Upload
gregcaggiano
View
388
Download
2
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
An overview of the final months of the war, including the battle of Tarawa in the Pacific, the dropping of the atomic bombs, and the fate of the major characters of WWII.
Citation preview
THE END OF WWIIPart One: Battle of Tarawa
Part Two: Atomic Bombings and SurrenderPart Three: The Fate of the Commanders
Strategy to Defeat Japan
Invade the home islands and engage the Japanese Armed Forces in battle until they have no choice but to surrender
Pacific Area Division of Responsibility North and Central: Adm. Chester Nimitz Southwest: Gen. Douglas Macarthur
Trident Conference (1943) Decides on a central drive because a southern
drive would take too long
Battle of Tarawa (Nov. 20-23, 1943)
First battle fought by Americans in the Central Drive
First time American soldiers met serious opposition against Japanese during an amphibious landing Japanese had defenses and bunkers set up to
attack the soldiers as they landed on the beach Crucial mistake: NO cover fire and NO
demolition teams sent to destroy obstacles Result: Victory for US but not without
heavy casualties
Lessons Learned
From now on, during any amphibious assault landing, the army must provide: Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT)
organized to destroy beach defenses before troops land
Close gunfire support must be carried out until the soldiers actually capture the beach
Improved landing craft with better armor that has a way for troops to walk directly onto the beach without having to jump off and swim
Supplies already loaded onto landing craft and sent to the beach with the troops
Death of President Roosevelt
After years of declining health, President Franklin Roosevelt died in office on April 12, 1945
This came as a shock to the nation as it was completely unexpected
Suffered a stroke just days before he was supposed to speak at the opening of the United Nations
Died in the middle of sitting for a portrait painted by Elizabeth Shoutmatoff
Harry Truman
FDR’s vice president who took over as President
There was very little exposure for vice presidents at the time, so very few people in the country even knew who he was Was only VP for 82 days Never discussed foreign policy with FDR Completely in the dark about the situation
Upon FDR’s death, he inherited a war with no end in sight, and also a lingering idea which would change the course of history
Manhattan Project
Research and development program of the United States to create an atomic bomb
Extremely top secret Truman did not even know about it as Vice
President Fun fact: through spying, Joseph Stalin knew about
the atomic bomb program before our own vice president
Top scientists and military commanders planned to create a weapon that would cause devastation and force Japan to surrender
To bomb, or not to bomb?
Though the bomb would cause many deaths, was it still worth it? Had the US not dropped the bomb, they would
have had to invade the Japanese mainland (which they were planning even as the bombs were being dropped) and that would have caused the war to drag on for many more years and result in many thousands dying
YOU DECIDE
To be continued…
Operation Valkyrie
A plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, created by his own commanders that lost all hope for winning the war
Led by Ludwig Beck, Henning von Tresckow, and Claus von Stauffenberg
One of more than 30 attempts to kill Hitler throughout his career as a politician.
The plan was to plant a bomb inside the meeting room at the Wolf’s Lair (headquarters in the German countryside)
Failure
Stauffenberg brought the bomb inside a briefcase
At the last moment, the meeting was moved to an outside building with open windows These open windows would cause the impact
to be weakened, thus the bomb failed and only wounded several people
Had it occurred in the bunker’s meeting room, the small, concrete-walled room, Hitler and several top generals would have been killed
Result
Stauffenberg and all those involved were arrested and executed immediately
The Nazis executed nearly 5,000 people and arrested 7,000 more
Included in the plot was Erwin Rommel, who was forced to commit suicide
What we learn from this: not every Nazi had blind obedience to Hitler. Some wanted to try to change things for a better Germany
The Death of Adolf Hitler
The Russian Army was closing in on Berlin, which was in ruins from bombardment
With all hope lost, Hitler and his top leaders retreated to the Fuhrer Bunker, a massive underground structure located near the Reich Chancellery
Even near certain defeat, Hitler still had dreams for German victory and Jew-free society
He gathered his generals around maps and ordered movements of troops that did not exist
Shortly before he killed himself, Hitler found out that SS leader Heinrich Himmler was negotiating with American soldiers. He called him a traitor, and shortly after, married his long-time mistress Eva Braun in a small ceremony in the bunker
He then knew that all was lost. He gave final orders for his body to be burned
Many of his generals also committed suicide
Suicide
On the afternoon of April 30, 1945, Hitler and Braun walked into a private room and closed the door
Braun bit a cyanide capsule while Hitler shot himself in the head while taking the cyanide
His body was removed and set on fire but never fully burned before Russian troops arrived (they then cremated him and scattered the ashes at unknown locations, so people in the future could never gather there to pay tribute to him) There are many conspiracies saying that Hitler escaped
or the Russians captured him alive, but they have never been proven
Death of Mussolini
With the end of the war in sight, Mussolini went to the German army and borrowed a uniform in an attempt to escape Italy with them
However, he was identified by Italian Resistance Soldiers, and he and his mistress were executed by firing squad the next day, on April 28, 1945
Their bodies were then hung upside-down so people could beat and spit on them
Atomic Bombings
Japan and the US were now the only nations still at war, and Truman finally had to decide on dropping the atomic bombs
The first one was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6. Truman then warned the Japanese to surrender or they would drop another one. They refused, so Nagasaki was bombed on August 9
Result: 300,000 dead (combination of soldiers AND innocent civilians)
Why Japan Lost the War
Failed to eliminate or severely cripple US naval base at Pearl Harbor
Underestimated the will of the US to fight and wage war
Failed to develop a system to adequately supply its forces far away from home islands
Failed to use submarine fleet at an offensive force
Why the Axis Powers Lost
No combined chiefs of staff for coordinate and organize the war effort
Did not plan for a long-term war Poor leadership Politics came before military tactics Did not think the allies would fight a war
under the bitter end
What happened to…
Emperor Hirohito: cleared of all blame by the US government and would become a top ally of ours in years to come
Prime Minister Hideki Tojo: put on trial for war crimes and executed, his ashes scattered over the Pacific
Dr. Joseph Mengele and Adolf Eichmann: escaped to South America along with many other war criminals, who lived in Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay They were hunted for many years. Eichmann was
captured/executed in the 1960’s, but Mengele was never found Heinrich Himmler: suicide Herman Goering: suicide Dwight D. Eisenhower: placed in command of US forces
during the Korean War and eventually became president in the 1950’s