US commander of occupied Japan after WWII and led UN forces in the Korean War
  101. The Philippines
  102. US forces landed at ______in Oct. 1944 to begin the retaking of the Philippines, but relied entirely on the US Navy for air cover for protection
  103. Japanese navy counterattacked, drawing the US Navy into a major naval battle that left MacArthur’s forces unprotected and nearly led to disaster
  104. US forces would not gain full control of the Philippines until July 1945, just weeks before the war ended
  105. ______Attacks
  106. The Battle of Leyte Gulf marked the first coordinated use of suicide attacks by Japanese pilots known as kamikaze (“divine wind”)
  107. Japanese high command was now resorting to desperate tactics as Japan ran out of experienced pilots and the industrial capacity to continue making new weaponry
  108. ______(Feb./Mar. 1945)
  109. First Japanese “home-island” captured by the US
  110. 20,700 of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island were killed; about 6800 of the 60,000 US Marines who landed on Iwo Jima were killed
  111. Badly damaged Japanese morale; placed Japan within easy bombing range for US bombers
  112. Firebombing of Japan
  113. Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the use of ______(jellied gasoline) bombs on Japanese cities because his bombers were having trouble hitting their targets
  114. The napalm was designed to start massive fires, which would ensure the destruction of the desired military targets, but would also lead to heavy losses of civilian life
  115. Mar. 9, 1945: firebombing of Tokyo killed over 80,000; by the war’s end, 67 Japanese cities had been destroyed using napalm
  116. Okinawa (Apr.-June 1945)
  117. Most brutal battle of the Pacific war: about 125,000 Japanese killed and 12,500 Americans
  118. Nearly 700,000 men fought in this battle (550,000 Americans)
  119. Okinawa was needed to set up a base of operations for an invasion of Japan itself
  120. The ______Project
  121. US effort to build a new type of weapon that would unleash tremendous destructive energy by splitting uranium atoms – an “atomic bomb”
  122. Led by Gen. Leslie Groves and researcher J. Robert Oppenheimer, the team produced 3 bombs
  123. 1 bomb was tested in the New Mexico desert, leaving just 2 bombs for military use
  124. Bombs were code-named “______” and “______”
  125. Harry S. ______(1884 – 1972)
  126. 1945 - 1953 (Pres.)
  127. Became president upon FDR’s death
  128. Truman now had to decide how to end the war – should the US mount an invasion of Japan, which would cost an estimated 1 million American lives or should it use the new atomic bomb, which would kill an unknown number of Japanese civilians and whose after-effects were still unknown?
  129. ______
  130. Japan was warned that unless they surrendered immediately and without conditions, they faced “prompt and utter destruction”
  131. When the Japanese did not reply, orders were given to destroy the industrial city of Hiroshima
  132. August 6, 1945: The B-29 Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” on the city, destroying 76,000 buildings and killing over 120,000 people
  133. ______
  134. When the Japanese still did not surrender, the B-29 Bock’s Car dropped “Fat Man” on the port of Nagasaki, killing over 50,000 on August 9, 1945
  135. On the same day, the Soviets declared war on Japan and began to prepare to enter the war in the Pacific
  136. Japan Surrenders
  137. Faced with destruction on an unforeseen scale (and unaware that the US had no more atomic bombs to use), Emperor Hirohito ordered his government to surrender unconditionally
  138. Fighting stopped August 15, 1945 (“______”)
  139. Formal surrender took place on September 2, 1945
  140. As part of the terms of surrender, Japan was occupied by U.S. forces until Apr. 1952