US Involvement in World War 2

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When the U.S. entered WW2 in late 1941, victory
seemed remote
Japan dominated the western half of the Pacific
Ocean
Germany controlled almost all of Europe
Germany pressed into Russia
Axis armies controlled Northern Africa
threatened the Suez Canal
Butover the next 2 years, the U.S. the Allies
began to win the wars in Europe the Pacific
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Europe 1941-1943
The U.S. wanted to attack across Nazi-controlled
France by 1943
The USSR freed Poland, Hungary, Romania
England wanted to attack Italy from Northern
Africa in 1942
In 1942, U.S.-Anglo troops began the Italian
campaign Stalin was ANGRY
To win the European campaign, 2 different plans
were proposed
In 1943, the Soviet army won at Stalingrad
Germany was never again on the offensive
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The Allies began to win the Battle of the
Atlantic in 1941 with Lend-Lease aid, but took
control in 1943 with Americas entry into the war
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Tehran Conference, 1943
By agreeing to Operation Overlord (D-Day), the
Allies would divide the Axis military across two
fronts

• In 1943, FDR, Churchill, Stalin met in Tehran,
  Iran for the first of three wartime conferences
• The USA, Britain, USSR coordinated their war
  strategy
• FDR Churchill finally committed to Stalins
  demands to open a western front (D-Day)
• Discussed plans to create a general internatl
  organization to promote peace security (UN)

FDR proposed a future United Nations dominated by
4 policemen (USA, Britain, China, USSR) with
power to deal immediately with any sudden
emergency which requires action
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Europe 1944-1945
U.S. British troops landed at 5 strategic
points, pushed through France drove towards
Germany
The long-awaited 2nd front came on June 6, 1944
with D-Day
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Yalta Conference in February 1945

• The Big 3 met at Yalta to discuss post-war
  Europe given the eminent defeat of Germany
• Stalin refused to give up Eastern Europe but he
  did agree to self-determination
• Stalin agreed to send Soviet troops to the
  Pacific after the German surrender if the USSR
  could keep Manchuria

To recognize the independence sovereignty of
nations in Eastern Europe
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Soon after the Yalta Conference in Feb 1945, FDR
diedand Harry Truman became president
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In late April 1945, the Allies broke through the
Eastern Western Fronts forcing both Italy
Germany to surrender
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Island-hopping allowed the Allies to win
strategic islands without investing precious
time, resources, American lives
The Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942 was
a morale boost
U.S. victory at Midway in 1942 gave the Allies
naval supremacy
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The Japanese refused to play by according to the
Geneva Convention rules of war
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The German surrender in May 1945, allowed the
U.S. to turn its full attention towards Japan
Victories at Saipan in 1944 Iwo Jima Okinawa
in 1945 allowed for bombings on Japan
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The Decision to Drop the A-Bomb

• With no definitive end it sight, how would the
  Allies defeat Japan?
• The U.S. military favored a full-scale invasion
  of Tokyo by 1946
• The Japanese refused to surrender were arming
  civilians for an Allied invasion
• At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, Truman
  gave the order to use the atomic bomb

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Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago
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Triumph Tragedy in the Pacific

• In August 1945, the USA forced Japan to surrender
  by dropping 2 atomic bombs
• Effect of the atomic bomb
• Saved hundreds of thousands of American (
  Japanese) lives
• Revenge for Pearl Harbor
• Showed the USSR that the USA had the ultimate
  weapon (began the Cold War nuclear arms race)

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Nagasaki
Hiroshima
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Its Finally Over!
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Conclusions

• WW2 was the largest deadliest war in history
  changed the U.S.
• Wartime industry ended the Great Depression,
  expanded the size of the federal govt, ushered
  in affluent decade
• The USA emerged as a world superpower, developed
  a nuclear arsenal, engaged a Cold War against
  the USSR