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Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a secretive research and development program formed to counter-attack the possible research and development of the atomic bomb in Nazi Germany. Prior to the formation of this program, American scientists had heard that nuclear fission was possible and Albert Einstein was urged to write a letter to FDR in order to form what would become military priority. The Manhattan Project was able to successfully develop the atomic bomb that was dropped twice on Japan. -
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Starting Place of WWII
The Invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1st, 1939 marks the location of the start of World War II. In order to regain lost territory and take over Poland, Hitler engages on invading Poland despite signing a nonaggression pact between Germany and Russia. This invasion also creates what becomes the 'blitzkrieg' strategy, the act of overwhelmingly and aggressively moving in onto the enemy with troops, tanks, artillery, etc. -
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Auschwitz
The largest Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz, was opened in 1940 and housed at least 1.3 million Jews in its life time. In this camp, at least 1.1 million Jews -- including other ethnicities -- were killed in a variety of methods as a part of the 'Final Solution'. Auschwitz was liberated on January 27th, 1945 by the Soviet Union. -
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Rosie the Riveter
Rosie the Riveter is the infamous and cultural icon of WWII, inspiring women to join the workforce and defense industries. She is a feminist icon used by the U.S. Government as a propaganda campaign get women to work for the war effort and empowered them. As men enlisted and got drafted into the U.S. military, the industrial labor force was left empty until and increase occurred in the female percentage of the U.S. workforce between 1940 and 1945. -
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Final Solution
The “Final Solution” was a policy established by Himmler and Eichmann to mass exterminate European Jews. In order to get rid of large numbers of people, the mass murdering of the Jews was proposed at the Wannsee Conference on January 20th, 1942 to finally answer and provide the ‘Final Solution of the Jewish Question’. The policy resulted with the murder of 6 million Jews in the four-year duration of the established extermination and concentration camps. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend Lease Act was the authorization of the president’s ability to ship weapons, food, or equipment to any country in need against the Axis Powers, assisted by the U.S. defense. It was passed by Congress on March 11th, 1941 and formally eliminated any show of neutrality. This act allowed the president to ship war equipment and supplies to Britain who were resisting German onslaught up until America’s entry into World War II. -
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John Brown
S.S John Brown is a Liberty Ship that served as a cargo ship during WWII and is one of the two surviving Liberty Ships out of an original fleet of 2,700. Liberty Ships were the result of necessary supply trips to Allies and John Brown was one of them along with six other Liberty Ships. John Brown was built in Baltimore and sailed to different areas of the world to assist Allies. It also carried Italian and German POWs and carried American troops from Europe at the end of the war. -
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War Bonds
War bonds are debt securities that functioned to finance military operations during war time and yielded a percentage return after long years of maturity. In an effort to support the war and its funds, Americans were asked to purchase war bonds and fund the war. It was a part of emotional appeal and boosted American morale during the war. -
Pearl Harbor
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese surprise attacked Pearl Harbor. The naval base was extremely unprepared and more than 2,400 Americans died while 1,000 were wounded. The Japanese attacked was because the U.S. cut off their oil exports and Japan relied on the U.S. for its oil to supply its navy. Their primary goal was to destroy the Pacific Fleet, build up their forces and demoralize the U.S. After the attack, FDR declared a war on Japan. The Americans were determined to punish the Japanese. -
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Internment
In response to Pearl Harbor, Japanese internment camps were established by President FD through his Executive Order 9066. It was a mandatory for Japanese descendants to be interred into isolated camps in order to prevent espionage. Mass incarceration and racism was increasingly prominent. Anyone with Japanese ancestry were evacuated into concentration camps in remote and prison-like areas. Life for the Japanese was not as bad as the conditions in Nazi Germany's camps. -
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Rationing
Rationing food items were important for the war effort and consumer goods were limited for future consumption. Propaganda posters motivated Americans to build their own victory gardens and grow their own food items to become productive in the food effort -
Japanese Atrocities
One of the atrocities the Japanese had made during their rise to power in the Pacific, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was the Bataan Death March. The Bataan Death March was a 65-mile march to prison camps conducted by Japanese guards after the invasion of the Philippines upon U.S. and Filipino POWs. The prisoners had to suffer a long trek north towards San Fernando in intense heat and relentless violence. The captives were beat, shot, bayoneted and starved for even faltering. -
Doolittle's Raid
Doolittle’s Raid was a daring and heroic surprise attack by U.S. bombers against five major cities of Japan that caused only minor damage but forcefully alerted the Japanese defense and boosted the American morale greatly. Using B-25 Mitchell bombers, Doolittle and his crew succeeded in bombing Japanese targets. -
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Island Hopping
Island Hopping was a military strategy used during the Pacific War and was established after the Battle of Midway. The goal of Island Hopping was to capture key islands, until the Allied forces were close enough to engage in Japanese homeland territory. -
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The Battle of Coral Sea
The Battle of Coral Sea was a four-day skirmish that marked the first air-sea battle in history during the Pacific War. This battle incorporated the use of intelligent code breaking and aircraft carriers that made a significant advantage towards a Allied victory and reduced/halted the Japanese strongly in the Pacific. -
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Midway
The Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific between the United States and Japan, using almost entirely aircraft carriers in a all naval battle, and the United States only lost one one carrier. Compared to the U.S., the Japanese aircraft carriers on the first like were almost destroyed and prevented the strong threat of Japanese invasion in the Pacific. -
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Guadacanal
Guadalcanal was the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese, where they fought for six months straight in the wilderness of resources. Both sides struggled to manage resources, especially the U.S forces who had no way of receiving the resources since the Navy had left the the island. The Japanese lost a total of 24,000 men killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal, while the Americans had casualties of 1,600. Guadalcanal was the first Allied victory in the Pacific -
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Unconditional Surrender
It was on the January 24th, 1943, when President Roosevelt demanded ‘unconditional surrender’ of Germany and Japan in the Casablanca Conference with Churchill. The term was best significantly used in the Potsdam Declaration issued to Japan; it said, “We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces” and warned that if they did not comply, there would be “prompt and utter destruction”. We needed to cease Japan's actions immediately. -
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Sicily & Italy
The invasion of Sicily, Italy was an Allied invasion into occupied Europe in hopes of removing the fascist regime and diverting the Germans from the northwest coast of France – which would later become Operation Fortitude. Fortunately, the Allied Powers were able to take the island of Sicily from the hands of the Axis Powers. -
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Operation Overlord
Operation Overload was the code name for the largest amphibious invasion ever in Normandy, France, also known as D-Day. It was a successful but costly Allied Invasion on the German occupied Western Front of Europe upon landing on Omaha Beach. As soon as the Allies landed on the beach, they were immediately assaulted by German forces and artillery but was able to conclude with a great victory. D-Day marked the beginning of the end of the war for the Germans. -
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Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during WWII and the objective was to surprise blitzkrieg and split the Allied armies in order to prevent them from resupplying. It is considered one of the bloodiest battles in World War II as the German troops suffered a great deal of casualties and were morally crippled. -
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Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a five-week amphibious invasion during the Pacific War and was the first major battle of WWII to take place on Japanese homeland. As a part of the Island-Hopping Campaign, the invasion of Iwo Jima served as an advantage to move closer towards homeland Japan, but the cost of this battle was enormous as the U.S. had lost more than 6,000 Marines on that day. The island was heavily fortified by Japanese defenses but the U.S. was able to capture the island and win. -
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Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of the Pacific War and one of the bloodies battles in World War II with over 50,000 Allied casualties. It was also the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific Theater. The Battle of Okinawa provided an example for how deadly the invasion of mainland Japan would have been, if the U.S decided not to drop the atomic bomb. -
Little Boy
“Little Boy” was the first uranium gun-type bomb and nuclear weapon ever used in warfare. It was directly dropped and detonated on the Japanese city of Hiroshima after Japan ignored the demand to unconditionally surrender. The result of dropping Little Boy cost estimation of between 90,000 and 166,000 immediate casualties. The bomb was dropped by a B-29 bomber called the Enola Gay and a estimate of 15 kilotons exploded in the detonation. -
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Dropping the A-bomb
The atomic bomb was a result of the Manhattan Project. It was a difficult choice to drop the bomb but Truman wanted to end the war quickly. The Allies demanded for unconditional surrender in the Potsdam Declaration but Japan rejected the demand. On August 6th, 1945, ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima and three days later, ‘Fat Man’ was dropped on Nagasaki. The bombs resulted in extreme casualties though it made Japan surrender on Sept 2nd, 1945. -
Fat Man
“Fat Man” was the second plutonium, implosion-type bomb and nuclear weapon ever used in warfare. It was directly dropped and detonated on the Japanese city of Nagasaki promptly three days after the first atomic bomb, Little Boy, was dropped on the city of Hiroshima by a B-29 Bockscar piloted by Major Charles Sweeney. The result of dropping Fat Man over Nagasaki cost an estimation of between 40,000 and 75,000 immediate casualties and 60,000 suffering severe injuries.