THE LAST STAGES OF THE WAR

Objective…

Explain the diplomatic & military challenges facing the US in the final stages of the war.

The Holocaust82) What was the Holocaust… What groups did Hitler target with his

actions…

Train tracks into Auschwitz…

The Final Solution

The Nazi plan to murder every Jewish person in

Europe

The British prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials stated in his closing address that… "murder [was] conducted like some mass production industry in the

gas chambers and the ovens"

The Holocaust

83) How did the US government & the news media handle information

on the Holocaust?

84) Why did the U.S. military refuse to take action against the

extermination camps?

85) How many people died in the Holocaust?

The reality of the “Final Solution”…

• 6 million Jews

• 1 million children

• 5 million Slavs, Gypsies & enemies of the German State

•Renounce territorial gains•Support free trade•Self determination•Establish a world peace-keeping organization•Lend–lease aid to Soviets

The Atlantic Charter (1941)

The Yalta Conference Feb, 1945

86) Why would the goals of the Atlantic Charter be difficult to achieve?

87) Who attended the Yalta Conference?... The agreements reached…

The Yalta Conference-Influenced by the Atlantic Charter

& The Four Freedoms

• Germany would be divided into occupational zones

• Communist regimes in Poland & Yugoslavia• Free elections• Germany will pay reparations • The Soviets will enter the war against Japan

The Potsdam Conference July - August , 1945

Who attended the Potsdam Conference?

The Potsdam Conference July, 1945

• Communist regimes in Poland, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Romania

• “Satellite nations”…

• Agreement on Japanese surrender

The Atomic BombTo Sec of State Stimson: “Babies satisfactorily born”

I & E: Manhattan Project –The U.S. program to develop an atomic bomb for use in WW II.

•First atomic test

•Described as “a red hot elephant balancing on its trunk.”

The Atomic Bomb

• The Interim Committee…

The decision to use the atomic bombs….

• Quickest & most efficient way to win the war• Save American lives• Not using the bomb would have been a waste of money.• U.S. & Soviet tension - Gain an advantage over the Soviet

How did scientists view using the atomic bomb?

• Some believed it would stop additional blood shed… i.e. Avoid battles like Okinawa & Iwo Jima

• Some believed that the Japanese deserved fair warming and a demonstration of the bomb.

• Most realized they had created a weapon with far reaching consequences and had concerns about the future.

August 6th, 1945 - Hiroshima

Little

Boy

Results of Hiroshima…

•70K dead on impact•69K injured•67% of city gone

“Shadow people”

August 9th, 1945 - Nagasaki Fat Man

Bocks Car & crew

Results of Nagasaki…

• 39K dead - 25K injured

“…temperatures of 7,000 degrees centigrade hit me… Nobody looked like human beings… Human had lost the ability to speak. People couldn't speak. ‘it hurts’ even when they were on fire… People with their legs wrenched off. Without heads. Or with faces burned and swollen out of shape. The scene I saw was living hell. “ - quoted in Japan at War: An oral history

On Sept. 2, 1945, the Japanese formerly surrender aboard the battleship Missouri

in Tokyo Bay.VJ Day – Victory over Japan

The Nuremberg Trials 1945- 1949

• Who? The Allies

• What? The trial of 22 Nazi officials

• Where? Nuremberg, Germany

• Why? Launching an "aggressive war" & committing "crimes against humanity"

The Nuremberg Trials1945 - 1949

• The results…– 22 defendants – 11 sentenced to death by hanging (Nov. 1946)– 7 received life prison terms– 3 acquitted

The Japanese Trials1946 - 1948

• Where? Tokyo, Japan

• Why? Charges of aggressive war, atrocities against POWs & civilians.

The Japanese Trials1946 - 1948

The trial of 28 Japanese officials

• The results…– 28 defendants

– 7 death by hanging

– 16 life in prison (Parole 1956)

– 2 lesser terms, 2 died during trial, 1mental breakdown

Victory in Europe - May 8,1945

V-E Day

V-J DayVictory over Japan –

August 15,1945Formal surrender Sept. 2, 1945 aboard the USS Missouri

The Economic Cost of WW IITOTAL COST: $1 TRILLION

$ Cost per country…• USA: 341 billion• Germany: 272 billion• USSR: 192 billion• Great Britain: 120 billion• Italy: 94 billion• Japan: 56 billion

The Cost of WW IIAllied Military Dead & Wounded

Country: Dead……. WoundedUSSR:……… 11m……… N/AChina:……… 1.3m……... 1.7mYugoslavia:.. 305,000…. 425,000USA:……….. 292,000…. 672,000 UK:…………. 265,000…. 277,000France:……. 213,000…. 400,00Poland:……. 123,000….. 237,00

The Cost of WW IIAxis Military Dead & Wounded

Country: Dead: Wounded:

• Japan:…… 1.3m…….. 4m• Germany:.. 3.5………. 5m• Romania:… 300,000…. N/A• Italy:……… 242,000…. 66,000• Hungary:… 200,000…. N/A

The Cost of WW IIWar Related Allied Civilian Deaths

Country: Dead: Wounded:USSR:……… 7m……. N/AChina:……… 115,00… N/AYugoslavia:.. 1.2……… N/AUSA:……….. 6,000…... 139,000UK:…………. 93,000….. 214,000France:……. 350,000… N/APoland:……. 5.7m…… 421,000

The Cost of WW IIWar Related Axis Civilian Deaths

Country: Dead Wounded

• Germany:… 780,000… 3.4m

• Japan: …… 672,000… 810,00

• Romania:… 200,000… 100,000

• Italy:……… 153,000… 350,000

• Hungary… 290,000… 170,000