End of WWII
AP U.S. History
Unit 14 Chapter 38 part 5
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
• After the invasion of D-Day and seven days of
fighting, the Allies held an 80-mile strip of France.
• Within a month of the invasion, the Allies had
landed a million troops.
• Operation Overlord (June 6, 1944 – August 25,
1944) was the operation that oversaw the invasion of
D-Day and the next steps to conquer Paris.
– On August 23, General Patton and his Third Army
reached the Seine River at the south of Paris.
– Two days later on August 25, 1944, American troops and
French resistance forces liberated Paris after four years of
German occupation.
Operation Overlord
• By September 1944, the Allies had freed
France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
• This victory helped get FDR reelected for a
fourth term with his new running mate –
Harry S. Truman.
The Battle of the Bulge
• In October of 1944, the Allies occupied
their first German town – Aachen. This
caused Hitler to make a last-chance
offensive.
• He ordered his troops to break a weak point
on the Allied line and recapture the Belgian
port of Antwerp. Hitler hoped to disrupt the
Allied supply lines as well as splitting the
American and British forces.
The Battle of the Bulge
• On December 16, 1944, eight German tank divisions
broke through the American lines.
• The tank divisions drove 60 miles into the Allied
territory, creating a bulge in the front line.
Therefore, this was called the Battle of the Bulge.
• This battle raged on until January 25, 1945 when the
line was pushed back until it was close to its original
position.
– During this time, some German soldiers massacred 120
American troops by mowing them down with machine
guns and pistols in a large field. On another occasion, 11
African American troops were tortured and killed by
German soldiers.
Battle of the Bulge
• The US 75th
in the
Ardennes
Forest during
the Battle of
the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge
• By the time the battle was over, the
Germans had lost 120,000 troops (dead,
wounded, or captured), 600 tanks and
assault guns, and 1600 planes.
• This proved to be too much of a loss, and
after this point the Nazis were on the retreat.
The Battle of the Bulge
• Battle of the Bulge Maps
The “Big Three”
Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
Yalta - February 1945
• There was an agreement that the priority would be the
unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. After the
war Germany would be split into three occupied zones
with a three-power occupation of Berlin, prior to
unification of Germany.
• Stalin agreed that France might have a fourth
occupation zone in Germany and Austria but it would
have to be carved out of the British and American
zones. France would also be granted a seat in the
Allied Control Council.
• Germany would undergo demilitarization and denazification.
• German reparations were not in the form of forced
labor.
Yalta - February 1945
• Creation of an allied reparation council with its seat in
Moscow.
• It was agreed to reorganize the communist
Provisionary Polish Government that had been set up
by the Red Army through the inclusion of other groups
such as the Polish Provisional Government of National
Unity and to have democratic elections. This
effectively excluded the Polish government-in-exile
that had evacuated in 1939.
• The Polish eastern border would follow the Curzon
Line, and Poland would receive substantial territorial
compensation in the west from Germany
• Citizens of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia were to
be handed over to their respective countries,
regardless of their consent.
Yalta - February 1945
• FDR obtained a commitment by Stalin to participate in
the UN once it was agreed that each of the five
permanent members of the Security Council would
have veto power. Churchill lobbied heavily to get
France in the Security Council.
• Stalin requested that all of the 16 Soviet Socialist
Republics would be granted United Nations
membership, only 2 would.
• Stalin agreed to enter the fight against the Empire of
Japan within 90 days after the defeat of Germany. The
Soviet Union would receive the southern part of
Sakhalin and the Kurile islands after the defeat of
Japan.
Yalta - February 1945
• A "Committee on
Dismemberment of
Germany" was to be set up
to decide whether
Germany was to be divided
into several nations, and if
so, what borders and interrelationships the new
German states were to
have
• The eventual partition of Germany into Allied Occupation
Zones: British zone, French zone (two exclaves),
American zone, Soviet zone, and Allied-administered
Austria
Liberation of the Death Camps
• British and American forces were pushing into
Germany from the West while the Soviets were
making their way to Germany from the East.
• As the Soviets moved across Poland, they were
the first to come upon the Nazi death camps in
July 1944.
• The SS guards that ran the death camps worked
feverishly to bury and burn all evidence of what
happened there, but they were not fast enough.
Liberation of the Death Camps
• The Soviets entered Majdanek, a death camp in
Poland, and found a thousand starving prisoners,
the world’s largest crematorium, and a
storehouse containing 800,000 shoes.
• A Soviet war correspondent reported that, “this
is not a concentration camp, it is a gigantic
murder plant.” American troops would later
come across equally horrific camps in Germany.
Liberation of the Death Camps
• Selection
of Jews
for work
or death
at
Birkenau
Liberation of the Death Camps
• These death camps were a part of the Nazis’
“Final Solution” for those that they felt were not
as good as the Aryans.
• This wide scale massacre of approximately 10
million people by the Nazis is known as the
Holocaust.
• Some of the groups that were targeted were:
homosexuals, those with disabilities, anti-Nazi
clergy, the Roma (gypsies), and the Jews.
Horrors of the Holocaust Exposed
Slave Labor at
Buchenwald
Mass Graves at BergenBelsen
Victims of the Holocaust
• An estimated 5 to 6 million Jews, including 3
million Polish Jews
• Estimates place total number of Polish deaths
around 5.4mill. 1.8 – 1.9 million Christian Poles
and other (non-Jewish) Poles
• 200,000 – 800,000 Roma & Sinti (Gypsies)
• 200,000 – 300,000 people with disabilities
• 80,000-200,000 European Freemasons
• 100,000 communists
• 10,000 – 25,000 homosexual men
• 2,500 – 5,000 Jehovah's Witnesses
Liberation of the Death Camps
• The anti-Semitism program of the Nazis began by
forcing Jewish people into ghettoes and then
concentration camps.
• Some Jews (and the other groups that were
captured) were forced to perform slave labor at work
camps. Others had medical experiments performed
on them.
• In 1942, the Germans began widespread execution
of Jews and other victims at death camps. This
killing did not end until the death camps were
captured by Allied troops.
• Holocaust Timeline
The Fall of Berlin
• The two sides of the Allied armies were closing
in on Germany by the spring of 1945.
• By April 25, 1945, the Soviet army had stormed
Berlin. Approximately 10,000 German soldiers
were left to defend the city.
• The Soviets captured the German Reichstag
(Congress) on May 2, 1945.
Hitler’s Death
• Hitler had made the Füherbunker, located in
Berlin, his primary base on January 16, 1945.
• By April 22, 1945 it seemed to those around him
that Hitler had finally admitted defeat and
realized that Germany would lose the war.
• Shortly after midnight on April 29, 1945, Hitler
married his long time companion, Eva Braun.
Earlier that day he had written his last will and
testament.
Hitler’s Death
• At approximately 2:30 pm on April
30,1945, the Soviets raised their flag over
the Reichstag and Hitler and Eva Braun
went into their study.
• Approximately an hour later, a gunshot was
heard. Hitler’s valet opened the door to the
study and found Eva Braun and Hitler dead.
Hitler’s Death
• Braun had killed herself by ingesting a cyanide
capsule. Hitler shot himself in the right temple at the
same time that he had a cyanide capsule in his
mouth.
• Following Hitler’s orders, members of Hitler’s SS
bodyguards took the bodies outside, doused them
with gasoline, and tried to cremate the corpses.
• This did not completely work, so the bodies were
buried where they were later found and confiscated
by the Soviets.
Hitler Commits Suicide
April 30, 1945
Cyanide & Pistols
The Führer’s Bunker
Mr. & Mrs. Hitler
Hitler’s Death
• On the left, an American Military paper wrongly stated that
Hitler fell in Battle
• Time magazine cover after Hitler’s death (eyes wrong color)
Hitler’s Death
• Many believe that the
public and disturbing
execution of Mussolini and
his mistress further
encouraged Hitler to take
his own life instead of
being captured.
• Others in Hitler’s
command, such as
Goebbels, also killed
themselves and their
families.
The Fall of Berlin
• Russian Katyusha rocket launchers fire on Berlin
The Fall of Berlin
• The Red Army
flew the Soviet
flag from the
top of the
Reichstag
• Soviet troops
signed their
names on the
side of the
Reichstag
V-E Day: May 8, 1945
• Small pockets of resistance continued until
the official surrender on May 8, 1945. This
was known as V-E Day – Victory in Europe
Day – when the war in Europe was finally
over.
The Death of FDR
• President Roosevelt did not live to see this
victory, he died on April 12, 1945 at his
home in Warm Springs, Georgia.
• Vice President Harry S. Truman became the
33rd president and guided America through
the victory in Europe.
V-E Day (May 8, 1945)
General Keitel
V-E Day
(May 8,
1945)
American Heroes in Europe
• Many groups of American troops distinguished
themselves in battle during the campaign in
Europe. During WW2 the United States Army
was still segregated, and many of these units
were among the most decorated in the war.
These include:
• The Tuskegee Airmen: An all-African
American Squadron that helped take down the
Luftwaffe in Italy and won two Distinguished
unit Citations
American Heroes in Europe
• The Buffaloes: Another all-African American
Division – the 92nd Infantry Division that won 7
Legion of Merit awards, 65 Silver Stars, and 162
Bronze Stars for courage under fire in only 6
months
• Company E of the 141st Regiment, 36th
Division: An all-Chicano unit that became one of
the most decorated of the war
• 442nd Regimental Combat Team: An all-Nisei
regiment that became the most decorated unit in
U.S. History
Hitler’s “Secret Weapons”:
Too Little, Too Late!
V-1 Rocket:
“Buzz Bomb” - first guided
missile - used against Allies
since June 1944
V-2 Rocket - supersoninc, first
successfully fired on September 8,
1944
Werner von Braun
Finishing the War in the
Pacific
• After fulfilling the promise to destroy
Germany first, America had to finish the
war in the Pacific
Okinawa
• The last obstacle between the Allies and Japan
was the island of Okinawa, which the Allies
invaded in April 1945.
• During the invasion of Okinawa, the Japanese
unleashed more than 1900 Kamikaze attacks on
the Allies – 30 ships were sunk, 300 more were
damaged, and 5,000 seamen were killed by the
suicide pilots.
Okinawa
• Fighting on Okinawa was also terrible. After the
largest amphibious attack in the Pacific, the Allied
forces faced fierce opposition and an enemy that
would rather fight to the death than surrender
– two Japanese generals performed ritual suicide instead
of surrendering.
• By the end of the battle, June 21, 1945, over
10,000 Allied troops had been killed out of the
invasion force of over 500,000.
• The Japanese had approximately 100,000 troops
on the island and approximately 2/3 of them were
killed along with approximately 140,000 civilians.
Okinawa
• Shooting a Japanese Sniper
Corsair Firing on
the Japanese
Potsdam Conference:
July, 1945
• FDR dead, Churchill out of office as Prime
Minister during conference.
• Stalin only original.
• The United States
has the A-bomb.
• Allies agree Germany
is to be divided into
occupation zones
• Poland moved
P.M. Clement President
around to suit
Atlee
Truman
the Soviets.
Joseph
Stalin
Potsdam Declaration
• Militarism in Japan must end.
• Japan would be occupied until the basic objectives set
out in this proclamation were met.
• The terms of the Cairo Declaration would be carried
out and Japanese sovereignty would be limited to the
islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku, and
such minor islands as the Allies determined.
• The Japanese army would be completely disarmed
and allowed to return home.
• Those who had led Japan to war must be permanently
and finally discredited, and abandoned.
Potsdam Declaration
• War criminals would be punished including those who
had "visited cruelties upon our prisoners”.
• Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well
as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be
established.
• Japan should be permitted to maintain a viable
industrial economy but not industries which would
enable her to re-arm for war.
• The treaty was not intended to enslave the Japanese
as a race or as a nation.
• Allied forces would be withdrawn from Japan as soon
as these objectives have been accomplished
The Atomic Bomb
• The intensity of fighting at the Battle of
Okinawa made the Allied commanders worry
about how much worse the fighting would be
once the Allies invaded Japan.
• Churchill predicted that the cost of invading
Japan would be 1.5 million Allied lives.
• President Truman chose to use a newly
developed weapon instead of invading Japan
with troops. This new weapon was the Atomic
Bomb.
The Atomic Bomb
• The best-kept secret of the war was the
development of the Atomic Bomb through The
Manhattan Project.
• Before America entered the war, Albert Einstein
had written a letter to the President warning that
Germany was trying to develop an atomic
weapon.
• FDR chose J. Robert Oppenheimer to head up a
project to build an atomic weapon for America.
The Atomic Bomb
• Branches of the Manhattan Project were hidden
all over America with the original branch in
Manhattan and one of the most famous branches
in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
• At its peak, more than 600,000 Americans were
involved in the project though few knew its
actual purpose.
• On the morning of July 16, 1945 in the middle of
the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico, the
first test of the new bomb occurred.
The Manhattan Project:
Los Alamos,
NM
Major General
Lesley R. Groves
Dr. Robert
Oppenheimer
I am become
death,
the shatterer
of worlds!
Tinian Island, 1945
Little Boy
Fat Man
Enola Gay Crew
Col. Paul Tibbets & the A-Bomb
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Less than a month later, on August 6, 1945, a
bomber named the Enola Gay released the Atomic
Bomb Little Boy over the Japanese city of
Hiroshima.
• Forty-three seconds later, almost every building had
collapsed into dust from the force of the blast.
• Japan still did not surrender and a second bomb, Fat
Man, was dropped three days later on Nagasaki.
• By the end of the year approximately 200,000
people had died as a result of injuries and radiation
poisoning.
Hiroshima – August 6, 1945
• 70,000 killed
immediately.
• 48,000 buildings.
destroyed.
• 100,000s died of
radiation poisoning &
cancer later.
Hiroshima
• Model of
Little Boy
dropped on
Hiroshima
• Aftermath
of
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
• Mushroom Cloud over Nagasaki ( L )
• Nagasaki Before and After ( R )
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
• Burn victims
• Map of Atomic Bomb Sites
Nagasaki – August 9, 1945
• 40,000 killed
immediately.
• 60,000 injured.
• 100,000s died of
radiation poisoning
& cancer later.
V-J Day
• Emperor Hirohito, who had not been running
Japan’s military, was horrified by the destruction
to his people and ordered the military leaders to
end the war.
• The Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945,
which was then celebrated as V-J Day (Victory
over Japan).
• On September 2, 1945, formal surrender took
place on the U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo
Bay.
Formal Signing of Treaty: September 2,
1945
V-J Day in Times Square, NYC