World War II - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

World War IISlide2

Essential Question

:

What role did the United States play in fighting in the Pacific during World War II? Slide3

While the war was coming to an end in Europe, the Allies continued to fight the Japanese in the

Pacific. Slide4

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USA sent troops to the Pacific

theater.

The Pacific war revealed a new kind of fighting by using aircraft

carriers. Slide5

The Japanese took the Philippines just days after Pearl Harbor. General

MacArthur, vowing to return,

had to evacuate and forces surrendered.

After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched a major offensive and were able to tae Hong Kong, Singapore, The Dutch East Indies, Malaysia, and invaded Burma.Slide6

The Bataan Death March

After the loss of the Philippines, Allied prisoners were broken into small groups and forced to march to prison camps.

They were treated very cruelly and approximately 10,000 died in the 6-12 day journey through the jungle.

This violated the Geneva Convention, a 1929 international agreement on the treatment of prisonersSlide7

The Chinese officially joined the Allies on Dec. 9

th

.

U.S. sent aid to the Chinese but they lost to Japanese at Burma and were forced to retreat. Slide8

The

Dolittle

Raid was in revenge of Pearl Harbor and a symbolic message.

A group of B-25 bombers launched from an aircraft carrier to bomb Tokyo in April 1942.

They did little damage and were forced to crash-land in China, but it did help boost morale despite all the defeats in the Pacific. Slide9

May 1942: Battle

of the Coral Sea: 1

st

naval battle fought entirely by airplanes. It was a tie.

June 1942: The

turning point

in the war in the Pacific came at the

Battle of

Midway.

After Midway,

the Allies began

to regain islands controlled by

Japan.

It did stop the Japanese advance and invasion of Australia.

Most Japanese carriers were sunk and Japan was put on the defensive. Slide10

Japan did not play by traditional rules in

war.

“Kamikaze” pilots flew planes into battleships & aircraft

carriers.

Japanese soldiers refused to surrender & tortured Allied prisoners of

war.Slide11

The problem for the Allies was the time & troops it would cost to retake the thousands of islands the Japanese controlled in the

Pacific.

The U.S. developed an

island-hopping strategy

to skip the heavily defended islands & seize islands close to

Japan.

From 1943 to 1945

, the

Allies took

back a series of islands including

the

Philippines & were moving in on

Japan.

August 1942: The

fight for Guadalcanal took 6 months

& cost 25,000 Japanese & 2,000 U.S.

lives.Slide12

October 1944: MacArthur returned to Philippines and finally conquered Manila in March 1945.

American submarines were ruining Japan’s fleet, & the firebomb raid on Tokyo on March 9-10, 1945, killed 83,000 people.

Japan lost sea power in March 1945 with last naval battle of Leyte Gulf. Slide13

In 1945, the Allies

won the islands of

Iwo Jima

&

Okinawa.

From these islands, the U.S. began

firebombing Tokyo &

other

Japanese

cities.

Despite significant damage from kamikaze pilotsSlide14

By May 1945, the war in Europe was over & U.S. began preparing for a land invasion of

Japan.

Despite losing control of the Pacific & withstanding firebomb attacks, Japan refused to

surrender.

…But, perhaps a land invasion was not necessary… Slide15

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb

?

Critical Thinking Decision A

FDR’s

Decision

:

B

In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt

about the potential to build a nuclear

weapon.

FDR created a top-secret program called the

Manhattan

Project.Slide16

The Manhattan Project

Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge of developing the

bomb.

From 1942-1945,

a number of secret labs across the

country developed

& built the

bomb.Slide17

Physicist

Enrico

Fermi at the University of Chicago

developed the nuclear reaction

Nuclear plant in Hanford, WA developed the

plutonium.

The bomb was constructed in a secret city in Oak Ridge,

TN.

In July 1945, the bomb was successfully tested at Los Alamos, New Mexico during Project

Trinity.Slide18

In April 1945, FDR died & his VP Harry Truman had to decide how to end the war in the

Pacific.Slide19

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb

:

Critical Thinking Decision B

Truman’s

Decision

:

CSlide20

In July 1945, the

Big Three met at the Potsdam Conference to discuss the end of

WWII.

Truman learned the atomic bomb was ready & issued the

Potsdam Declaration

to Japan: “surrender or face

destruction.”Slide21

When Japan refused to surrender, Truman ordered the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6,

1945.

After 3 days, Japan did not surrender so a

2

nd

atomic bomb was dropped on

Nagasaki.

After the second atomic bomb, Emperor Hirohito agreed to a

surrender. Slide22

Hiroshima

NagasakiSlide23

World War II was

over!!! Slide24

Whether to Drop the Atomic Bomb

:

Critical Thinking Decision CSlide25

Justification for Dropping Bomb

End the war quickly and theoretically save lives

Revenge for Pearl Harbor

Intimidate the Soviet Union and other potential enemies

Justify the expense of the Manhattan Project Slide26

Conclusions: The Impact of World War II

World War II was the biggest, most deadly,

& most impactful war in world history:

Europe was destroyed by the war & lost its place as the epicenter of power in the world

The USA & USSR emerged as super powers & rivals competing for influence in the world

A United Nations was formed to replace the League of Nations to help promote peace

Colonized nations

began to demand independence from EuropeansSlide27

WW2 Timeline

(

Allies

, Axis,

USSR

)Slide28

Conclusions

WW2 was the largest & deadliest war in history & changed the U.S.

Wartime industry ended the Great Depression, expanded the size of the federal gov’t, & ushered in affluent decade

The USA emerged as a world superpower, developed a nuclear arsenal, & engaged a Cold War against the USSR