cale an nautre of WWII

Scale and Nature of WWII (by 1943)

• U.S. fully engaged in multiple theaters: Pacific, Atlantic, North Africa, Europe

• ~400,000 American deaths; 50+ million worldwide

  • ~20 million Soviet deaths

  • ~2/3 of deaths were civilians

• U.S. mainland largely untouched → contrast with devastated Europe/Asia

War on Multiple Fronts

Europe (Italy Campaign)

• 1943: Allies invade Sicily → Italy surrenders (Sept 1943)

• Germany continues fighting in Italy

• Slow, costly advance → Rome captured June 4, 1944

• Fighting continues in Italy until 1945

Atlantic Theater

• Key issue: German U-boats

• Turning point: British crack Enigma code

• Result:

  • Safer Allied shipping routes

  • Enables buildup for D-Day

Eastern Front (USSR vs Germany)

• Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943)

  • ~1.2 million casualties

  • Soviet victory = major turning point

• Soviets begin pushing west toward Berlin

Conflicting Allied Goals

• United States: defeat Axis + promote self-determination, global stability

• Britain: preserve empire, balance Soviet power

• Soviet Union: create buffer states in Eastern Europe

→ These differences shape postwar tensions (Cold War origins)

Key Conferences and Diplomacy

Casablanca Conference (1943)

• Roosevelt + Churchill

• Policy: unconditional surrender

• Increased bombing of Germany

• Stalin demands second front (not present)

Tehran Conference (Nov 1943)

• First meeting of “Big Three” (FDR, Churchill, Stalin)

• Agreement:

  • Western front (D-Day) will happen

  • USSR will join war against Japan after Germany falls

Cairo Conference (1943)

• U.S., Britain, China (Chiang Kai-shek)

• Agreements:

  • Japan must surrender

  • Return Chinese territories

  • Korea becomes independent

D-Day and Western Europe

Operation Overlord (June 6, 1944)

• Supreme Commander: Dwight D. Eisenhower

• 370,000+ troops involved

• Normandy landings (5 beaches)

Key points:

• Heavy resistance, especially at Omaha Beach

• ~10,000 Allied casualties

• Establishes foothold in France

Liberation of Western Europe

• Operation Cobra: breakout from Normandy

• Led by General Omar Bradley

• Rapid advances:

  • Paris liberated (Aug 1944)

  • France and Belgium freed by September

Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944)

• Hitler’s last major offensive

• ~55,000 U.S. casualties

• Allies recover → push into Germany

End of War in Europe

• Soviets advance from east

• Allies meet in Berlin (April 1945)

• V-E Day: May 8, 1945

The Holocaust

• Systematic genocide by Nazi Germany

• Victims:

  • ~6 million Jews

  • ~4 million others (Roma, homosexuals, disabled, etc.)

• U.S. aware but limited action during war

• Liberation of camps shocks Allied forces

Nuremberg Trials (1945–1946)

• 22 Nazi leaders tried

• Outcomes:

  • 12 executed

  • 7 imprisoned

  • 3 acquitted

U.S. Leadership Changes

• FDR elected to 4th term (1944)

• Vice President: Harry S. Truman

• FDR dies April 12, 1945 → Truman becomes president

• Truman initially uninformed on key war issues (e.g., atomic bomb)

Pacific Strategy and Final Campaigns

Strategy: Island-Hopping

• Led by:

  • General Douglas MacArthur (southwest Pacific)

  • Admiral Chester Nimitz (central Pacific)

Key Battles

• New Guinea (1943)

• Mariana Islands (1944) → enables bombing of Japan

• Leyte Gulf (Oct 1944) → largest naval battle, retake Philippines

• Luzon (Jan 1945)

• Iwo Jima (March 1945)

• Okinawa (April–June 1945)

Additional Factors

• Heavy firebombing of Japan (Tokyo, etc.)

• Use of Navajo Code Talkers

Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)

• FDR, Churchill, Stalin

• Agreements:

  • USSR joins war vs Japan

  • USSR gains territory in Asia

  • Creation of United Nations

    • Security Council: U.S., UK, USSR, France, China

→ Stalin begins breaking agreements → rising tensions

Manhattan Project and Atomic Bomb

• Led by:

  • General Leslie Groves

  • J. Robert Oppenheimer (scientific head)

• Cost: ~$2 billion

• First test: July 16, 1945 (New Mexico)

Potsdam Conference (July–Aug 1945)

• Truman, Stalin, Churchill

• Tensions increase

• Potsdam Declaration:

  • Japan must surrender or face destruction

Atomic Bombings and End of War

• Hiroshima (Aug 6, 1945): ~140,000 dead

• Nagasaki (Aug 9, 1945): ~36,000 dead

• USSR declares war on Japan (Aug 8)

Japanese Surrender

• Conditional: Emperor remains

• Official surrender: Sept 2, 1945

Core APUSH Takeaways

• WWII fought across multiple coordinated fronts

• Stalingrad + D-Day = decisive turning points in Europe

• Allied unity masked deep ideological divisions → Cold War origins

• Holocaust exposes extreme consequences of totalitarianism

• Pacific war marked by island-hopping + total war tactics

• Atomic bomb:

  • Ends war quickly

  • Begins nuclear age and U.S.–Soviet rivalry

• U.S. emerges as global superpower after WWII