Allied Advance and D-Day
-Invasion of France
-Operation Overlord
-Allied invasion of France
-Eisenhower in charge
-Allies put out phony messages
-D-DayàJune 6, 1944
-150K US, British, Canadian soldiers
-Beginning of “Saving Private Ryan”
-Germans had fortified areaàtough to break
-Allies attackàHitler doesn’t send in reinforcements
-Phony messages worked!
-By end of June 1944, 850,000 Allied troops in France
-Allies liberating France
-By Sept. 1944, it was given that Allies were going to win
-Battle of the Bulge (late 1944)
-Germany’s last shot at winning
-Germany tries to push Allies way back into France
-Created a huge bulge in the front lines
-200K Germans attack 80K Allies
-Allied line holds strong; pushes Germany back (Jan 1945)
Victory in Europe
-February 1945àGermany retreating
-US/Britain coming from West; Soviets from East
-Allies planning for victory
-Yalta Conference (early 1945)
-Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill met at Yalta
-What to do with post-war Europe
-How to govern Germany
-Stalin promised to help out against Japan
-Stalin "promises" to respect governments of Eastern Europe
-Major bombings on German cities
-April 1945àAllies reach Germany
-April 30àHitler commits suicide with wife Eva Braun
-May 2àSoviets get to Berlin first
-May 7àGermany surrenders
-May 8àV-E Day
Final Battles
-Feb. 1945àUS attacks Iwo Jima
-Flag raising at Mt. Suribachi
-4K US killed; 20K Japanese killed
-Battle of Okinawa (April 1945)
-49K US casualties (Japan had 100K)
-Despite devastation, Japan continues on
-Allies planned for invasion of Japan in November
-Estimated 1,000,000 US troops would die
Atomic Weapons End the War
-Manhattan Project
-Top secret program to develop atomic bomb
-Oak Ridge, TN chosen to get uranium
-Got plutonium from Washington
-Employed 200K people
-Cost 2 billion (about 26 billion today)
-July 1945, Truman demands Japan surrender or else face devastation
-August 6, 1945
-Enola Gay (plane) dropped atomic bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima
-Killed 75K+
-August 9, 1945
-Atomic bomb (Fat Man) dropped on Nagasaki
-Over 240,000 deaths attributed to 2 bombs
-Japan surrenders on August 15, 1945
-Sign papers on Sept. 2, 1945 on USS Missouri
Nuremberg Trials
-World created a court to try the Nazi leaders for their crimes
-Started in November 1945 in Nuremberg Germany
-24 top Nazi leaders tried
-19 found guilty (12 sentenced to death)
-Total of 185 Nazis tried (in later trials)
United Nations
-In April 1945, delegates from 50 countries met in San Francisco
-Wanted to create a world peacekeeping organization
-League of Nations was a failure
-June 1945, approved UN charter