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The Third Reich Collapses

The Third Reich Collapses. The war in Europe ended in spring 1945 after major battles, as the Allies moved east toward Germany . The Third Reich Collapses (cont.).

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The Third Reich Collapses

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  1. The Third Reich Collapses The war in Europe ended in spring 1945 after major battles, as the Allies moved east toward Germany.

  2. The Third Reich Collapses (cont.) • In Normandy, the battle of the hedgerows ended on July 25, 1944, when 2,500 American bombers blew a hole in the German lines, enabling American tanks to race through the gap. • As the Allies broke out of Normandy, the French Resistance staged a rebellion in Paris. • The Allied forces liberated Paris on August 25, 1944.

  3. The Third Reich Collapses (cont.) • Hitler decided to stage one last desperate offensive with the goal of cutting off Allied supplies coming through the port of Antwerp, Belgium. • Although fighting continued for three weeks, the United States won the Battle of the Bulge.

  4. The Third Reich Collapses (cont.) • By the time the Battle of the Bulge had ended, the Soviets had driven Hitler’s forces out of Russia and back across Poland. • American forces attacked Germany’s western border. • As the Soviet and American forces both neared Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. • Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945—known as V-E Day, for “Victory in Europe.”

  5. Japan Is Defeated The United States decided to end the war with Japan by using napalm and atomic bombs.

  6. Japan Is Defeated (cont.) • After FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945, Harry S. Truman became president. • American planners decided to invade Iwo Jima because of its location; however, its geography was formidable. • More than 6,800 marines were killed capturing the island.

  7. Japan Is Defeated (cont.) • To help the B-29s hit their targets, General Curtis LeMay ordered the use of bombs filled with napalm. • Loaded with firebombs, B-29s attacked Tokyo on March 9, 1945. • By the end of the war, 67 Japanese cities had been firebombed.

  8. Japan Is Defeated (cont.) • Military planners decided to seize Okinawa so that they could use it as a place to stockpile supplies and build up troops for an attack on Japan. • Over 12,000 Americans died capturing Okinawa.

  9. Japan Is Defeated (cont.) • The secret American program to build an atomic bomb was code-named the Manhattan Project and was headed by General Leslie R. Groves. • On July 16, 1945, J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team detonated the world’s first atomic bomb in New Mexico.

  10. Japan Is Defeated (cont.) • On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. • On August 9, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. • Later that day, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. • On August 15, 1945—V-J Day—Japan surrendered.

  11. Building a New World The victorious Allies tried to create an organization to prevent future wars.

  12. Building a New World (cont.) • In 1944 39 countries met to discuss the creation of the United Nations (UN). • The delegates agreed that there would be a General Assembly and a Security Council. • On April 25, 1945, representatives from 50 countries came to San Francisco to officially organize the UN and to design its charter. • The UN also created a Commission on Human Rights and chose Eleanor Roosevelt to serve as its first chair.

  13. Building a New World (cont.) • The Commission drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the UN issued it in 1948. • In August 1945, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union created the International Military Tribunal (IMT). • Twenty-two leaders of Nazi Germany were prosecuted at the Nuremberg Trials. • In Tokyo, 25 Japanese leaders were charged with war crimes.

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