Battles of World War II (College Board AP® US History)

Summary

Despite hopes to remain neutral, the United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The United States played a pivotal role, as the war might have had a different outcome without America’s assistance. The major battles of World War II reshaped the world and highlighted the brutality and cost of global war. The war culminated in the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II. The impact of these events, including the devastation of the Holocaust and the use of nuclear weapons, left a profound legacy on global history.

Timeline

1941–45 — World War II

December 7, 1941 — Pearl Harbor

1943 — The Tehran Conference

June 4, 1944 — D-Day Invasion

December 1944–January 1945 — Battle of the Bulge

February 19–March 26, 1945 — Battle of Iwo Jima

April 20–May 2, 1945 — Fall of Berlin

May 7, 1945 — Germany surrenders: VE-Day

June 4, 1945 — Battle of Midway

August 6, 1945 — Bombing of Hiroshima

August 9, 1945 — Bombing of Nagasaki

September 2, 1945 — Japan Surrenders: VJ-Day

The Holocaust

• The Holocaust refers to the systematic persecution and genocide of nearly six million Jewish people at the hands of Nazis during World War II

  • There were also millions of other victims, including:

    • Romani people

    • disabled individuals

    • Polish people

    • Soviet prisoners of war

• The Holocaust began with discriminatory laws in the 1930s (e.g. the Nuremberg Laws of 1935)

  • Jewish people were forcibly relocated to overcrowded ghettos in cities like Warsaw and Lodz

    • The people in the ghettos faced starvation, disease, and harsh living conditions

  • Ghettos were temporary holding areas where Jewish people were often confined before being send to concentration camps

• Jewish people and other victims were deported to concentration camps, where they faced

  • forced labor

  • starvation

  • medical experiments

  • death in the gas chambers

• Key events during the Holocaust

  • Wannsee Conference (1942): Nazi officials planned “The Final Solution”, a systematic effort to exterminate Jewish people

  • Liberation of camps (1945): Allied forces discovered and liberated camps like Auschwitz

    • This exposed the horrors of the Holocaust

• The Holocaust is remembered as one of history’s darkest times

  • It led to post-war efforts like the establishment of Israel (1948) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

War in Europe & the Pacific

War in Europe

• The Soviet Union fought Germany on the Eastern Front

• The United States and Great Britain fought Germany on the Western Front

Key events of the war in Europe

• Fall of France (1940)

  • Germany quickly occupied France, forcing the Allies to retreat and regroup

• The Tehran Conference (1943)

  • First meeting of Allied leaders: Great Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin 

  • Planned Operation Overlord, the invasion of Nazi-occupied Normandy, France by Allied Forces

• D-Day Invasion (June 4, 1944)

  • Allied forces invaded German-held France 

  • Largest amphibious invasion in history

  • Over 156,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy to liberate France

  • Marked the beginning of the Nazi retreat in Western Europe

• Battle of the Bulge (December 1944)

  • Germany’s last major offensive

  • The objective was to split Allied forces by creating a “bulge” in the military lines 

    • “Bulge” refers to the shape of the front line on a military map

    • The German forces launched a surprise attack, aiming to punch through the Allied lines in the dense Ardennes Forest (Belgium and Luxembourg)

    • This caused a large outward curve or “bulge” in the Allied front line as German forces advanced into Allied territory

  • There were heavy casualties on both sides, but ultimately an Allied victory, leaving Germany weakened

    • The German attack depended on capturing key Allied supply points quickly, but delays allowed the Allies to regroup

    • German forces ran out of fuel and supplies, limiting their mobility and effectiveness

    • Despite being caught off-guard, Allied forces managed to hold key positions

    • The Allies launched a counteroffensive that pushed German forces back to their original positions by January 1945, ending the battle

AWAITING IMAGE

• Fall of Berlin (April –May 1945)

  • Soviet forces captured the German capital, marking the end of the war in Europe

  • Large loss of life on both sides

    • Soviet forces saw 81,000 to 100,000 soldiers killed or go missing, with 280,000 soldiers wounded

    • German forces saw 92,000 to 100,000 soldiers killed or go missing, around 220,000 wounded soldiers, and 480,000 to 500,000 solider captured as prisoners of war

    • It is estimated that there were 100,000 to 125,000 civilian deaths, due to bombing and urban combat 

  • Hitler refused to surrender and committed suicide on April 30, 1945

  • Germany surrendered, on May 7, 1945, known as VE-Day (Victory in Europe)

War in The Pacific

• Although the war in Europe had ended, the war in the Pacific continued

Key battles in the War in the Pacific

• Battle of Midway (June 1942)

  • A major turning point in the Pacific War, was when American forces defeated the Japanese Navy, halting its expansion in the Pacific

  • The battle involved intense aerial combat, with Japan losing four aircraft carriers which weakened its naval capabilities

  • Approximately 3,000 Japanese soldiers died, and the United States lost about 300 soldiers

  • The victory of this battle shifted the balance of naval power in favor of the Allies

• Battle of Iwo Jima (February –March 1945)

  • American Marines captured Iwo Jima, an island that was crucial for American air superiority and future attacks on Japan

  • The battle was marked by fierce fighting, with Japanese forces using caves and tunnels to resist American forces

  • Out of 21,000 Japanese soldiers, around 18,000 died

  • The United States lost around 7,000 soldiers, with a further 20,000 wounded

• Battle of Okinawa (April–June 1945)

  • The bloodiest battle in the Pacific, paving the way for a potential invasion of Japan’s mainland

  • The United States aimed to capture the island of Okinawa to help with a potential invasion of Japan’s mainland

  • The Japanese used underground bunkers and kamikaze attacks to defend the island

  • Approximately 100,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians died

  • The United States lost around 12,000 soldiers with another 49,000 wounded

  • This battle showed the brutal nature of war in the Pacific

• The United States adopted a strategy of capturing key islands to move closer to Japan 

  • This allowed them to bypass heavily fortified positions

The atomic bomb

• The Manhattan Project was a top-secret US program to develop the first nuclear weapons

  • Led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer

  • The project resulted in two bombs:

    • Little Boy (uranium-based)

    • Fat Man (plutonium-based)

• The United States wanted to end the war in the Pacific quickly to avoid further casualties and economic strain

• Japan’s cities were chosen for their military and industrial significance 

  • They housed factories, shipyards, and military installations

• The city of Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945

  • The United States dropped “Little Boy”, killing an estimated 140,000 people by the end of 1945

• The city of Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945

  • The United States dropped “Fat Man”, killing about 70,000 people instantly

  • Thousands more died later from radiation exposure

• Some people supported the bombings

  • Advocates argued it ended the war quickly, saving American and Japanese lives b avoiding a ground invasion

  • They demonstrated the decisive power of nuclear weapons, potentially deterring future conflicts

• Others criticized the bombings:

  • Critics pointed to the immense loss of civilian life and the long-term effects of radiation 

  • Some argued that Japan was already on the brink of surrender

Japan surrendered

• Japan announced its surrender on August 15, 1945, after the bombings

  • The Japanese was shocked by the devastation and loss of life from the atomic bombings

  • Japan had already suffered from extensive conventional bombing and could not continue

• The formal surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, known as VJ-Day (Victory over Japan)