End of World War II and the
Homefront
IF YOU ARE TAKING AN AP EXAM,
ANY AP EXAM!!
You are required to attend one of the following
sessions to fill out information prior to the AP
Exam.
• April 8th, 2014 at 8:00 and 4:00
• April 9th, 2014 at 8:00 and 4:00
• Location: Cafeteria
Agenda
1. Bell Ringer: What is the turning point in the
Pacific Theater? How do the Japanese respond?
2. Lecture: Europe and the Homefront (20)
3. Censoring Headlines Activity (10)
4. Letters from the Frontlines (10)
5. Brief Discussion: Use of the Atomic Bomb (15)
6. Outline format (15)
7. Test Questions and Review (10)
North Africa, 1942
• Starting at El Alamein,
Montgomery, along with
Eisenhower launch
“Operation Torch”
• The two armies come in
from the East and West,
surround the Afrika Korps of
Germany and Italy.
• 1943, War in Africa is nearly
over.
• This is nearly the end of the
war for Italy.
Stalingrad
• Germans suffer heavy losses
because of the Russian
Winter.
• Stalin told his men, “Not
one step backward”
• By November Germans
controlled 90% of the city,
but Winter set in, again.
• Out of 330,000 troops, only
90,000 live to surrender.
The end of Italy, and Mussolini
• After Africa is taken by the
Allies, they attack Sicily and
end Mussolini’s reign.
• He was found attempting to
flee Italy as a German
soldier.
• Resistance fighting would
continue until 1945.
• Mussolini executed and
hanged in public square.
D-Day
• May, 1944. 3.5 million troops
mobilized to strike on the coast of
Normandy. June, 6th is the attack
date.
• Germans knew an attack was
coming, but thought it was on
Calais beach, farther East.
• Still a formidable German
presence on the beach, with
machine guns and concertina
wire.
• Over 3,000 Americans died on
Omaha beach that day, but by
August France was back in the
hands of the Allied forces.
Battle of the Bulge
• Last major German offensive of
the war. An attempt to divide
British and American forces.
December, 1944
• It ultimately failed.
• Now Hitler faced a war on two
fronts rapidly approaching
Germany.
• He ends up killing himself in his
bunker in April, when Soviet
forces are invading Berlin.
• Germany would surrender in
May, 1945.
The use of the Atomic Bomb
• Iwo Jima would be the last
major battle in the Pacific,
with nearly 110,000
Japanese troops killed in
one month.
• Instead of facing large troop
losses, Truman decided to
use the Atomic Bomb on
Hiroshima, then in
Nagasaki.
• Over 110,000 civilians killed
in the two cities.
• Surrender would occur on
September 2nd.
Before the Bombing
After the Bombing
War at Home
• Americans mobilize for war by
limiting civilian production.
• Automobile factories are
making tanks, bullets.
• The majority of men are
fighting in the war, so women
begin entering the workforce.
i.e. Rosie the Riveter.
• Meatless Mondays return, as
well as propaganda advocating
“Victory Gardens”
After the War
• London, many cities in Germany,
and parts of the Soviet Union lay
in ruins.
• Conferences were held in Yalta
and Potsdam to discuss how
countries would recover after the
war, and the division of lands held
by Germany.
• United Nations was formed, with
permanent members controlling
a peacekeeping force.
Nuremberg and Occupation
• Germans were held liable for the
atrocities of the Holocaust.
• 22 leaders charged with crimes
against humanity.
• Hermann Goring kills himself
after being sentenced to
execution, along with 11 others.
• Similar trials occur in Japan as
MacArthur restructures the
government into Democracy.