Dropping the Atomic Bomb

1. In 1945, Truman decided to drop nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were various views on his decision, with some people thinking his decision was unjustified and others thinking it was justified. Japan was not going to surrender to the United States because they had too much going for them in World War II. Truman thought the only way to get them to surrender was to bomb them in a devastating manner in order to totally expunge their pride, power, and ambition. People who thought it was unjustified could argue that the bombs killed too many innocent Japanese people, and it destroyed too many homes, buildings, and important facilities. Although these seem like bad results of the bombings, the bombings did infact save many many lives. If the Japanese did not surrender and the bombs were not dropped, the war between Japan and the US would've possiby gone on for years and years more, causing MANY more deaths for both Japanese and Americans.

2. I think that Truman made the right decision in bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima. The first reason I think this is because Japan wasn't going to surrender, and I thought it was necessary to bomb them if it meant ending the war. Second, if this was the way to end the war, it would prevent many deaths since the war would've continued for quite a while longer. My last reason as to why I think he made the right decision was because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, by which I mean that since Japan bombed us and devastated us, then we should have the right to devastate them by bombing them and ending the war.

War in the Pacific

1. The importance of the Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The Americans knew that Midway Island was Japan's next target, and were able to move to defend the island. On June 3, 1942, Chester Nimitz's scout planes found the Japanese fleet. The Americans sent torpedo planes and dive bombers to the attack, destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers, a Japanese cruiser, and 250 Japanese planes. Following this battle, the Allies began winning territories back from the Japanese, island by island, and the Americans officially had "avenged Pearl Harbor".

2. One strategy that the United States adopted from fighting Japan was a Pearl Harbor-like air raid, which they mocked with Doolittle's raid, bombing Tokyo and other Japanese ities on April 18, 1942. Another strategy that the United States adopted from the Japenese was the act of Island Hopping, conquering island by island, which they showed in the Battle of Midway, re-capturing islands once lost to Japan.

3. The Japanese fought so hard on Iwo Jima because it was critical to the United States as a base from which heavily loaded bombers might reach Japan, so if they were to lose the island, they would be in greater danger based on the position advantage the United States would have over the Japanese. The Japanese had also almost 21,000 troops there, making Iow Jima one of the most heavily defended spot on earth, which made it a crucial base for Japan in the war. The Americans won the battle and took over the island, and their next move was the island of Okinawa.

4. The Allies believed that Okinawa was a foretaste of the invasions of Japan's home islands because of Japan's strong defensive troops on the islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Because of their [Japan's] remarkable fights on those islands, Churchill predicted the cost of invading Japan's home islands would be a million American lives and 500,000 British lives.

5. The Manhattan Project was the development of the atomic bomb, and it was the best kept secret of the war. Over 600,000 Americans were involved in the project, and few of them knew the true purpose of it. The first tests of the new bomb took place in New Mexico, in an empty expanse of desert, and the bomb was described as "a red-hot elephant standing balanced on its trunk", and the development of the bomb was deemed successful.

6. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ultimately end the war. He ordered the military to make final plans for dropping the bombs on July 25, 1945. The US warned Japan that it faced "prompt and utter destruction" unless it surrendered, and Japan refused. Truman planned the bombings in order to bring the war to an end, and to end all of this madness, dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and another on Nagasaki on August 9. An estimated 200,000 Japanese people were killed from injuries and radiotion caused by the bombs, and Emperor Hirohito of Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945 because he said he "cannot bear to see [his] innocent people suffer any longer".

War for Europe and North Africa - Part II

6. D-Day was the day when we invaded Normany, France, on June 6th, 1944.

7. At the Battle of the Bulge, Germany tried to split allied forces, but they was unsuccessful.

8. Allied troops found concentration camps in Germany.

9. Hitler and his wife committed suicide, FDR died of a heart attack, and Truman became the new US president.

War for Europe & North Africa

1. Roosevelt and Churchill agreed that they would concentrate on Germany and the rest of Europe's Axis powers before worrying about Japan, because the European Axis forces, especially Germany, were a much larger threat to America.

2. Winning the Battle of the Atlantic was crucial for America because it would give them a much better position to supply Britain.

3. The Battle of Stalingrad was important because it was when Germany turned to defensive tactics. This was considered the turning point in the war.

4. The Ally powers won the war in North Africa, which gave them a better position to invade Europe.

5. Once the Allies invaded Italy, Mussolini was thrown in jail by the king of Italy.

Mobilizing for WWII.

1. The Selective Service System expanded the draft and eventually provided another 10 million soldiers to meet the armed forces' needs.

2. Many women at the time worked military jobs, except those which involved actual fighting.

3. Minorities worked with the intention of obtaining employment in military jobs. They eventually got these rights and worked harder than most Americans.

4. Manufacturers made weapons and vehicles for war, and were overthrown and controlled by the government.

5. The Office of Scientific Research and Development helped scientists to create new things that would be helpful to the US in war.

6. The Entertainment Industry played a huge role in creating propaganda, as businesses like Disney would make films with large quantities of propaganda.

7. The Office of Price Administration fought inflation by freezing wages, prices, and rents, and it rationed food, such as meat, butter, cheese, vegetables, sugar, and coffee.

8. The War Production Board rationed fuel and materials vital to the war effort, such as gasoline, heating oil, metals, rubber, and plastics.

9. The Office of Price Administration set up a system for rationing, or establishing fixed allotments of goods deemed essential for the military. Under this system, households received ration books with coupons to be used for buying such scarce goods as meat, shoes, sugar, coffee, and gasoline.

Japan and U.S. Relations in 1941

Japan and U.S. Relations in 1941

Document A
-By conquering the south, Japan would have a good position to attack at America's source of strategic materials

-Japan and America are at war
Document B

-Japan is in the act of encirclement to isolate and surround America
-Japan is surrounding America by the Pacific Ocean
Document C
-Japan and the US are trying to negotiate

Document D
-Japan needs to keep great responsibilities to win the war
Document E

-Japan attacks America at pearl harbor

-America was at peace with Japan before this event----betrayal

-Because the attack was obviously planned weeks ahead, Japan has shown to be giving the US false statements of negotiation for continued peace

-US declares war on Japan

America Moves Toward War

1. The 1939 Neutrality Act allowed countries at war to buy supplies from the US if they paid fully for them, to stay out of debt.

2. The Axis Powers were Germany, Japan, and Italy.

4. The Atlantic Charter allowed Britain to borrow weapons, ammunition, and other equipment from the United States.

5. The Ally Powers were the United States, the UK, France, and the Soviet Union.

6. The Pearl Harbor attack almost totally destroyed the U.S. pacific fleet, destroying 21 ships.

7. Germany and Italy, two axis powers, declared war on the United States in order to gain more international power and had promised to help each other in any form of trouble.