World War

II

World War

IIWinningthe War

The 442nd Regiment• Formed in 1943 • Made up of Nisei• Fought with distinction in Italy

and France• Most decorated combat unit in

U.S. history Members of the 442nd hiking through France, late 1944The Tuskegee Airmen• All-black combat unit formed in 1941

• 99th Fighter Squadron formed in AL• Escorted bombers over central

Europe• Proved superior or equal to white

pilotsAirmen Marcellus G. Smith and Roscoe

C. Brown in Italy, 1945

Flying Tigers• American pilots who volunteered to serve

in the Chinese Air Force before U.S. entered the war

• Later transferred to the United States after Pearl Harbor

• Played a vital role in the air war in China and Burma

Code Talkers Henry Bake and George Kirk send messages in the Pacific Theater, 1943

Navajo Code Talkers• Used to transmit messages in the

Pacific Theater• Based on the Navajo language• Navajo words frequently substituted for

military terms• Code never broken

The Sullivan Brothers

• From Waterloo, IA• Enlisted in the Navy on

the condition they would

serve together• Assigned to the USS Juneau

• All five killed at Guadalcanal in 1942

Planning for VictoryCASABLANCA (1943).

Roosevelt and Churchill met in this North African city after the invasion of North Africa

Issued ultimatum of unconditional surrender to Germany and Japan.

TEHERAN CONFERENCE (1943). First meeting of the "Big Three," Roose velt, Churchill and Stalin.

They agreed on the opening of a Second Front in Western Europe

Proposed the partition of Germany at the end of the war.

Russia agreed to enter the war against Japan after Germany was defeated.

Planning for VictoryYALTA CONFERENCE (1945).

Most important of the wartime con ferences,

Decisions would determine world affairs to the present day.

Churchill and Roosevelt believed the war against Japan would be long and costly unless Russia joined it.

a) Russia would enter war against Japan after Germany was defeated.

b) United Nations would be created.c) Russia would regain all territories lost to Japan in 1905d) Russia would be given three votes in the United Nations

Assembly.e) Free elections would be held in European nations

formerly occupied by Nazi Germany.f) Germany was to be divided into British, American,

French, & Soviet zones of oc cupation.

Planning for VictoryPOTSDAM CONFERENCE (1945).

Last meeting of the "Big Three."

Roosevelt replaced by President Harry S. Truman.

Churchill replaced by Clement Atlee.

Only Stalin remained of the original "Big Three."

Allied plans for postwar Germany and Japan made and announced.

Warned Japan to surrender or suffer a fate like Germany.

Roosevelt Dies

FDR’s funeral procession moves down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.

• April 12, 1945• At his retreat in Warm Springs,

GA• Only a few weeks before the end

of the war in Europe• Widely mourned

Truman Takes Office

Truman takes the oath of office shortly after FDR’s death

• Vice president for only 82 days • Oversaw last months of the war• Authorized use of the atomic

bomb• President during the early Cold

War

Holocaust6 million Jews killed 10 million people total