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Franklin Delano Roosevelt (USA)
He worked closely with other national leaders in leading the Allies against the Axis powers.
supervised the mobilization of the American economy to support the war effort and implemented a Europe first strategy.
Harry Truman (USA)
made the choice to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.
president after FDR
Dwight D. Eisenhower (USA)
planned and supervised two of the most consequential military campaigns of World War II:
Operation Torch in the North Africa campaign in 1942–1943 and the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
supreme allied commander in the european theater
George S. Patton (USA)
led corps and armies from North Africa, to Sicily, to the continent of Europe
Douglas MacArthur (USA)
Commander of the Allied Forces Southwest Pacific
commanded a broad offensive against the Japanese that would move north from Australia, through New Guinea, and eventually to the Philippines.
Chester Nimitz (USA)
U.S. Navy had broken Japanese codes → knew what the Japanese were going to do
Allowed for him to strategize accordingly
american naval commander
Winston Churchill (GB)
led Britain to victory in the Second World War
shaped Allied strategy in the war
Joseph Stalin (USSR)
The head of the Soviet Communist Party
The Communist party purged all suspected traitors or opponents during The Great Terror
allied powers
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Leader of the NSDAP (Nazi Party)
Called for Lebensraum
Called for the creation of a “master race” of Aryan Germans
main goal —> dominate Europe and eliminate inferior people
Benito Mussolini
Part of the Fascist Party
Upset that Italy didn’t get anything from the treaty
although a part of the Allies, did not get what it wanted at the end of WWI
axis power
main goal —> create the italian empire stretching from east adriatic (Africa)
Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
remained spiritual leader and figurehead
presided over the invasion of China, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and eventually, the Japanese surrender to the Allies
Hideki Tojo (Japan)
Japan fought alongside the allies
BUT were not treated as equals during the peace negotiations
Japanese military gained control of Japan’s government
became military dictator
oversaw the attack on pearl harbor
main goal —> japanese control of western pacific and asia
Manchuria/Manchuko
region of china that japan invaded
begins Japanese expansion into mainland asia that continues throguhout the 1930’s
Pearl Harbor
surprise military strike by the Japanese
the morning of December 7, 1941
The surprise attack by some 350 Japanese aircraft sunk or badly damaged eighteen US naval vessels, including eight battleships, destroyed or damaged 300 US aircraft, and killed 2,403 men.
caused the US to join the war
needed natural resources
Kamikaze
“Divine Wind”
Suicide Bombers
Corregidor/Bataan Death March
remained one of the last Allied strongholds in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan
Constant aerial bombardment attacks by the Japanese ate away at the American and Filipino defenders.
3 months after the battle, 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced march through the Philippines.
Battle of Britain
July - Oct 1940
Germany bombed Britain for 3 months to try and weaken the island’s defenses
German Luftwaffe vs. British Royal Air Force (RAF)
Raf WON! → Prevented Germany’s land invasion of the British Isles
Battle of Coral Sea
May 1942
The Japanese seemed unstoppable until this battle
US Forces prevented Japanese invasion of the island → warned that the tides during the war might change
Battle of Midway (June 1942)
Utilized knowledge of Japanese plans
Americans sunk 4 Japanese aircraft carriers &
Japanese only sunk 1 American aircraft carrier
Turning point in the war → Japanese now on the defensive
Guadalcanal (Nov 1942)
Americans defeated Japanese in the Solomon Islands
Continued the American victory streak
Gave the U.S. a strategic base to launch further attacks
Iwo Jima and Okinawa
American Victory
Strategic landing point for pilots/ships going across the Pacific
Gruesome fighting
Strategic landing point → even closer to the Japanese home island
Kamikaze fighters utilized
High death tolls on both sides
“Island Hopping”
American strategy in the Pacific
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
first atomic bomb is dropped —> Aug. 6, 1945
second bomb is dropped —> Aug. 9, 1945
japan surrenders and WWII is officially over
“Defeat Hitler First”/Europe First
focus on finishing the war in Europe first before trying to end war in asia
Stalingrad (17 July 1942 – 2 February 1943)
Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad
It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favour of the Allies.
Operation Overlord
the overall plan for the invasion and the subsequent Battle of Normandy
Blitzkrieg
Lightning war
Quick and effective coordination of all parts of the military
This is how Germany was able to conquer Europe so quickly
Fall of western Europe
Germany invaded France through Belgium and the Netherlands
Nazi armies easily defeated the Allies → France surrendered →
Germany set up a new “French” government and occupied the north
German troops overran Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France in six weeks starting in May 1940.
France signed an armistice in late June 1940, leaving Great Britain as the only country fighting Nazi Germany.
Normandy landings/D-Day (June 6, 1944)
allied forces launched the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare
marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from Nazi occupation.
Battle of the Bulge
the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor
the american troops attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.
hitler wasn’t abe to launch an offensive in the west
Saturation/strategic bombing
approach to aerial bombardment designed to destroy a country’s ability to wage war by demoralizing civilians and targeting features of an enemy’s infrastructure
such as factories, railways, and refineries—that are essential for the production and supply of war materials.
War in North Africa
Essential in securing the Suez Canal which was Britain's lifeline to its Empire, and in securing oil available in North Africa as well as Middle-East.
It would also open up a front through Souther Italy onto Germany.
Tuskegee Airmen
1578 combat missions
Highly successful bomber missions
Awarded more than 850 medals
Nisei regiments
(Japanese Americans)
earned a high number of decorations while fighting predominantly in Europe
Fought discrimination at home
Navajo code
code that the native americans created so that their enemies couldn’t break
Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
enable women to serve in noncombat positions.
6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
consisted of all African-American women
Their mission was to clear several years of backlogged mail in the European Theater of Operations.
Japanese Internment
Executive Order 9066 (1942): forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers" further inland – resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans.
Double Victory
victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home
Mobilization
brought the end of the Great Depression
Draft
New job opportunities to provide military goods / services
Fewer commercial goods → consumer savings
Office of War and Mobilization
Set production priorities, controlled raw materials
US economy met all of the wars’ needs
New factories were built
New rubber industry was created
Production was 2x that of combined Axis nations!!!
Cash and carry
Allowed belligerent nations to buy goods and arms in the U.S. if they paid cash and carried their own merch on their own ships
Lend-Lease Act
allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States.
Neutrality acts of 1935-1937
embargo on arms - Made it illegal for Americans to sell or transport arms or other war materials to any nations at war (belligerent nations)
This was supported by isolationists
“Arsenal of Democracy”
exceeding all production expectations and spearheading the Allied drive to victory.
War bonds
a bond bought to fund the war effort redeemable for interest after a certain period of time
Rationing
government - controlled limits on the amount of certain goods
Manhattan Project
was an unprecedented, top-secret World War II government program in which the United States rushed to develop and deploy the world's first atomic weapons before Nazi Germany