WWII: Fighting the

War on Three Fronts

Start of the War
1939 Hitler Invaded Poland
(Blitzkrieg)
Great Britain and France
declare war on Germany
WWII Begins Sept. 3 1939
World Map
Three different fronts
Europe, North Africa &
Asia/Pacific Islands

2 Alliances
Allied Powers Axis Powers

Soviet Union United States
Great Britain
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Hitlers Westward Expansion
April May, 1940
Hitler attacks and conquers
Denmark, Norway, Luxemburg,
The Netherlands, and Belgium.
Hitler Westward Expansion
Maginot Line-
A series of underground
forts armed with heavy artillery
by the French
to stop a German attack.
Hitlers Westward Expansion
Attack on France- Battle
of Dunkirk May 1940
Germans went around
the Maginot Line
instead of across
Germans trap French
and British forces on
the Dunkirk beaches
Fall of France June 1940
French surrender
Germans set up a
government in
France called the
Vichy
government led
by Henri Petain
May 1940
Winston Churchill becomes Prime
Minister of Great Britain
Awesome quote
Unknown woman: "Winston, you appear to
be drunk!"
Winston: "And you my dear are ugly but
tomorrow I'll be sober."

Hitlers Westward Expansion
Great Britain stands
alone
Battle of Britain
1940
Battle by air
London bombed
night after night
Purposefully
attacks civilians



Hitlers Westward Expansion
Royal Air Force (RAF)
Counterattacked
Aided by radar (new invention)
Inflict major losses on the Luftwaffe
(German Air force)
Hitler stops invasion of Britain and turns
attention to Soviet Union
Hitlers first defeat
Review
Year WWII starts?
What are the 3 different fronts?
What countries belong to the Axis Powers?
What countries belong to the Allied Powers?
What is the Maginot Line?
When does France fall?
What is the name of the Nazi government set up in
France?
When is the Battle of Britain?
Who wins the Battle of Britain?
What is the name of the German air force?




Europe: The Eastern Front 1941
Desiring
Lebensraum or
living space
for the German
empire, Hitler
launches
Operation Barbarosa
and attacks the
Soviet Union
The U.S.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
U.S. practiced Isolationism
Most Americans did not support
intervention
WWI too fresh
Lend-Lease Act March 1940- Congress
approves assisting any country whose
defense is vital to US security. (Aiding the
Allied Powers)

August 1941 The Atlantic Charter

Winston Churchill
and Franklin
Roosevelt meet
To discuss strategy
against
The Axis powers.

Lay the groundwork
for a Post-war world
and discuss Creation
of the United
Nations
Pearl Harbor Dec. 7 1941
After US embargo, Japan planned to
seize the resource rich territories of
south east Asia
Problem: the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor
Admiral Yamamoto devised a plan to
remove this threat with a surprise attack


Admiral Yamamoto


The attack on Pearl Harbor began a few
minutes before 8 a.m. December 7
Hawaiian Time
Japanese planes attacked in two waves
lasting two hours
a total of 353 planes reached O'ahu.
over 3,500 Americans killed/ wounded
sank/badly damaged 18 ships - including
all 8 battleships of the Pacific Fleet - and
over 350 destroyed or damaged aircraft.
At least 1,177 lives were lost when the
Battleship U.S.S. Arizona exploded and
subsequently sank.

Warnings?
The U.S. had broken the Japanese diplomatic
code and knew an attack was imminent. A
warning had been sent from Washington, but it
arrived too late.
Early warning radar was new
technology. Japanese planes were spotted by
radar before the attack, but they were assumed to
be a flight of American B-17s due in from the
West Coast.
A Date That Will Live in Infamy
The Japanese
attack brought
the U.S. into the
war on
December 8,
1941


The North African Front
Germany took over Libya and had made
way into Egypt
Fall 1942 Operation Torch- British and
American forces defeat Germany

Europe: The Eastern Front
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union on June 22
1941
Believed he could win before winter
Over 4.5 million axis troops invaded
Conquered western part of Soviet Union
quickly


Battle of Stalingrad July 1942- Feb. 1943
Germans bombarded the city
Soviets counterattack and Germans
surrendered
Turning point in war
Hitler realizes he cant conquer Soviet Union
The Allied Offensive in Europe
Operation Overlord (D-day) June 6,
1944
Allies invasion of France against the Germans
Landed on the beaches of Normandy, France
US General Eisenhower
In 3 months broke through German defensive lines
Historys greatest naval invasion
Over 425,000 Allied and Axis troops were killed,
wounded, or went missing

The Allied Offensive in Europe
June 1944 -Rome falls to the Allies
August 1944- the Allies liberated
Paris
March 1945- Allies advanced into
Germany
Soviet troops occupied Warsaw in Jan
1945 and entered Berlin in April
Death of Mussolini
After the Allied occupation of southern
Italy (1943), the King ordered Mussolini to
be arrested in order to sign the armistice.
Imprisoned, then liberated by the Germans,
Mussolini lived in northern Italy until his
capture and execution, on April 28, 1945,
along with his mistress, Claretta Petacci,
by military forces of the Italian Resistance.

Death of Hitler
By Spring of 1945 Hitler had moved into an
underground bunker in Berlin
April 28, before midnight Hitler married Eva
Braun
April 30, 1945 Hitler commits suicide
Noon attended last military conference; told the
Soviets were a block away
Around 3:30 Hitler committed suicide by shooting
himself and taking poison; Eva committed suicide by
swallowing poison
Bodies were burned, remains put in a shell crater and
buried




End of the War in Europe
May 7, 1945 German commanders
surrender
War in Europe was finally over


The Yalta and Potsdam Conference
Yalta Conference 1945: meeting between
The Big Three (Stalin, Roosevelt, and
Churchill)
Established the United Nations organization
Germanys unconditional surrender
After Germanys surrender the country would
be divided into 4 zones which would be
governed by the U.S., Great Britain, France
and Soviet Union.
Potsdam Conference- 1945
Conflicts between new U.S. President
Harry Truman and Stalin over the
governments of eastern Europe. Democracy
or communism?
De-Nazification and Democratization
of Germany
Germany turned into an agricultural
and light industry economy


Review Questions
What is Operation Overlord known as?
Who were the Allied forces attacking?
Where were they landing?
Why did Hitler commit suicide, who was
close to Berlin?
What year did the German commanders
surrender?
According to the Yalta Conference what
was going to happen to Germany?
Third Front: Asia/Pacific
War in Europe was over on
May 7, 1945 with the Allies
defeating the Axis Powers
But war continued with Japan
Japanese Control
1942: China, nations of eastern and
southern Asia, and a string of Pacific
islands
The Allies had a long road to victory
General Douglas MacArthur was the
commander of the army in the Pacific

Battle of Midway 1942
Turning point of the war in the Pacific
This victory by the Allies finally stopped
the Japanese advance
Now the Allies were on the offense
Allies new strategy: Island Hopping
Capture some Japanese held islands while
bypassing others
Very Successful
Battle of Iwo Jima
February 19, 1945-March 26,
1945
Island was crucial to continue
B-29 raid on mainland Japan




Battle of Iwo Jima
22,000 Japanese defended the island
More was expected of the Japanese soldier than
any other soldier in WWII. They were to fight
valiantly with no hope for survival. Every man
on Iwo Jima knew the island would be his grave.
The motto of the Japanese soldier was

Kill 10 Americans before you die.

If surrounded, a Japanese soldier
would fight on. If wounded and
disabled a Japanese would wait and
blow himself and his captor up. The
Marines could not treat the Japanese
soldier as they would hope to be
treated. Their only choice was to
exterminate him.

February 23, 1945
Flag raising on top
of Mt. Suribachi

Battle ended 3/26/1945
Americans captured island
6,825 Americans were killed.
Virtually all 22,000 Japanese
perished.

Unconditional Surrender
Japanese then lost Battle of Okinawa
80,000 Americans died
Still, showed no willingness to
surrender
Allies start planning an invasion of
Japan
U.S. President Truman had a decision:
should the U.S. use the A-Bomb????
Atomic Bomb
Pros: avoid invasion of Japan, no
American casualties, end war quickly
Cons: kill innocent people; lead to
nuclear warfare
July 1945 testing of the a-bomb in
New Mexico
Secret name for the creation of the a-
bomb= Manhattan Project

The Atomic Bomb
President Truman decided to use the bomb
August 6, 1945 one atomic bomb (little
boy) was dropped on the city of Hiroshima,
Japan
2/3 of city instantly destroyed
70,000 people killed instantly
100,000 wounded or missing
By 1946 up to 118, 000 deaths
The Atomic Bomb
2 days later Soviet Union (Allies) beat the
Japanese in Manchuria and Korea
Still, the Japanese do not surrender
August 9 second atomic bomb (Fat Man)
dropped on city of Nagasaki
80,000 people killed
August 10 1945 Japan surrenders
Formal surrender September 2 1945
WWII finally over
Allied Powers win WWII
Little Boy

Weight= 8818.49 lbs Length=9.84 ft Diameter=2.3 ft
Fat Man
Weight= 10,200 lbs Length= 10.6 ft diameter= 5 ft


the intense heat etched any surface facing the
fireball.