Chapter 8, Lesson 3
The World at War
Mister Julian’s 5th Grade Class
Essential Question
What were the major
battles that were the
turning points in World
War II?
Places
Normandy, France
Iwo Jima, Japan
Hiroshima, Japan
People
Chester Nimitz
Dwight D. Eisenhower
George S. Patton
Douglas MacArthur
Harry S. Truman
Anne Frank
Vocabulary
Battle of Midway
Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of the Bulge
Concentration Camps
Holocaust
American Soldiers
More than 16 million Americans served
in the military during World War II
Thanks to the Navajo language our
codes were never broken.
Major Turning Points
The Battle of Midway was the turning point
in the war against Japan.
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander of
the Pacific, was informed from codebreakers that an attack would happen at
Midway.
After the battle Japan’s navy was no longer
strong enough to take over new lands.
Major Turning Points
Another turning point came when the
Soviet army stopped the German army
from advancing at the Battle of
Stalingrad.
The German army, for the first time,
had to retreat.
Victory in Europe
By the Spring of 1944, the Soviet army had
pushed the Germans out of the Soviet Union.
The Allies had defeated the Axis forces in
North Africa and Italy.
American General Dwight D. Eisenhower,
commanding Allied forces Europe, chose
Normandy, France as the location of the Allied
invasion.
Victory in Europe
On June 6, 1944 the largest invasion in
history would begin with 175,000
soldiers and 6,000 ships.
The battle had heavy Allied loses but
they were victorious.
The Allies began liberating towns on
their way to Germany.
Victory in Europe
The German’s final attack happened at the
Battle of the Bulge, in Belgium.
Both sides had heavy loses but when
General George S. Patton’s Third Army came
into position, the battle ended with an Allied
victory.
As the Allies were approaching German
from the west, the Soviet Union attacked
from the east.
Victory in Europe
The Soviets captured the capital city of
Berlin and reported that Hitler had killed
himself.
On May 8, 1945 Germany surrendered.
The Allies named May 8 - “VE-Day” for
Victory in Europe.
Victory in Asia
As the war was nearing the end in
Europe, the battle for the Pacific still
raged on.
General Douglas MacArthur’s plan to
victory was called “island hopping.”
The idea was to slowly capture valuable
islands closer and closer to Japan.
Victory in Asia
In February 1945 the United States Marines
landed on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima,
Japan.
The battle was the most costly of the entire
war.
Following the victory the Americans landed
on the island of Okinawa.
American losses were nearly 50,000 and the
Japanese were even higher.
Victory in Asia
On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt
suddenly died.
Vice President Harry S. Truman was
sworn into office.
Truman had the biggest decision any
President has ever had to make, use
the atomic bomb or not.
Victory in Asia
If we did not use the atomic bomb,
American losses were projected well over
1,000,000 in taking Japan.
However, if we used the “bomb” it would
unleash a force never seen before.
On August 6, 1945 an Air Force bomber
named the Enola Gay dropped the first
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.
Victory in Asia
Three days later the U.S. dropped
another atomic bomb over Nagasaki,
Japan.
The two bombs killed over 150,000
people.
Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.
This was called “VJ-Day” or Victory over
Japan.
The Holocaust
When Adolf Hitler came into power he
hated the Jews and blamed them for all
of Germany’s problems.
The Nazi government passed laws that
limited the rights of Jews.
Soon these laws required all Jews to
report to work camps.
The Holocaust
These work camps were actually
concentration camps where the people
were treated harshly.
Many of the people were killed when they
arrived and others were tortured, starved,
and used as slave labor.
As the allies liberated Europe these camps
were discovered to the horror of the troops.
The Holocaust
The Nazi’s murdered about 6 million
Jews and about 6 million non-Jews.
This period in history is called the
Holocaust.
A Jewish girl named Anne Frank lived in
an area of Europe that was taken over
by the Germans in 1942.
The Holocaust
Anne and her family hid from the Germans
instead of going to the concentration
camps.
Anne was 13 when she went into hiding.
In 1944, the Germans found the hiding
place and sent her, with her family, to the
camps.
She died just 2 months before the camp
was freed by the Allies.
The Cost of War
World War Two was the bloodiest war in
the history of the world.
Between 40 and 50 million soldiers and
civilians died in the conflict.
The only war where more Americans died
was the Civil War.
The world now had a new threat, the
atomic bomb.
The bomb will change the world forever!
Timeline
June 1944 - Allied forces began
liberating Western Europe
May 1945 - Germany surrenders
August 1945 - After two atomic bombs,
Japan surrenders.
Writing Response
Explain one major turning point in
world War II.