Chapter 28
WWII
Pearl Harbor
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Sunday, December 7 1941
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Japanese achieve complete surprise
Sank 4 battleships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed over 2,400 soldiers.
Sailors on the U.S.S. Arizona were trapped inside the ship, and never recovered.
African Offensive
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British wanted to begin with German and Italian forces in northern Africa
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British invasion on October 1942
Montgomery vs. Rommel
Patton and American forces don’t arrive until November.
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By May 1943 Rommel and Nazis are forced to flee back to Italy.
Italy or France
January 1943: Allied meeting in Casablanca
Stalin:
Churchill: Sicilian invasion = knock Italy out of the war first
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July 1943: U.S. and British forces landed in Sicily, 38 days later Italian mainland.
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Invasion of Italy was ultimately a success
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Used up many supplies that would be needed for that invasion.
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They felt their allies were deliberately postponing the invasion
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The Atlantic Wall: Hitler’s defense of the French coast that many thought impossible to break.
Operation Overlord:
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Dwight Eisenhower: American commander for D-Day, Patton used as a decoy.
There were TWO sites for possible invasion, Normandy or Calais
Used deception to make Germans think - Calais.
D-Day: June 6, 1944
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Did NOT go as planned
Weather disrupted navy plans
German guns threw paratroopers all over France
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After D-Day
Race for Germany after breaking the Atlantic Wall
About to cross the Rhine by November
Battle of the Bulge:
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Miserable siege at the town of Bastogne became symbol of American will.
Hitler’s Mistake in Russia
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City was destroyed, but Russians refused to quit
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War Ends in Europe
Allies closing in on Hitler on both fronts
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May 8, 1945 the Germans formally surrendered – V-E Day
War in the Pacific: After Pearl Harbor
Battle of Midway:
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Gen. Douglas MacArthur: American commander in the Pacific.
Island Hopping:
Guadalcanal
60,000 Americans vs. 36,000 Japanese
42,589 Total Casualties
14,889 Americans
28,000 + Japanese
Iwo Jima
Japanese fanatical and desperate, would not surrender.
100,000 Americans vs. 25,000 Japanese
18,000 Americans wounded 6,800 Americans killed
All except 1,000 Japanese presumed dead, missing, or in hiding.
Desperate Japanese
Kamikazes:
Bonsai Charges:
Bombing Japan
Manhattan Project:
Got the idea from Nazi scientists that fled Germany.
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Fire bombings of Tokyo killed 83,000 Japanese… still no surrender
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Dropping the Bomb
On August 6, 1945:
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Three days later, another was dropped on Nagasaki.
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Hirohito officially surrendered on board the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945.