- By late April 1945, Allied troops had reached Berlin while Hitler committed suicide as the end of the Third Reich neared. On May 8th, Victory in Europe Day was celebrated after Germany unconditionally surrendered. - In August 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 people. Japan surrendered shortly after, ending World War II. - After the war, the Allied powers divided Germany into zones controlled by each country and put Nazi leaders on trial for war crimes at the Nuremberg trials.

1. American Life after World War Two

2. By late April of 1945, Allied troops had made it all the way into Berlin Hitler knew the end was coming so he committed suicide after marrying his longtime companion Eva Braun In his last address written before his death, Hitler blamed the Jews for starting the war Finally, the Third Reich offered an unconditional surrender to General Dwight D. Eisenhower May 8 th , 1945 was celebrated as V-E Day (Victory in Europe day) and people had parades and celebrations all over the country

3. Do you think it was wise for the Allies to hold out for an UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER? Think about the persistence of Hitler and the Nazis, Allied morale and what happened after World War One

4. FDR died of a stroke in April of 1945 while the war in the Pacific was still raging After Truman took office, Secretary of War Henry Stimson said “Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which could destroy a whole city.”

5. The island of Okinawa was Japan’s last defensive outpost The Allies finally pushed into a victory but many lost their lives in this battle Over one million Japanese soldiers were killed Some generals committed suicide rather than surrender to the Allies The American forces were worried that the rest of the battle for Japan would be as brutal

6. The Manhattan project had been underway for years before Truman took office This project was charged with creating the atomic bomb, which was a combination of uranium and plutonium The scientists creating the bomb were under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer The bomb was tested in a desert in New Mexico

7. Even during its creation, scientists were unsure about actually using the bomb- some even signed a petition to say that it was immoral A committee called the Interim Committee discussed the debate to drop the bomb The committee decided that the bomb could be used against military targets and could be dropped without warning

8. Nothing less than dropping a bomb an entire city would convince the Japanese to surrender Dropping the bomb would save American lives by ending the war sooner Using the bomb would justify the high cost of building it There were already tensions between the US and the USSR and Americans thought dropping the bomb might show the USSR that the US was more technologically advanced Some people also wanted to get even with Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor

9. Are these arguments convincing to you? Why or why not? Write one paragraph describing your opinion on these arguments.

10. Some thought that it would be unfair to drop the bomb as a surprise attack on Japan Those against the bomb said that the US should just show the emperor of Japan footage from a test drop to convince him to surrender The technology was so new that some scientists were worried that they didn’t know the exact affect on a city

11. If you were a member of the Interim Committee, would you have been for or against dropping the bomb on Japan? Write your answer on your note paper Think about Pearl Harbor, the novelty of the technology, the cost of lives (on both sides), the cost of the bomb, the length of the war, morale etc

12. August 6, 1945: a bomber plane called the Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, an important military center and the city was entirely wiped out Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki which destroyed half the city Over 200,000 people died from the bombs The emperor couldn’t take the destruction anymore so he finally ordered a full surrender

13. The Yalta Conference between Churchill, Stalin and FDR was in Feb 1945 and the three men planned to create the UN (United Nations) as a peacekeeping body The Potsdam Conference between Stalin, Churchill and Truman outlined their hopes for justice against war criminals from the Nazi regime

14. The four nations of France, USSR, US and Britain split up war-torn Germany into four sectors, each country controlling one They also split the capital, Berlin into four sections as well Nazi leaders were put on trial for War Crimes in Nuremberg and some were put to death and others were sent to prison

15. Why was it important for the Allies to hold War Crimes trials for Nazi leaders after the war? Why were these trials so significant? Write your answers on your sheet of note paper

16. General Douglas MacArthur headed the US forces that took over Japan after the war Japanese leaders and soldiers were also put on trial and executed or imprisoned US forces were in Japan for six years and made some changes: Free-market policies New constitution with freedoms and women’s suffrage Japan’s constitution today is still called the MacArthur consitution

17. Now that America has “taken care” of Germany and Japan and the war is over, where do you think we will go from there? What kinds of problems do you see on the horizon? (Think about the division of Germany, tensions between American Capitalist society and Soviet Communist society, the men coming back home, etc) Write your predictions on your note paper