 Pearl
Harbor attack brought the U.S. into
WWII on the allied side
 In 1942 the Allies began to stop the Axis
powers
 The most aggressive threat the world
peace and democracy had been halted
 Axis
powers had never coordinated a
strategy to defeat the Allies
• Common enemies but individual dreams
 Hitler-
dominate Europe and eliminate
“inferior” people
 Mussolini- dreams of an Italian Empire
stretching from the eastern Adriatic to
East Africa
 Tojo- Japanese control of the Western
Pacific and Asia
 Allies
had a common goal
 All considered Germany the most
dangerous enemy
• Resources to bomb Britain, fight U.S. and British
navies, and invade the Soviet Union
 Allies
agreed to fight and win a two-front
war and pursue a “Europe First” strategy
 Wolf
Packs- of German U-Boats patrolled
the Atlantic to cut the lines between the
U.S. and Britain
 As in WWI, convoys protected Allied
shipping
 Radar helped Allied vessels locate Uboats on the surface at night
 U.S. was able to bomb U-boats faster than
German could manufacture them
 Germany
attacked Russia in June 1941
• One army to Leningrad, one to Moscow
 Soviet
resistance and a brutal winter
stopped the German Advance
 1942 Hitler’s goal was the Caucasus oil
fields
• He would have to capture Stalingrad
 Ferocious
battle- Soviets counter
attacked and trapped the Germans
• Hitler refused to let his army retreat
 Starving, sick, and
frostbitten, the
surviving German troops surrendered
January 31, 1943
 Stalingrad
was the true turning point of
the war
 It ended any hopes of Hitler dominating
Europe
 Soviets were now on the offensive
 November
1942- Allied troops land in Morocco
and Algeria and begin to move towards German
positions
 General Dwight Eisenhower led the Allied
invasion of North Africa
 German General Erwin Rommel led his Afrika
Korps against the Americans
• Stopped by the Americans and forced to retreat due to
lack of supplies
 Commander
George Patton advanced
confidently and forced German and Italian
troops to surrender
 Two
important decisions
• Allies decide to continue bombing Germany and
invade Italy
• FDR announced the allies would only accept an
unconditional surrender
 Giving up completely without any concessions
 Eisenhower
commanded AmericanBritish forces
 Axis forces escaped Sicily to the Italian
mainland
 Gave Allies complete control of western
Mediterranean and ended the rule of
Benito Mussolini
• Hitler helped him escape and put him in charge
of a puppet state in northern Italy
 Early
1942, Allied bombers launched non
stop attacks against Germany
 Saturation bombing- British planes
dropped massive amounts of bombs on
German cities
• Done at night
 Strategic
bombing- American bombers
targeted Germany’s key political and
industrial centers
• During the day
 African
American fighter squadron
escorted bombers and protected them from
enemy fighter pilots
 In more than 1,500 missions over enemy
territory, the Tuskegee Airmen did not lose
a single bomber
 Admiral Yamamoto
wanted to destroy
American aircraft carriers before the U.S.
could retaliate for Pearl Harbor
• Turned his attention to Midway
• Would force Americans back to the California
Coast
 Navy
code breakers had intercepted
Japanese plans
• Admiral Chester Nimitz sent aircraft carriers to
Midway
 In
the most important naval battle of
WWII, the U.S. defeated the Japanese
• U.S. only lost 1 aircraft carrier
 Battle
of Midway became a TURNING
POINT in the Pacific
• Japan still had powerful abilities, but would
never again threaten Hawaii or Pacific
domination
 August
1942 Americans take the
offensive with an assault on Guadalcanal
 U.S. drove Japanese off the island