Sarah+Z+WWII

media type="file" key="Waiting for the Train to Come In.wmv" width="300" height="300"

PHOTOS: WORKS CITED-

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[]

[[http://media.photobucket.com/image/army%20train/kpowens/Locomotives/ArmyDaysTrain.jpg?o=18|http://media.photobucket.com/image/army%20train/kpowens/Locomotives/ArmyDaysTrain.jpg?o=18

]] []

media type="custom" key="6114455" ONE: During World War II, there were two alliances: the Allies and Axis Powers. The Allies originally consisted of France, Britain, and Poland. Later, the US and Russia joined the side of the Allies. These countries were more into the idea of appeasement - giving someone what they want to please them. The Axis Powers, on the other hand, consisted of Japan, Italy, and Germany. The members of this alliance had one thing in common: totalitarianism. All of the leaders of these countries were complete dictators, and they used terror to control their people. Germany was the starter of the war, by invading Poland. As Hitler, the German leader, obtained more and more land, he did not want to stop. Hitler continually invaded other countries, and the appeasement kept going on. Lapsansky-Werner, Emma J., Randy Roberts, Peter B. Levy, and Alan Taylor. "Chapter 10 Section 2." // United States History: Modern America //. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008. 331-35. Print.

TWO: American soldiers were not the only people participating in the war. Families at home wanted to do their part as well. Eleanor Roosevelt started multiple groups to help in the war effort for the army, navy, coast guard, and air force. Women played a big part of the home effort. Since many men were drafted into the war to fight, American women were strongly encouraged to leave their homes and enter the workforce. These women were known as "Rosie the Riveters." About 6.5 million women entered factory workforce. They would work in shipyards, lumber mills, and steel mills. The women would also work as mechanics, electricians, and other hands-on jobs as well. Families at home grew victory gardens; these gardens were important because they grew about 8 million tons of food during wartime. These actions, along with many others, were great contributions to the war. []

THREE: At the beginning of the war, the U.S. was neutral; we were not included in either alliance. Japan relied on the U.S. for multiple resources. However, because the United States did not approve of the Japanese expansion going on, FDR decided to place an embargo on them. We were no longer trading metal, steel, iron ore, and oil with the country of Japan. This made the Japs angry, and they felt the need to retaliate. The plan to attack Pearl Harbor was not in order to take over the U.S., but it was to cripple the United States Navy well enough that they could capture the Philippines before the U.S. Navy could recuperate. December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Most of our ground planes and six battleships were destroyed. About 3,000 Americans were killed. The event was a true surprise since newspapers were more focused on the war in Europe. FDR considered this to be a "day that will live in infamy." Despite the fact that the United States wanted to stick to isolationism, everyone knew that we needed to join the war. [|"Pearl Harbor."] // [|Ushistory.org] // [|. 2010. Web. 10 May 2010. 

FOUR: The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, Japan attacked the Philippines because they knew that the U.S. would be a bit crippled from the first attack. Unfortunately, Bataan had to surrender as of April 9, 1942, because they were disease-ridden, so the Japanese captured about 78,000 troops and forced into the "Bataan Death March." Many died before finishing the 60 miles to the prison. Americans and Filipinos refused to follow the commands of the Japs, and began using guerrilla techniques. They were digging ditches, Japanese trucks would crash into them, and then Americans took their guns. This angered the Japs. Eventually MacArthur would return to the Philippines; we killed 10,000 Japs and sunk 27 of their ships. They surrendered at the end of October.[]

FIVE: D-Day is the largest seaborn invasion in history. The Allies knew this invasion as Operation Overlord. Dwight D. Eisenhower had to lead the troops into Normandy, and less than 15% of these troops had actually seen combat. The Allies traveled to the Channel in a group of 5,000 vessels that stretched as far as the eye could see. Along with that, they had 4,000 smaller landing craft and over 11,000 aircraft. More than 100,000 Allied soldiers made it ashore, but 9,000 men were dead or wounded by the nightfall on June 6. The Germans thought that they were unstoppable, but they were wrong. The Allies occupied the beaches of Normandy. By the end of the battle, it is assumed that there were at least 425,000 casualties over all.[]

SIX: On April 25, 1945, the Allies met at Elbe River, ready to fight, but the German army was basically destroyed. Five days after this, Hitler had killed his wife Eva, his dog, and finally himself. Then Hitler's successor, Admiral Karl Doenitz, sent a man to seek an end for the war from Eisenhower. May 7, 1945, General Alfred Jodl signed an unconditional surrender of German forces; this would come into effect on May 8th. Many celebrations took place, as the war in Europe, after six years, had finally come to an end.[]

SEVEN: After Japan surrendered in the Philippines, the U.S. Army began using a new technique: island hopping. The plan was to capture more and more islands, pushing Japan back, until the Japanese mainland was close enough to bomb. Along with the idea of island hopping, the Allies had a two-pronged offense plan, and it was codenamed "Cartwheel." MacArthur being one prong, and Halsey being the other, would attack from either sides of the Japanese, cornering them at Rabaul Island. The Allies captured Gona, Soloman Islands, and many others in order to get to their goal: Iwo Jima and Okinawa.[]

EIGHT: In Germany, multiple scientists knew how to split uranium atoms, and two scientists, who came to the United States, thought that the government should know about the power that could exert from bombs created through this process. Those scientists were Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi. In 1941, the American effort of creating an atomic bomb got the codename "The Manhattan Project." The main plant was located in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Robert  Oppenheimer was in charge of putting all the pieces together. Over 120,000 Americans were employed in the creation of the bomb, and it took about $2 million for the research and development. Roosevelt and Churchill kept it very secretive so that the Axis Powers would not find out about the production. Truman didn't even know about it until he became President after Roosevelt died. On July 16, 1945, the scientists were ready to test the first atomic bomb ever created. A mushroom cloud went up in the sky 40,000 feet high, a flash of light seen for 200 miles, and windows shattered in houses for 100 miles. When Truman heard about the results, he knew it'd be successful. []

NINE: Americans were bombing Japan's cities, but the Japanese would not give up. Choosing whether or not to drop these atomic bombs on Japan was going to be the biggest decision Truman would ever have to make. Before they were to drop the bombs, the Allies offered the Japanese to agree to an unconditional surrender, and that if not, there'd be extreme destructive consequences, but they wouldn't budge. August 6, 1945, a plane called Enola Gay dropped the bomb on the city, Hiroshima. An estimated 170,000 people died from the initial bombing and also from radiation. The Allies waited for Japan to surrender, but Russia declared war on them before they had the chance to. August 9, we dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. Another 80,000 people died, and Japan surrendered on the 14th of August.

[]

TEN: The end of summer of 1945 was exciting for the families at home in America. Japan surrendered, and VJ Day was August 14, 1945. There were ticker tape parades in every town. Now, America had the strongest army and navy in the world. Americans living in the time period of World War II were now considered the "greatest generation." Although Russia and the U.S. were alliances during the war, the American government refused to allow Russia go back to a life of totalitarianism. With this, another war broke out: the Cold War. []