The document summarizes the key events surrounding the end of World War II in both Europe and the Pacific. In Europe, Germany unconditionally surrendered in May 1945 after the Soviets took Berlin. In the Pacific, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 after fierce Japanese resistance on Okinawa, killing tens of thousands. Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945, bringing World War II to an end. The document poses questions around the necessity and morality of using atomic weapons against Japan to end the war.

1. The End of WWII

2. European Front (1945)
• Jan. 25 – Battle of the Bulge ends
– Germany’s last offensive ends in defeat
• April 12 – President Roosevelt dies
– Harry S. Truman sworn in
• April 21 – Soviets enter Berlin
• April 30 – Hitler commits suicide
• May 7 – Germany unconditionally surrenders
• May 8 – V-E Day

4. Political Issues
• Potsdam Conference
– July 16 – Aug. 2, 1945
– meeting between “The Big Three”
– decide Germany’s fate
– create lasting international peace
– discussed war in the Pacific

6. War in the Pacific (1945)
• June 22 – Japanese resistance ends at
Okinawa
• July 14 – first bombs hit Japanese home
islands
• Japanese soldiers fight to the death
– shaped decision to drop the A-Bomb
• Japanese fear of enslavement

7. Pacific Theater (cont.)
• Allies want unconditional surrender from
Japan
• August 6, 1945 – first atomic bomb dropped
on Hiroshima
– 90,000 – 160,000 killed
• August 9, 1945 – second atomic bomb
dropped on Nagasaki
– 60,000 – 80,000 killed
• August 14 – Japan surrenders
– Sept. 2 – V-J Day (Japan’s formal surrender)

9. “That is the question.”
• To drop the bomb or to not drop the bomb?
• Manhattan Project
• called “The Gadget”
• locations picked to “break the will of the
people”
• bombs called “Little Boy” and “Fat Man

15. Assignment
• 1-page written paper
• Answer These Questions
– Do you feel the use of the atomic bombs was necessary? Why
or why not?
– Do you feel the dropping of the atomic bombs was morally
justifiable? Why or why not?
– Were there any military alternatives to dropping the atomic
bombs that would have ended the war equally as fast?
– Had the U.S. been more flexible about the demand for
unconditional surrender, do you feel the Japanese would have
surrendered sooner?
– What implications do the dropping of the atomic bombs have
on modern warfare and societies?