Week of March 14-18

[1Clara]

Monday:

• We went over forum post leaders stories, touched on tests taking place toward the end of the week, finished Soviet Union notes and went over more on the US
• Previous Blog/ Notes (2)
• Previous Blog/ Notes (1)

Tuesday:

• We went over US notes.

Wednesday:

• We continued US notes.

Thursday:

• We watched a video over St. Patrick, discussed US declaring genocide, 

Friday:

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U.S. Notes Continued 

• VJ Day
  • August 14/15, 1945 (Official UK)
  • September 2, 1945 (Official for US)
    • When Japan officially signed on USS Missouri 
• Potsdam Conference - July, 1945
  • on July 26, the United States, Great Britain, and China issued the Potsdam Declaration 
  • announced the terms for Japan's surrender 
  • "We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives." 
  • Dismantle the current government of Japan (excluding Emperor Hirohito) 
  • The Allies (US) will occupy Japan
  • Japan will consist only of the major islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku). It will lose all territory gained in WWII and years leading up to it.
  • Japanese military forces will be disarmed and allowed to return home
  • There will be war crime trials for the atrocities committed by Japan throughout WWII 
  • Democracy will be promoted as well as Freedom of speech, religion, and of thought, as well as respect for fundamental human rights (Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948)
  • Japan will be allowed to have industry so they can make money to pay for reparations. World trade will also be enabled at some point. 
  • Allied (US) occupation of Japan (1945-1952) will end once Japan accomplishes all the above points
  • "We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action, The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction." President Harry Truman 
• WWII Major Battle/ Operations Timeline vs Germany 
  • Battle of he Atlantic - 1941-45
  • Operation Torch (Invasion of Morocco) - 1942
  • Operation Avalanche 
  • German U-Boats
    • after repeated attacks by German U-boats on U.S. ships in the Fall of 1941, FDR announced that he had ordered the U.S. Navy to  attack German and Italian war ships 
  • Convoy System
    • way to fight back against U-boat warfare 
  • Allied Intelligence
    • Churchill and Roosevelt knew the importance of intelligence in safeguarding Allied commerce to defeat the Axis powers. 
    • The Allies shared information from RADAR and High Frequency Radio Direction Finding (HF/DF or Huff Duff)
    • RADAR provided a means of detecting Vessels and aircraft above the surface
    • HF/DF was used to locate the sources of enemy radio transmissions such as submarines
    • Allied intelligence leaders began sharing code-breaking secrets, known as "very special intelligence" and classified under cover-names like "ULTRA" -British intelligence of intercepting and deciphering military codes. MAGIC - process of intercepting and breaking Japanese codes.
  • Enigma 
    • System in which Germany transferred their information through codes
    • solving the Enigma system remains one of the great Allied triumphs of WWII
    • During periods when allied crypt-analysts were unable to solve Enigma, U-boats caused great damage
  • Bombe
    • giant computers that decoded things
  • Depth Chargers
    • destroys submarines 
  • Dwight Eisenhower
    • 3rd in command 
  • D-Day Operation Overlord- June 6, 1944
    • invading France (Normandy) because Germany had taken it over and we had to retake it
    • Day of Days
  • Three major US generals
  • • Ike (Eisenhower), Patton, and Bradley
    • 156,000 Allied troops from the US, United Kingdom,
  • US casualties: 6,6603 (1,465 killed)
  • By June 11, with the beachheads firmly secured
  • more than 326,00 troops had crossed with more than 100,000 tons of military equipment 
  • Paris was liberated on August 25
  • Germany surrendered on May 8,1945 
• Battle of the Bulge
  • Hitlers last major offensive of the war
  • The coldest, snowiest weather "in memory" in the Ardennes Forrest on the German/Belgium border
  • Over a million men, 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans (more than fought at Gettysburg), 55,000 British
  • 5-6 months before the war ended
  • The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered, was the worse atrocity committed against American troops during the course of the war in Europe 
• Yalta Conference Feb 1945
  • Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin 
  • We knew we had won, so we needed to decide what was going to happen after the war 
  • Before the end of the WWII met at Yalta
  • 1) The establishment of the United Nations
  • 2) Germany to be divided into four zones
  • 3) Free elections allowed in the states of eastern Europe
  • 4) USSR promised to join the war against Japan
• V-E Day May 8, 1945
  • Victory in Europe 
• FDR dies,  Harry Truman is sworn in- April 12, 1945
  • was just elected as vice president in March- 1 month later (inexperienced) 
  • left presidency with the lowest,..
• Women in WWII
  • Rosie the Riveter
    • represented women workers
  • worked in factories
  • stayed at home
  • secretaries 
  • nurses
  • used for about everything 
  • WASP
    • women's army service pilots
• "Tokyo Rose" Iva Toguri
  • forced o broadcast propaganda to the Allied troops for Japan 
  • she taunted the troops and played music to make soldiers homesick 
• Native Americans- Navajo Code Talkers
• African Americans
  • Tuskegee Institute/ Airmen