Section 3-Victory in Europe and the Pacific – Flashcards

Meeting in 1943; Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill; confirmed their defense to crush Hitler.

June 6, 1944 Allies hit Germany in force. More than 11,000 planes prepare the way, attempting To destroy German communication and transportation Networks and soften beach defenses At 6:30 am; after rough crossing of Channel, first troops land. On four beaches, landings lightly opposed; casualties relatively low Omaha, one of the two beaches assigned to US, Germans offer stiff opposition On cliffs overlooking beach, Germans dug trenches, built small concrete pillbox structures from which heavy artillery could be fired

Allied commander in WW2 in Europe; helped plan the D-Day invasion at Normandy; 34th President

December, 1944-January, 1945 - After recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944, Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses.

Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb

April 30, 1945, after 12 years of rule, knowing Allied forces would soon be upon him (the Soviets are entering Berlin) Hitler commits suicide

the American navy attacked islands held by the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean. The capture of each successive island from the Japanese brought the American navy closer to an invasion of Japan.

During World War II, Japanese suicide pilots trained to sink Allied ships by crashing bomb-filled planes into them.

a bloody and prolonged operation on the island of Iwo Jima in which American marines landed and defeated Japanese defenders (February and March 1945)

The U.S. Army in the Pacific had been pursuing an "island-hopping" campaign, moving north from Australia towards Japan. On April 1, 1945, they invaded Okinawa, only 300 miles south of the Japanese home islands. By the time the fighting ended on June 2, 1945, the U.S. had lost 50,000 men and the Japanese 100,000.

Constant bombing of Tokyo during end of war. their building structure is typically made of wood, so it was easy to destroy many homes

Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States.

lead the Manhattan Project: the World War II effort to develop the first nuclear bomb. He was remembered as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb."

Military leader of the manhattan project

First and second cities to be hit by atomic bombs, they were bombed after Japan refused to surrender and accept the Potsdam Declaration. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945.

124th emperor of Japan, surrendered to US after 2nd atomic bombing in Nagasaki

"Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945