# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Blitzkrieg: Definition, London & World War II - HISTORY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Blitzkrieg, or “lightning war,” is a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using highly mobile ground and air forces.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Battle of Britain, during World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940, after the fall of France. Victory for the Luftwaffe in the air battle would have exposed Great Britain to invasion by the German army, which was then in control of the ports of France only a few miles away across the English Channel. In the event, the battle was won by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command, whose victory not only blocked the possibility of invasion but also created the conditions for Great Britain's survival, for the extension of the war, and for the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany.

Shortly after the withdrawal of British forces from the European continent in the Dunkirk evacuation (late May-early June 1940), Germany's armoured forces completed their blitzkrieg invasion of France. The French government collapsed on June 16 and was replaced by a regime that immediately sued for peace. This left the British suddenly alone in their "island home" as the last bastion against "the menace of tyranny," in the words of their prime minister, Winston Churchill. Speaking before Parliament on June 18, Churchill announced:

What General [Maxime] Weygand [commander of the Allied armies in France] called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin....Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."

On the German side, no plans had been made for an invasion of Britain before the Germans launched their offensive against France, nor were any made even when the collapse of France was assured. German leader Adolf Hitler evidently counted on the British government's agreeing to a compromise peace on the favourable terms he was prepared to offer, and so he had no desire to press the conflict to a decisive conclusion. The German army was given to understand that the war was over; leave was granted, and the Luftwaffe was shifted to other quarters. Even when Churchill's determination to continue the war was made manifest, Hitler still clung to the belief that it was merely a bluff, feeling that Britain must recognize "her militarily hopeless situation." That hope of his was slow to fade. It was not until July 2 that Hitler even ordered a consideration of the problem of invading England, and he still seemed to doubt its necessity when at last, on July 16, he ordered preparations to begin for such an invasion, christened Operation Sea Lion. Hitler stipulated that the expedition be ready by mid-August.

The German army was in no way prepared for such an undertaking. The staff had not contemplated it, the troops had been given no training for landing operations, and nothing had been done to build landing craft for the purpose. All that could be attempted was a hurried effort to collect shipping, bring barges from Germany and the Netherlands, and give the troops some practice in embarkation and disembarkation. The German generals were very apprehensive of the risks that their forces would run in crossing the sea, and the German admirals were even more frightened about what would happen when the Royal Navy appeared on the scene. They had no confidence in their own power to stop the enemy, and they insisted that the responsibility for doing so be placed on the Luftwaffe. Air Marshal Hermann Göring expressed confidence that his planes could check British naval interference and also drive the RAF out of the sky. So it was agreed that Göring would try his preliminary air offensive, which did not commit the other services to anything definite, while the time for the invasion attempt would be postponed to mid-September.

Beginning with bomber attacks against shipping on July 10 and continuing into early August, a rising stream of air attacks was delivered against British convoys and ports. Then, on August 13, the main offensive-called Adlerangriff ("Eagle Attack") by Hitler-was unleashed, initially against air bases but also against aircraft factories and against radar stations in southeastern England. Although targets and tactics were changed in different phases, the underlying object was always to wear down Britain's air defense, and indeed the effort severely strained the limited resources of Fighter Command, under Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding. The British disposed slightly more than 600 frontline fighters to defend the country. The Germans meanwhile made available about 1,300 bombers and dive-bombers and about 900 single-engine and 300 twin-engine fighters. These were based in an arc around England from Norway to the Cherbourg peninsula in northern coastal France. For the defense of Britain, Fighter Command was divided into four groups, of which the most hard-pressed during the Battle of Britain were Number 11 Group, defending southeastern England and London and headquartered at Uxbridge, Middlesex; and Number 12 Group, defending the Midlands and Wales and headquartered at Watnall, Nottinghamshire. The other two groups were Number 10, defending southwestern England, and Number 13, defending northern England and all of Scotland. Each group was divided into sectors, which received reports from group headquarters about approaching Luftwaffe formations and mobilized squadrons of planes from numerous airfields to fight them off. The British radar early warning system, called Chain Home, was the most advanced and the most operationally adapted system in the world. Even while suffering from frequent attacks by the Luftwaffe, it largely prevented German bomber formations from exploiting the element of surprise. To fight off the bombers, Fighter Command employed squadrons of durable and heavily armed Hawker Hurricanes, preferring to save the faster and more agile Supermarine Spitfire -unsurpassed as an interceptor by any fighter in any other air force-for use against the bombers' fighter escorts.

The British thus found themselves fighting with the unexpected advantage of superior equipment. German bombers (mostly lightly armed twin-engine planes such as the Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 88) lacked the bomb load capacity to strike permanently devastating blows, and they also proved, in daylight, to be easily vulnerable to the British fighters. The Germans' once-feared Junkers Ju 87 " Stuka" dive-bomber was even more vulnerable to being shot down, and their premier fighter-the Messerschmitt Bf 109-could provide only brief long-range cover for the bombers, since it was operating at the limit of its flying range. By late August the Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft and the RAF only 260. Nevertheless, Fighter Command was losing badly needed fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate to be sustained. Number 11 Group in particular was in a fight for its life-and, by extension, for Britain's life as well. Acknowledging that the country's fate hung on the sacrifice of its airmen, Churchill declared before Parliament on August 20, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

In addition to technology, Britain had the advantage of fighting against an enemy that had no systematic or consistent plan of action. At the beginning of September, the Germans dropped some bombs, apparently by accident, on civilian areas in London, and the British retaliated by unexpectedly launching a bombing raid on Berlin. This so infuriated Hitler that he ordered the Luftwaffe to shift its attacks from Fighter Command installations to London and other cities. Beginning on September 7, London was attacked on 57 consecutive nights. The bombing of London, Coventry, Liverpool, and other cities went on for several months, but it had the immediate benefit for the RAF of relieving the pressure on Number 11 Group and also bringing more German bomber formations into the sectors of the formidable Number 12 Group.

By mid-September, Fighter Command had demonstrated that the Luftwaffe could not gain air ascendancy over Britain. British fighters were shooting down German bombers faster than German industry could produce them. To avoid the deadly RAF fighters, the Luftwaffe shifted almost entirely to night raids on Britain's industrial centres. The " Blitz," as the night raids came to be called, was to cause many deaths and great hardship for the civilian population, but it contributed little to the main purpose of the air offensive-to dominate the skies in advance of an invasion of England. On September 3 the date of invasion had been deferred to September 21, and then on September 19 Hitler ordered the shipping gathered for Operation Sea Lion to be dispersed. On October 12 he announced that the operation was off for the winter, and long before the arrival of spring he decided to turn eastward against Russia. Plans for an invasion were definitively discarded; the campaign against Britain henceforth became purely a blockade of its sea approaches, conducted mainly by submarines and only supplemented by the Luftwaffe.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Britain | History, Importance, & Facts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Britain, during World War II, the successful defense of Great Britain against unremitting and destructive air raids conducted by the German air force from July through September 1940, after the fall of France. Learn more about the Battle of Britain in this article.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bloodiest Day of World War 2 || D-Day (Minute by Minute)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Attack on Pearl Harbor - Surprise Military Strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Service

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Lend-Lease Program, 1941-1945 - FDR Presidential Library & Museum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Lend-Lease program also had to deal with political challenges both at home and abroad. At home the program remained controversial for months after the passage of the Lend-Lease Act. In August and September 1941, for instance, U.S. newspapers widely reported allegations that the British mission to the U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Winston Churchill - Quotes, Paintings & Death

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Winston Churchill was a British military leader and statesman. Twice named prime minister of Great Britain, he helped to defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Battle of Midway | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One of Japan’s main goals during World War II was to remove the United States as a Pacific power in order to gain territory in east Asia and the southwest Pacific islands. Japan hoped to defeat the US Pacific Fleet and use Midway as a base to attack Pearl Harbor, securing dominance in the region and…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA(Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945)
Events >Dawn of the Atomic Era, 1945

The War Enters Its Final Phase, 1945

Debate Over How to Use the Bomb, Late Spring 1945

The Trinity Test, July 16, 1945

Safety and the Trinity Test, July 1945

Evaluations of Trinity, July 1945

Potsdam and the Final Decision to Bomb, July 1945

The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, 1945

Japan Surrenders, August 10-15, 1945

The Manhattan Project and the Second World War, 1939-1945

In the early morning hours of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay took off from the island of Tinian and headed north by northwest toward Japan. The bomber's primary target was the city of Hiroshima, located on the deltas of southwestern Honshu Island facing the Inland Sea. Hiroshima had a civilian population of almost 300,000 and was an important military center, containing about 43,000 soldiers.

The bomber, piloted by the commander of the 509th Composite Group, Colonel Paul Tibbets, flew at low altitude on automatic pilot before climbing to 31,000 feet as it neared the target area. At approximately 8:15 a.m. Hiroshima time the Enola Gay released "Little Boy," its 9,700-pound uranium gun-type bomb, over the city. Tibbets immediately dove away to avoid the anticipated shock wave. Forty-three seconds later, a huge explosion lit the morning sky as Little Boy detonated 1,900 feet above the city, directly over a parade field where soldiers of the Japanese Second Army were doing calisthenics. Though already eleven and a half miles away, the Enola Gay was rocked by the blast. At first, Tibbets thought he was taking flak. After a second shock wave (reflected from the ground) hit the plane, the crew looked back at Hiroshima. "The city was hidden by that awful cloud . . . boiling up, mushrooming, terrible and incredibly tall," Tibbets recalled. The yield of the explosion was later estimated at 15 kilotons (the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT).

On the ground moments before the blast it was a calm and sunny Monday morning. An air raid alert from earlier that morning had been called off after only a solitary aircraft was seen (the weather plane), and by 8:15 the city was alive with activity -- soldiers doing their morning calisthenics, commuters on foot or on bicycles, groups of women and children working outside to clear firebreaks. Those closest to the explosion died instantly, their bodies turned to black char. Nearby birds burst into flames in mid-air, and dry, combustible materials such as paper instantly ignited as far away as 6,400 feet from ground zero. The white light acted as a giant flashbulb, burning the dark patterns of clothing onto skin (right) and the shadows of bodies onto walls. Survivors outdoors close to the blast generally describe a literally blinding light combined with a sudden and overwhelming wave of heat. (The effects of radiation are usually not immediately apparent.) The blast wave followed almost instantly for those close-in, often knocking them from their feet. Those that were indoors were usually spared the flash burns, but flying glass from broken windows filled most rooms, and all but the very strongest structures collapsed. One boy was blown through the windows of his house and across the street as the house collapsed behind him. Within minutes 9 out of 10 people half a mile or less from ground zero were dead.

People farther from the point of detonation experienced first the flash and heat, followed seconds later by a deafening boom and the blast wave. Nearly every structure within one mile of ground zero was destroyed, and almost every building within three miles was damaged. Less than 10 percent of the buildings in the city survived without any damage, and the blast wave shattered glass in suburbs twelve miles away. The most common first reaction of those that were indoors even miles from ground zero was that their building had just suffered a direct hit by a bomb. Small ad hoc rescue parties soon began to operate, but roughly half of the city's population was dead or injured. In those areas most seriously affected virtually no one escaped serious injury. The numerous small fires that erupted simultaneously all around the city soon merged into one large firestorm, creating extremely strong winds that blew towards the center of the fire. The firestorm eventually engulfed 4.4 square miles of the city, killing anyone who had not escaped in the first minutes after the attack. One postwar study of the victims of Hiroshima found that less than 4.5 percent of survivors suffered leg fractures. Such injuries were not uncommon; it was just that most who could not walk were engulfed by the firestorm.

Even after the flames had subsided, relief from the outside was slow in coming. For hours after the attack the Japanese government did not even know for sure what had happened. Radio and telegraph communications with Hiroshima had suddenly ended at 8:16 a.m., and vague reports of some sort of large explosion had begun to filter in, but the Japanese high command knew that no large-scale air raid had taken place over the city and that there were no large stores of explosives there. Eventually a Japanese staff officer was dispatched by plane to survey the city from overhead, and while he was still nearly 100 miles away from the city he began to report on a huge cloud of smoke that hung over it. The first confirmation of exactly what had happened came only sixteen hours later with the announcement of the bombing by the United States. Relief workers from outside the city eventually began to arrive and the situation stabilized somewhat. Power in undamaged areas of the city was even restored on August 7th, with limited rail service resuming the following day. Several days after the blast, however, medical staff began to recognize the first symptoms of radiation sickness among the survivors. Soon the death rate actually began to climb again as patients who had appeared to be recovering began suffering from this strange new illness. Deaths from radiation sickness did not peak until three to four weeks after the attacks and did not taper off until seven to eight weeks after the attack. Long-range health dangers associated with radiation exposure, such as an increased danger of cancer, would linger for the rest of the victims' lives, as would the psychological effects of the attack.

No one will ever know for certain how many died as a result of the attack on Hiroshima. Some 70,000 people probably died as a result of initial blast, heat, and radiation effects. This included about twenty American airmen being held as prisoners in the city. By the end of 1945, because of the lingering effects of radioactive fallout and other after effects, the Hiroshima death toll was probably over 100,000. The five-year death total may have reached or even exceeded 200,000, as cancer and other long-term effects took hold.

At 11:00 a.m., August 6 (Washington D.C. time), radio stations began playing a prepared statement from President Truman informing the American public that the United States had dropped an entirely new type of bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima -- an "atomic bomb." Truman warned that if Japan still refused to surrender unconditionally, as demanded by the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, the United States would attack additional targets with equally devastating results. Two days later, on August 8, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and attacked Japanese forces in Manchuria, ending American hopes that the war would end before Russian entry into the Pacific theater. By August 9th, American aircraft were showering leaflets all over Japan informing its people that "We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2,000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate. We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city." Meanwhile, Tibbets's bomber group was simply waiting for the weather to clear in order to drop its next bomb, the plutonium implosion weapon nicknamed "Fat Man" (left) that was destined for the city of Nagasaki.

The War Enters Its Final Phase, 1945

Debate Over How to Use the Bomb, Late Spring 1945

The Trinity Test, July 16, 1945

Safety and the Trinity Test, July 1945

Evaluations of Trinity, July 1945

Potsdam and the Final Decision to Bomb, July 1945

The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

The Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki, August 9, 1945

Japan Surrenders, August 10-15, 1945

The Manhattan Project and the Second World War, 1939-1945

Next
Sources and notes for this page.

Portions of the text for this page were adapted from, and portions were taken directly from the Office of History and Heritage Resources publication: F. G. Gosling, The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb (DOE/MA-0001; Washington: History Division, Department of Energy, January 1999), 51-53. Also used was the report on "The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki" in the official Manhattan District History, produced by the War Department in 1947 at the direction of Leslie Groves, especially pages 1-19; the "Atomic Bombings" document is available in the University Publications of America microfilm collection, Manhattan Project: Official History and Documents (Washington: 1977), reel #1/12; the report itself is a government document. Tibbets's description is from Paul W. Tibbets, "How to Drop an Atom Bomb," Saturday Evening Post 218 (June 8, 1946), 136. The estimate of Little Boy's yield is fromUnited States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992 (DOE/NV-209-REV 15; Las Vegas, NV: Nevada Operations Office, Department of Energy, December 2000), vii. Summaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki casualty rates and damage estimates appear in Leslie R. Groves, Now It Can Be Told (New York: Harper & Row, 1962), 319, 329-330, 346, and Vincent C. Jones, Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb, United States Army in World War II (Washington: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1988), 545-548. A translation of the leaflets dropped on Japan in between Hiroshima and Nagasaki can be found in Dennis Merrill, ed., Documentary History of the Truman Volume 1, The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan (Bethesda, MD: University Publications of America, 1995), 194-195. The photograph of the mushroom cloud is courtesy the United States Air Force (USAF) (via the National Archives (NARA)). The photographs of Little Boy and Fat Man are courtesy the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (via NARA). The photograph of the Enola Gay landing at Tinian Island is courtesy the USAF. The photograph of the woman with burns on her back is courtesy the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (via NARA). The photographs of the mushroom cloud taken from the ground and of the debris (including the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku "A-bomb" Dome) are courtesy the Federation of American Scientists. The photographs of the hospital and of the lone soldier walking through an almost-completely leveled portion of the city are courtesy the Department of the Navy (via NARA); the former was taken by Wayne Miller.

Home | History Office | OpenNet | DOE | Privacy and Security Notices
About this Site | How to Navigate this Site | Note on Sources | Site Map | Contact Us

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Manhattan Project: The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA (Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945) Events >Dawn of the Atomic Era, 1945 The War Enters Its Final Phase, 1945 Debate Over How to Use the Bomb, Late Spring 1945 The Trinity Test, July 16, 1945 Safety and the Trinity Test, July 1945 Evaluations of Trinity,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Allies VS Axis Powers | Axis Powers VS Allies | WW 2 | Axis Powers | Allies vs axis | Data Duck 2.o

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The German-Soviet Pact was an agreement signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on August 23, 1939. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov negotiated it. The pact goes by several names: German-Soviet Pact, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Nazi-Soviet Pact, and Hitler-Stalin Pact.

The German-Soviet Pact consisted of two parts, one public and one secret. The public part was a non-aggression pact in which each country promised not to attack the other. They also agreed not to provide assistance to a third country that attacked either of them. In addition, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to participate with other countries in an arrangement that would affect the other, directly or indirectly. The non-aggression agreement was to last for ten years. It could be automatically renewed for an additional five years if neither party moved to end it.

The secret part of the pact was a protocol that established Soviet and German spheres of influence in eastern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, and Bessarabia fell within the Soviet sphere, according to the protocol. The signatories agreed to divide Poland along the line of the Narev, Vistula, and San rivers.

The German-Soviet Pact in Action

With the pact in effect, Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, without fear of Soviet intervention. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. They were fulfilling a promise they had made five months earlier to protect Poland's borders. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. These events mark the beginning of World War II.

Germany and the Soviet Union then moved to take control of the spheres of influence outlined in the secret protocol. They amended the protocol so that Lithuania and the city of Vilnius (then Wilno, Poland) fell within the Soviet sphere. They also adjusted the boundary they had set in Poland. On September 29, 1939, they partitioned Poland between them. Germany occupied western and most of central Poland. It proceeded to annex the western provinces to the Reich. The Soviet Union occupied and annexed the rest of Poland.

The German-Soviet Pact enabled the Soviet Union to annex other territories in its sphere of influence. On November 30, 1939, the Soviets attacked Finland. After a four-month war, they annexed Finnish territory along the Soviet border. This territory included the area near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In the summer of 1940, the Soviets occupied and incorporated the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They also seized the Romanian provinces of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia.

The End of the German-Soviet Pact

Hitler regarded the German-Soviet non-aggression pact as a tactical and temporary maneuver. He never intended to uphold the terms of the agreement for ten years. His long-range plan was for German forces to attack the Soviet Union and establish Lebensraum (living space) for the Germans in the territories they seized. Before taking this step, however, Hitler intended to subdue Poland and defeat France and Great Britain. The non-aggression pact allowed Germany to focus on those goals without fear of a Soviet attack. The pact enabled Nazi Germany to avoid war on two fronts-western and eastern-for a while.

In July 1940, one month after Germany defeated France, Hitler ordered preparations for war against the Soviet Union. German diplomats worked to secure Germany's flank in southeast Europe. In November 1940, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia joined the Axis alliance. During the spring of 1941, Hitler initiated his European allies into plans to invade the Soviet Union.

On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive 21 (code-named "Operation Barbarossa"). This directive was the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union. From the time they began planning the invasion, German military and police authorities intended to wage a war of annihilation. They considered their enemies to be the Soviet Union's "Judeo-Bolshevik" Communist government as well as Soviet citizens, particularly the Jews.

On June 22, 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union. This marked the end of the German-Soviet Pact. It had lasted for less than two years.

Last Edited: Sep 7, 2023

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The German-Soviet Pact paved the way for the joint invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1939.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The German-Soviet Pact was an agreement signed by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union on August 23, 1939. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov negotiated it. The pact goes by several names: German-Soviet Pact, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Nazi-Soviet Pact, and Hitler-Stalin Pact.

The German-Soviet Pact consisted of two parts, one public and one secret. The public part was a non-aggression pact in which each country promised not to attack the other. They also agreed not to provide assistance to a third country that attacked either of them. In addition, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to participate with other countries in an arrangement that would affect the other, directly or indirectly. The non-aggression agreement was to last for ten years. It could be automatically renewed for an additional five years if neither party moved to end it.

The secret part of the pact was a protocol that established Soviet and German spheres of influence in eastern Europe. Estonia, Latvia, and Bessarabia fell within the Soviet sphere, according to the protocol. The signatories agreed to divide Poland along the line of the Narev, Vistula, and San rivers.

The German-Soviet Pact in Action

With the pact in effect, Germany attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, without fear of Soviet intervention. On September 3, Britain and France declared war on Germany. They were fulfilling a promise they had made five months earlier to protect Poland's borders. On September 17, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. These events mark the beginning of World War II.

Germany and the Soviet Union then moved to take control of the spheres of influence outlined in the secret protocol. They amended the protocol so that Lithuania and the city of Vilnius (then Wilno, Poland) fell within the Soviet sphere. They also adjusted the boundary they had set in Poland. On September 29, 1939, they partitioned Poland between them. Germany occupied western and most of central Poland. It proceeded to annex the western provinces to the Reich. The Soviet Union occupied and annexed the rest of Poland.

The German-Soviet Pact enabled the Soviet Union to annex other territories in its sphere of influence. On November 30, 1939, the Soviets attacked Finland. After a four-month war, they annexed Finnish territory along the Soviet border. This territory included the area near Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In the summer of 1940, the Soviets occupied and incorporated the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They also seized the Romanian provinces of Northern Bukovina and Bessarabia.

The End of the German-Soviet Pact

Hitler regarded the German-Soviet non-aggression pact as a tactical and temporary maneuver. He never intended to uphold the terms of the agreement for ten years. His long-range plan was for German forces to attack the Soviet Union and establish Lebensraum (living space) for the Germans in the territories they seized. Before taking this step, however, Hitler intended to subdue Poland and defeat France and Great Britain. The non-aggression pact allowed Germany to focus on those goals without fear of a Soviet attack. The pact enabled Nazi Germany to avoid war on two fronts-western and eastern-for a while.

In July 1940, one month after Germany defeated France, Hitler ordered preparations for war against the Soviet Union. German diplomats worked to secure Germany's flank in southeast Europe. In November 1940, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia joined the Axis alliance. During the spring of 1941, Hitler initiated his European allies into plans to invade the Soviet Union.

On December 18, 1940, Hitler signed Directive 21 (code-named "Operation Barbarossa"). This directive was the first operational order for the invasion of the Soviet Union. From the time they began planning the invasion, German military and police authorities intended to wage a war of annihilation. They considered their enemies to be the Soviet Union's "Judeo-Bolshevik" Communist government as well as Soviet citizens, particularly the Jews.

On June 22, 1941, German forces invaded the Soviet Union. This marked the end of the German-Soviet Pact. It had lasted for less than two years.

Last Edited: Sep 7, 2023

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The German-Soviet Pact paved the way for the joint invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in September 1939.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur served as a career Army officer for the majority of his life. MacArthur, one of the few individuals to achieve a five-star rank, notably served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. A recipient of the Medal of Honor and 17 other medals, he distinguished himself as a talented, brave, and able military commander. Although a controversial figure, MacArthur's decades of service stand as a testament to his dedication, passion, and ambition.

MacArthur's involvement with the Army began as soon as he was born. The son of Lt. Gen. Arthur MacArthur Jr., a Civil War veteran and governor-general of the Philippines, MacArthur felt that it was his calling to honor his father's legacy. His parents encouraged him to follow Arthur's footsteps into the Army. After a childhood on the frontier and in Washington, D.C., MacArthur graduated first in his class from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 11, 1903. MacArthur served as an engineering officer in the Philippines and aide-de-camp to his father, the commander of the Pacific Division.

After the death of his father on September 5, 1912 and his promotion to captain, MacArthur participated in the Veracruz Expedition. A fellow officer nominated him for the Medal of Honor for his actions in the expedition. After his promotion to major, MacArthur helped form a new division, the 42d "Rainbow" Division. With the entry of the United States into World War I, MacArthur deployed to France as the 42d's chief of staff. During World War I, MacArthur attracted attention as a talented and courageous field commander. He led raids on German trenches and helped organize resistance to enemy assaults. He gained a reputation as a fearless leader and regularly exposed himself to danger. On June 29, 1918, the Army promoted MacArthur to brigadier general and he soon commanded the 84th Infantry Brigade. MacArthur successfully led the 84th during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Throughout World War I, MacArthur earned seven Silver Stars, two Croix de Guerres, two Distinguished Service Crosses, and the Army Distinguished Service Medal.

After the end of World War I, MacArthur returned to the United States and assumed the role of superintendent at West Point. He married Louise Cromwell Brooks in 1922 and transferred to the Philippines as commander of the Manila Military District. Throughout the 1920s, MacArthur served in a variety of roles, including as the president of the American Olympic Committee. After he and Louise divorced in 1929, MacArthur became chief of staff of the U.S. Army. During his tenure, MacArthur presided over severe budget cuts brought on by the Great Depression. In 1932, he received pointed criticism for his treatment of the "Bonus Marchers," a group of impoverished World War I veterans who congregated in Washington to protest for veteran benefits.

MacArthur's tour as chief of staff ended in October 1935 and he transferred to the Philippines. Filipino President Manuel Quezon appointed him field marshal to supervise the development of the Philippine army. In 1937, he retired from the Army but remained in the Philippines as a civilian appointment to the Philippine military. He married Jean Marie Faircloth in 1937 and the two welcomed a son, Arthur MacArthur IV, on February 21, 1938. As the storm clouds of war with Japan grew in 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt recalled MacArthur into service with the Army. He promoted MacArthur to lieutenant general and named him commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on U.S. military facilities at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japanese forces next launched air raids on the Philippines. With half of MacArthur's air force destroyed on the ground, Japanese forces invaded and conquered the Philippines. MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor for his defense of the Philippines and, before he evacuated, he declared, "I shall return." MacArthur organized American forces in Australia and launched a counter-attack in New Guinea. Coordinating with the Navy, he helped develop a new form of warfare he called "Triphibious Warfare," or island-hopping. This strategy involved bypassing, or "hopping," over areas where the Japanese were strong. The strategy succeeded and, in 1944, the Americans prepared to take back the Philippines. On October 20, 1944, MacArthur waded ashore along with an invasion force on the Filipino island of Leyte, declaring, "I have returned." On December 14, 1944, MacArthur was promoted to general of the army, making him one of only a handful of individuals to achieve the five-star rank.

Japan surrendered in August 1945 and MacArthur accepted the formal surrender aboard USS Missouri (BB-63) on September 2, 1945. President Harry Truman then appointed MacArthur the military governor of Japan. He acted as the island nation's political ruler through Japanese Emperor Hirohito. MacArthur presided over war crimes trials, demilitarization, and the creation of a new Japanese constitution. Power transferred back to the Japanese when the Allied occupation ended in April 1951.

MacArthur answered the call to service another time when President Harry Truman appointed him commander-in-chief of United Nations forces during the Korean War on June 25, 1950. MacArthur successfully counterattacked North Korean forces at Inchon and pushed the enemy back to the Yalu River, the North Korean border with China. U.N. forces were pushed back by a massive enemy attack when China entered the conflict. After publicly disagreeing with President Truman about the conduct of war, MacArthur was relieved of his command on April 10, 1951.

MacArthur retired from the military in 1951, ending 52 years of service. He spent the rest of his life raising his son while offering advice to various military and civilian officials. He died on April 5, 1964 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Though a controversial figure, MacArthur significantly contributed to American military achievements in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. His decades of service stand as one of the storied chapters in Army history.

A. J. Orlikoff
Lead Education Specialist
Sources
Anderson, Charles R. Leyte: U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 2019. https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-27/index.html.

Andrade, Dale. Luzon: U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 1994. https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-28/index.html.

Korea: 1950. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 1997. https://history.army.mil/html/books/021/21-1/index.html.

Drea, Edward J. New Guinea: U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, 2019. https://history.army.mil/html/books/072/72-9/index.html.

Herman, Arthur L. Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior. New York: Random House, 2016.

Manchester, William. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1978.

Toner, James H. "Douglas MacArthur: Colorful Leader, Colorless Times." Social Science 52, no. 4 (1977): 212-20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41886199.
Additional Resources Classroom and Research Materials:
"The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War I Commemorative Brochures." Center of Military History. https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/collect/wwi-cb.html.

"World War I Centennial Commemoration Curriculum." Center of Military History. https://history.army.mil/curriculum/wwi/index.html.

"Education Resources." The MacArthur Memorial. https://www.macarthurmemorial.org/403/Education-Resources.

Sutter, Kate. "Who's the Boss? Truman vs. MacArthur." The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/lesson-plans/whos-boss-truman-vs-macarthur.
Articles and Publications:
Edgerton, Ronald K. "General Douglas MacArthur and the American Military Impact in the Philippines." Philippine Studies 25, no. 4 (1977): 420-40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42632394.

"General Douglas MacArthur." MacArthur Memorial. Accessed August 3, 2021. https://www.macarthurmemorial.org/186/Who-is-MacArthur.

The Staff of General MacArthur. Reports of General MacArthur: The Campaigns of MacArthur in the Pacific. Vol. I. Washington D.C.: Department of the Army, 1994. https://history.army.mil/html/books/013/13-3/index.html.
Videos:
MacArthur, Douglas. "Farewell Speech to Congress." April 19, 1951. U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. Video, 6:07. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuagi9kZe8A.

MacArthur, Douglas. "'I Have Returned' Speech." October 20, 1944. Leyte Island, Philippines. Video, 2:15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptVKbN27_4g.

"MacArthur's Pearl Harbor." The MacArthur Memorial. December 18, 2020. Video, 36:32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqdruQSatnI.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
National Museum of the United States Army

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur served as a career Army officer for the majority of his life. MacArthur, one of the few individuals to achieve a five-star rank, notably served in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that the enemy's seemingly relentless advance into the Pacific was checked. It was also the first major U.S. Navy fleet action against Japan and the first naval engagement in history in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.

The battle's strategic background was set by the Japanese plan formulated in early 1942 that saw the country's forces advance south and southeastward from the Bismarcks and Solomons, with the capture of Tulagi in the Solomons and Port Moresby, New Guinea, as immediate objectives. Secondary objectives were the central Pacific island of Nauru and Ocean (Banaba), in the Gilberts chain northeast of the Solomons, for their phosphate resources, essential for Japanese agriculture.

Over 29 April-4 May, Japanese forces successfully attacked, invaded, and occupied Tulagi, although several of their warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from USS Yorktown (CV-5). Alerted to the presence of U.S. carriers, the Japanese Carrier Strike Force advanced toward the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces. Beginning on 7 May, the two sides exchanged air strikes over two consecutive days.

The resulting maneuvers and clashes between two U.S. Navy task forces and a combined U.S.Australian cruiser force with the Japanese Carrier Strike Force and supporting units resulted in a Japanese tactical victory. The Japanese Imperial Navy sank USS Lexington (CV-2), USS Sims (DD-409), and USS Neosho (AO-23), and damaged Yorktown. The Japanese only lost one small carrier ( Shoho) and suffered damage to a fleet carrier ( Shokaku). Allied forces were forced to withdraw from the operational area. However, with their air groups too battered to support a further advance, the Japanese were brought to a standstill. Although the Japanese had managed to capture Tulagi, Port Moresby remained in Allied control. Shokaku had been hit so severely that she could not join the Midway force. Due to losses of pilots and planes, another carrier ( Zuikaku) also did not take part in that operation. Thus, Coral Sea reduced Japanese carriers available for Midway by a third. Eminent U.S. Navy historian Samuel Eliot Morison notes that "so many mistakes were made by both sides in this new mode of fighting that it might be called the Battle of Errors; but more were made by the enemy, and he failed to profit by them."

Four Medals of Honor were awarded at Coral Sea:

Lieutenant John J. Powers (Yorktown, VB-5) for actions while attacking Shoho on 7 May at Tulagi, and on 8 May in while attacking Shokaku (killed in action)

Lieutenant Milton E. Ricketts (Yorktown), engineering repair party, on 8 May (killed in action)

Lieutenant William E. Hall (Lexington, VS-2) for his attack on Shoho on 7 May and interception of Japanese torpedo planes (too few available fighter aircraft forced the use of dive/scout bombers as low-level interceptors) on 8 May (survived)

Chief Water Tender Oscar V. Peterson (Neosho) for his heroism in the ship's engineering spaces on 7 May (died of wounds)

Additional links of interest:

Significant commanders:

Two noteworthy entries in The Sextant, the NHHC blog:

Sources:

Robert J. Cressman, The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, MD/Washington, DC: Naval Institute Press/Naval Historical Center, 1999.

Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. IV-Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942-August 1942. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1950.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that the enemy's seemingly relentless advance into the Pacific was checked. It was also the first major U.S. Navy fleet action against Japan and the first naval engagement in history in which the participating ships never sighted or fired directly at each other.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Pacific Strategy, 1941-1944 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
On December 7, 1941, Japan staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, severely damaging the US Pacific Fleet. When Germany and Italy declared war on the United States days later, America found itself in a global war.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Battle of Okinawa

Part of the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater ( World War II)

1st Marine Regiment during fighting at Wana Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa, May 1945

Belligerents

Ground forces:
United States
Naval support:
United Kingdom

Japan

Commanders and leaders

Simon B. Buckner Jr. †
Roy Geiger
Chester W. Nimitz Raymond A. Spruance

William Halsey Jr.

Mitsuru Ushijima †
Isamu Chō †
Hiromichi Yahara (POW)
Minoru Ōta †
Seiichi Itō †

Units involved

Ground units:
Tenth Army

Naval units:
Fifth Fleet

Task Force 50

Joint Exp. Force

Ground units:
32nd Army

Naval units:
Combined Fleet

Strength

~541,000 in Tenth Army
~183,000 combat troops[3] rising to ~250,000[4]: 567

~76,000+ Japanese soldiers
~40,000+ Okinawan conscripts[5]

Casualties and losses

American personnel:
Battle casualties:
~50,000, including ~12,500 dead[6][7]
Army: 19,929[a]
Navy: 10,007 at Okinawa,[b] 1,294 on USS Franklin[c]
Marines: 19,460[d]
Non-battle casualties: 26,211 to 33,096 (all causes)
Total casualties: ~76,000 to 84,000
Materiel:
153 tanks destroyed[15]
13 destroyers sunk
15 amphibious ships sunk
8 other ships sunk
386 ships damaged
763 aircraft lost[4]: 573  [16]: 473

Japanese personnel:
Battle & Non-battle casualties:
94,136 soldiers and sailors dead (all causes)[e]
4,037 dead from Yamato task force[18]
7,401 captured (by 30 June)[19][f]
Total casualties: ~105,000 to 110,000
Materiel:
1 battleship sunk
1 light cruiser sunk
5 destroyers sunk
9 other warships sunk
1,430 aircraft lost[20]
27 tanks destroyed
743-1,712 artillery pieces, anti-tank guns, mortars and anti-aircraft guns[16]: 91-92

40,000-150,000 civilians dead[21][22][g]

Battle of Okinawa (Pacific Ocean)

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army. The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March by the 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, 340 mi (550 km) away.

The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the U.S. Army 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th Infantry Divisions with the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Marine Divisions, to fight on the island. The Tenth Army was unique in that it had its own Tactical Air Force (joint Army-Marine command) and was supported by combined naval and amphibious forces. Opposing the Allied forces on the ground was the Japanese Thirty-Second Army.

The battle has been referred to as the "typhoon of steel" in English, known in Japanese as " tetsu no bōfū". The nicknames refer to the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of Japanese kamikaze attacks and the sheer numbers of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was the bloodiest in the Pacific, with around 50,000 Allied and 84,166-117,000 Japanese casualties, including Okinawans conscripted into the Japanese Army. According to local authorities, at least 149,425 Okinawan people were killed, died by coerced suicide or went missing.

In the naval operations surrounding the battle, both sides lost considerable numbers of ships and aircraft, including the Japanese battleship Yamato. After the battle, Okinawa provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in proximity to Japan for US forces in preparation for a planned invasion of the Japanese home islands.

In all, the US Army had over 103,000 soldiers (of these, 38,000+ were non-divisional artillery, combat support and HQ troops, with another 9,000 service troops), over 88,000 Marines and 18,000 Navy personnel (mostly Seabees and medical personnel). At the start of the Battle of Okinawa, the US Tenth Army had 182,821 personnel under its command. It was planned that Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. would report to Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner until the amphibious phase was completed, after which he would report directly to Admiral Raymond A. Spruance. Total aircraft in the US Navy, Marine and Army Air Force exceeded 3,000 over the course of the battle, including fighters, attack aircraft, scout planes, bombers and dive-bombers. The invasion was supported by a fleet consisting of 18 battleships, 27 cruisers, 177 destroyers/ destroyer escorts, 39 aircraft carriers (11 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers and 22 escort carriers) and various support and troop transport ships.

The British naval contingent accompanied 251 British naval aircraft and included a British Commonwealth fleet with Australian, New Zealand and Canadian ships and personnel.

The Japanese land campaign (mainly defensive) was conducted by the 67,000-strong (77,000 according to some sources) regular 32nd Army and some 9,000 Imperial Japanese Navy troops at Oroku Naval Base (only a few hundred of whom had been trained and equipped for ground combat), supported by 39,000 drafted local Ryukyuan people (including 24,000 hastily drafted rear militia called and 15,000 non-uniformed laborers). The Japanese had used tactics since the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but for the first time they became a major part of the defense. Between the American landing on 1 April and 25 May, seven major kamikaze attacks were attempted, involving more than 1,500 planes.

The 32nd Army initially consisted of the 9th, 24th and 62nd Divisions and the 44th Independent Mixed Brigade. The 9th Division was moved to Taiwan before the invasion, resulting in shuffling of Japanese defensive plans. Primary resistance was to be led in the south by Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Isamu Chō and his chief of operations, Colonel Hiromichi Yahara. Yahara advocated a defensive strategy, whilst Chō advocated an offensive one.

In the north, Colonel Takehido Udo was in command. The naval troops were led by Rear Admiral Minoru Ōta. They expected the Americans to land 6-10 divisions against the Japanese garrison of two and a half divisions. The staff calculated that superior quality and numbers of weapons gave each US division five or six times the firepower of a Japanese division. To this, would be added the Americans' abundant naval and air firepower.

On Okinawa, the Imperial Japanese Army mobilized 1,780 schoolboys aged 14-17 years into front line service as an Iron and Blood Imperial Corps ( Japanese: , Tekketsu Kinnōtai), while female Himeyuri students were organized into a nursing unit. This mobilization was conducted by an ordinance of the Ministry of the Army, not by law. The ordinances mobilized the students as volunteer soldiers for form's sake; in reality, the military authorities ordered schools to force almost all students to "volunteer" as soldiers; sometimes they counterfeited the necessary documents. About half of the Tekketsu Kinnōtai were killed, including in suicide bomb attacks against tanks and in guerrilla operations.

Among the 21 male and female secondary schools that made up these student corps, 2,000 students died on the battlefield. Even with the female students acting mainly as nurses to Japanese soldiers, they were still exposed to the harsh conditions of war.

There was a hypnotic fascination to the sight so alien to our Western philosophy. We watched each plunging kamikaze with the detached horror of one witnessing a terrible spectacle rather than as the intended victim. We forgot self for the moment as we groped hopelessly for the thought of that other man up there.

The protracted length of the campaign under stressful conditions forced Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to take the unprecedented step of relieving the principal naval commanders to rest and recuperate. Following the practice of changing the fleet designation with the change of commanders, US naval forces began the campaign as the US 5th Fleet under Admiral Spruance, but ended it as the 3rd Fleet under Admiral Halsey.

Japanese air opposition had been relatively light during the first few days after the landings. However, on 6 April the expected air reaction began with an attack by 400 planes from Kyushu. Periodic heavy air attacks continued through April. During the period of 26 March to 30 April, 20 American ships were sunk and 157 damaged by enemy action. By 30 April the Japanese had lost more than 1,100 planes to Allied naval forces alone.

Between 6 April and 22 June, the Japanese flew 1,465 kamikaze aircraft in large-scale attacks from Kyushu, 185 individual kamikaze sorties from Kyushu, and 250 individual kamikaze sorties from Taiwan, then called Formosa. While US intelligence estimated there were 89 planes on Formosa, the Japanese actually had about 700, dismantled or well camouflaged and dispersed into scattered villages and towns; the US Fifth Air Force disputed Navy claims of kamikaze coming from Formosa.[clarification needed ]

The ships lost were smaller vessels, particularly the destroyers of the radar pickets, as well as destroyer escorts and landing ships. While no major Allied warships were lost, several fleet carriers were severely damaged. Land-based Shin'yō-class suicide motorboats were also used in the Japanese suicide attacks, although Ushijima had disbanded the majority of the suicide boat battalions before the battle because of expected low effectiveness against a superior enemy. The boat crews were re-formed into three additional infantry battalions.

The super battleship Yamato explodes after persistent attacks from US aircraft.

American aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill burns after being hit by two kamikaze planes within 30 seconds.

Operation Ten-Go ( Ten-gō sakusen) was the attempted attack by a strike force of 10 Japanese surface vessels, led by Yamato and commanded by Admiral Seiichi Itō. This small task force had been ordered to fight through enemy naval forces, then beach Yamato and fight from shore, using her guns as coastal artillery and her crew as naval infantry. The Ten-Go force was spotted by submarines shortly after it left the Japanese home waters and was intercepted by US carrier aircraft.

Under attack from more than 300 aircraft over a two-hour span, the world's largest battleship sank on 7 April 1945 after a one-sided battle, long before she could reach Okinawa. (US torpedo bombers were instructed to aim for only one side to prevent effective counter flooding by the battleship's crew, and to aim for the bow or the stern where armor was believed to be the thinnest.) Of Yamato's screening force, the light cruiser Yahagi and 4 of the 8 destroyers were also sunk. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost some 3,700 sailors, including Admiral Itō, at the cost of 10 US aircraft and 12 airmen.

The British Pacific Fleet, taking part as Task Force 57, was assigned the task of neutralizing the Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands, which it did successfully from March 26 to April 10. On April 10, its attention was shifted to airfields in northern Formosa. The force withdrew to San Pedro Bay on April 23. On May 1, the British Pacific Fleet returned to action, subduing the airfields as before, this time with naval bombardment as well as aircraft. Several kamikaze attacks caused significant damage, but as the Royal Navy carriers had armoured flight decks, they experienced only a brief interruption to their force's operations.

The battleship USS Idaho shelling Okinawa on 1 April 1945

On 31 March, Marines of the Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion landed without opposition on Keise Shima, four islets just 8 mi (13 km) west of the Okinawan capital of Naha. A group of 155 mm (6.1 in) "Long Tom" artillery pieces went ashore on the islets to cover operations on Okinawa.

US Marine reinforcements wade ashore to support the beachhead on Okinawa, 1 April 1945.

The main landing was made by the XXIV Corps and the III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on 1 April. The 2nd Marine Division conducted a demonstration off the Minatoga beaches on the southeastern coast to deceive the Japanese about American intentions and delay movement of reserves from there.

Tenth Army swept across the south-central part of the island with relative ease, capturing the Kadena and the Yomitan airbases within hours of the landing. In light of the weak opposition, General Buckner decided to proceed immediately with Phase II of his plan, the seizure of northern Okinawa. The 6th Marine Division headed up the Ishikawa Isthmus and by 7 April had sealed off the Motobu Peninsula.

Six days later on 13 April, the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Marine Regiment, reached Hedo Point at the northernmost tip of the island. By this point, the bulk of the Japanese forces in the north (codenamed Udo Force) were cornered on the Motobu Peninsula. The terrain was mountainous and wooded, with the Japanese defenses concentrated on Mount Yaedake, a twisted mass of rocky ridges and ravines on the center of the peninsula. There was heavy fighting before the Marines finally cleared Yaedake on 18 April. However, this was not the end of ground combat in northern Okinawa. On 24 May, the Japanese mounted Operation Gi-gou: a company of Giretsu Kuteitai commandos were airlifted in a suicide attack on Yomitan. They destroyed 70,000 US gallons (260,000 L) of fuel and nine planes before being killed by the defenders, who lost two men.

Meanwhile, the 77th Infantry Division assaulted Ie Shima, a small island off the western end of the peninsula, on 16 April. In addition to conventional hazards, the 77th Infantry Division encountered kamikaze attacks and even local women armed with spears. There was heavy fighting before the area was declared secured on 21 April and became another airbase for operations against Japan.

American soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division listen impassively to radio reports of Victory in Europe Day on 8 May 1945.

While the 6th Marine Division cleared northern Okinawa, the US Army 96th and 7th Infantry Divisions wheeled south across the narrow isthmus of Okinawa. The 96th Infantry Division began to encounter fierce resistance in west-central Okinawa from Japanese troops holding fortified positions east of Highway No. 1 and about 5 mi (8 km) northwest of Shuri, from what came to be known as Cactus Ridge. The 7th Infantry Division encountered similarly fierce Japanese opposition from a rocky pinnacle located about 1,000 yd (910 m) southwest of Arakachi (later dubbed " The Pinnacle"). By the night of 8 April, American troops had cleared these and several other strongly fortified positions. They suffered over 1,500 battle casualties in the process while killing or capturing about 4,500 Japanese. Yet the battle had only begun, for it was realized that "these were merely outposts," guarding the Shuri Line.

The next American objective was Kakazu Ridge (), two hills with a connecting saddle that formed part of Shuri's outer defenses. The Japanese had prepared their positions well and fought tenaciously. The Japanese soldiers hid in fortified caves. American forces often lost personnel before clearing the Japanese out from each cave or other hiding place. The Japanese sent Okinawans at gunpoint out to obtain water and supplies for them, which led to civilian casualties. The American advance was inexorable but resulted in a high number of casualties on both sides.

The 27th Infantry Division, which had landed on 9 April, took over on the right, along the west coast of Okinawa. General John R. Hodge now had three divisions in the line, with the 96th in the middle and the 7th to the east, with each division holding a front of only about 1.5 mi (2.4 km). Hodge launched a new offensive on 19 April with a barrage of 324 guns, the largest ever in the Pacific Ocean Theater. Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers joined the bombardment, which was followed by 650 Navy and Marine planes attacking the Japanese positions with napalm, rockets, bombs, and machine guns. The Japanese defenses were sited on reverse slopes, where the defenders waited out the artillery barrage and aerial attack in relative safety, emerging from the caves to rain mortar rounds and grenades upon the Americans advancing up the forward slope.

A tank assault to achieve breakthrough by outflanking Kakazu Ridge failed to link up with its infantry support attempting to cross the ridge and therefore failed with the loss of 22 tanks. Although flame tanks cleared many cave defenses, there was no breakthrough, and the XXIV Corps suffered 720 casualties. The losses might have been greater except for the fact that the Japanese had practically all of their infantry reserves tied up farther south, held there by another feint off the Minatoga beaches by the 2nd Marine Division that coincided with the attack.

At the end of April, after Army forces had pushed through the Machinato defensive line, the 1st Marine Division relieved the 27th Infantry Division and the 77th Infantry Division relieved the 96th. When the 6th Marine Division arrived, the III Amphibious Corps took over the right flank and Tenth Army assumed control of the battle.

Lt. Col. Richard P. Ross Jr., commander of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines braves sniper fire to place the United States' colors over the parapets of Shuri Castle on 30 May. This flag was first raised over Cape Gloucester and then Peleliu.

Buckner launched another American attack on 11 May. Ten days of fierce fighting followed. On 13 May, troops of the 96th Infantry Division and 763rd Tank Battalion captured Conical Hill (). Rising 476 ft (145 m) above the Yonabaru coastal plain, this feature was the eastern anchor of the main Japanese defenses and was defended by about 1,000 Japanese. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions fought for "Sugar Loaf Hill" (). The capture of these two key positions exposed the Japanese around Shuri on both sides. Buckner hoped to envelop Shuri and trap the main Japanese defending force.

From 24 to 27 May the 6th Marine Division cautiously occupied the ruins of Naha, the largest city on the island, finding it largely deserted.

On 26 May aerial observers saw large troop movements just below Shuri. On 28 May Marine patrols found recently abandoned positions west of Shuri. By 30 May the consensus among Army and Marine intelligence was that the majority of Japanese forces had withdrawn from the Shuri Line. On 29 May the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5 Marines) occupied high ground 700 yards (640 m) east of Shuri Castle and reported that the castle appeared undefended. At 10:15 Company A, 1/5 Marines occupied the castle.

Shuri Castle had been shelled by the battleship USS Mississippi for three days before this advance. The 32nd Army withdrew to the south and thus the Marines had an easy task of securing Shuri Castle. The castle, however, was outside the 1st Marine Division's assigned zone, and only frantic efforts by the commander and staff of the 77th Infantry Division prevented an American airstrike and artillery bombardment which would have resulted in many friendly fire casualties.

On 29 May a Confederate flag was raised over Shuri Castle, before being removed and replaced by a US flag three days later on orders of General Buckner.

The Japanese retreat, although harassed by artillery fire, was conducted with great skill at night and aided by the monsoon storms. The 32nd Army was able to move nearly 30,000 personnel into its last defense line on the Kiyan Peninsula, which ultimately led to the greatest slaughter on Okinawa in the latter stages of the battle, including the deaths of thousands of civilians. In addition, there were 9,000 IJN troops supported by 1,100 militia, with approximately 4,000 holed up at the underground headquarters on the hillside overlooking the Okinawa Naval Base in the Oroku Peninsula, east of the airfield.

On 4 June, elements of the 6th Marine Division launched an amphibious assault on the peninsula. The 4,000 Japanese sailors, including Admiral Ōta, all committed suicide within the hand-built tunnels of the underground naval headquarters on 13 June. By 17 June, the remnants of Ushijima's shattered 32nd Army were pushed into a small pocket in the far south of the island to the southeast of Itoman.

On 18 June, General Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery fire while monitoring the progress of his troops from a forward observation post. Buckner was replaced by Major General Roy Geiger. Upon assuming command, Geiger became the only US Marine to command a numbered army of the US Army in combat; he was relieved five days later by General Joseph Stilwell. On 19 June, Brigadier General Claudius Miller Easley, the commander of the 96th Infantry Division, was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire, also while checking on the progress of his troops at the front.

The last remnants of Japanese resistance ended on 21 June, although some Japanese continued hiding, including the future governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Masahide Ōta. Ushijima and Chō committed suicide by in their command headquarters on Hill 89 in the closing hours of the battle. Colonel Yahara had asked Ushijima for permission to commit suicide, but the general refused his request, saying: "If you die there will be no one left who knows the truth about the battle of Okinawa. Bear the temporary shame but endure it. This is an order from your army commander." Yahara was the most senior officer to have survived the battle on the island, and he later authored a book titled The Battle for Okinawa. On 22 June Tenth Army held a flag-raising ceremony to mark the end of organized resistance on Okinawa. On 23 June a mopping-up operation commenced, which concluded on 30 June.

On 15 August 1945, Admiral Matome Ugaki was killed while part of a kamikaze raid on Iheyajima island. The official surrender ceremony was held on 7 September, near the Kadena Airfield.

The Battle of Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of the Pacific War. The most complete tally of deaths during the battle is at the Cornerstone of Peace monument at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum, which identifies the names of each individual who died at Okinawa in World War II. As of 2022, the monument lists 241,686 names, including 149,611 Okinawans, 77,485 Imperial Japanese soldiers, 14,010 Americans, and smaller numbers of people from South Korea (382), the United Kingdom (82), North Korea (82) and Taiwan (34).

The numbers correspond to recorded deaths during the Battle of Okinawa from the time of the American landings in the Kerama Islands on 26 March 1945 to the signing of the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945, in addition to all Okinawan casualties in the Pacific War in the 15 years from the Manchurian Incident, along with those who died in Okinawa from war-related events in the year before the battle and the year after the surrender. 234,183 names were inscribed by the time of unveiling, and new names are added as necessary. 40,000 of the Okinawan civilians killed had been drafted or impressed by the Japanese army and are often counted as combat deaths.

The Americans suffered some 48,000 casualties, not including some 33,000 non-battle casualties (psychiatric, injuries, illnesses), of whom over 12,000 were killed or missing. Killed in action were 4,907 Navy, 4,675 Army, and 2,938 Marine Corps personnel; when excluding naval losses at sea and losses on the surrounding islands (such as Ie Shima), 6,316 killed and over 30,000 wounded occurred on Okinawa proper. Other authors such as John Keegan have come up with higher numbers.

The most famous American casualty was Lieutenant General Buckner, whose decision to attack the Japanese defenses head-on, although extremely costly in American lives, was ultimately successful. Four days from the closing of the campaign, Buckner was killed by Japanese artillery fire, which blew lethal slivers of coral into his body, while inspecting his troops at the front line. He was the highest-ranking US officer to be killed by enemy fire during the Second World War. The day after Buckner was killed, Brigadier General Easley was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire. War correspondent Ernie Pyle was also killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on Ie Shima, a small island just off of northwestern Okinawa.

Aircraft losses over the three-month period were 768 US planes, including those bombing the Kyushu airfields launching kamikazes. Combat losses were 458, and the other 310 were operational accidents. At sea, 368 Allied ships-including 120 amphibious craft-were damaged while another 36-including 15 amphibious ships and 12 destroyers-were sunk during the Okinawa campaign. The US Navy's dead exceeded its wounded, with 4,907 killed and 4,874 wounded, primarily from kamikaze attacks.

American personnel casualties included thousands of cases of mental breakdown. According to the account of the battle presented in Marine Corps Gazette:

More mental health issues arose from the Battle of Okinawa than any other battle in the Pacific during World War II. The constant bombardment from artillery and mortars coupled with the high casualty rates led to a great deal of personnel coming down with combat fatigue. Additionally, the rains caused mud that prevented tanks from moving and tracks from pulling out the dead, forcing Marines (who pride themselves on burying their dead in a proper and honorable manner) to leave their comrades where they lay. This, coupled with thousands of bodies both friend and foe littering the entire island, created a scent you could nearly taste. Morale was dangerously low by May and the state of discipline on a moral basis had a new low barometer for acceptable behavior. The ruthless atrocities by the Japanese throughout the war had already brought on an altered behavior (deemed so by traditional standards) by many Americans resulting in the desecration of Japanese remains, but the Japanese tactic of using the Okinawan people as human shields brought about a new aspect of terror and torment to the psychological capacity of the Americans.

Medal of Honor recipients from Okinawa are:

The following table lists the Allied naval vessels that received damage or were sunk in the Battle of Okinawa between 19 March - 30 July 1945. The table lists a total of 147 damaged ships, five of which were damaged by enemy suicide boats and another five by mines. During the naval battle, which started before the amphibious landings on Okinawa on 1 April, USS Franklin suffered over 800 killed and missing and USS Bunker Hill suffered 396 killed and missing. These were the first and third largest loss of life on damaged or sunken American aircraft carriers during World War II. USS Franklin (hit by two bombs in a level bombing attack by a D4Y Suisei (Judy) on 19 March 1945) and USS Bunker Hill were the only two aircraft carriers that sustained very severe damage from Japanese attacks and as a result were the only aircraft carriers in the Essex class that did not experience any active service after the end of World War II. One source estimated that total Japanese sorties during the entire Okinawa campaign exceeded 3,700, with a large percentage being kamikaze attacks, and that the attackers damaged slightly more than 200 Allied vessels, with 4,900 naval officers and seamen killed and roughly 4,824 wounded or missing. USS Thorton was damaged as the result of a collision with another US ship.

The Japanese air attacks were so intense that Fifth Fleet commander Admiral Spruance's flagships were struck two separate times ( USS Indianapolis was hit in March and had to retire for repairs which forced him to transfer to USS New Mexico which was also hit in May). Fast Carrier Task Force commander Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher and his chief of staff Commodore Arleigh Burke were yards away from getting killed or wounded by kamikazes on his flagship USS Bunker Hill, which killed three of Mitscher's staff officers and eleven of his enlisted staff members and also destroyed his flag cabin along with all of his uniforms, personal papers, and possessions. Just three days later Mitscher's new flagship USS Enterprise was also struck by a kamikaze forcing him to have to change his flagship yet again. Both fleet carriers were knocked out for the rest of the war.

sunk or had to be scuttled due to irreparable damage. Of those sunk, the majority were relatively smaller ships; these included destroyers of around 300-450 feet. A few small cargo ships were also sunk, several containing munitions which caught fire.

scrapped or decommissioned as a result of damage.

The US military estimates that 110,071 Japanese soldiers were killed during the battle. This total includes conscripted Okinawan civilians.

A total of 7,401 Japanese regulars and 3,400 Okinawan conscripts surrendered or were captured during the battle of Okinawa. Additional Japanese and renegade Okinawans were captured or surrendered over the next few months, bringing the total to 16,346. This was the first battle in the Pacific War in which thousands of Japanese soldiers surrendered or were captured. Many of the prisoners were native Okinawans who had been pressed into service shortly before the battle and were less imbued with the Imperial Japanese Army's no-surrender doctrine. When the American forces occupied the island, many Japanese soldiers put on Okinawan clothing to avoid capture, and some Okinawans would come to the Americans' aid by offering to identify these mainland Japanese.

The Japanese lost 16 combat vessels, including the super battleship Yamato. Early claims of Japanese aircraft losses put the total at 7,800, however later examination of Japanese records revealed that Japanese aircraft losses at Okinawa were far below often-repeated US estimates for the campaign. The number of conventional and kamikaze aircraft actually lost or expended by the 3rd, 5th, and 10th Air Fleets, combined with about 500 lost or expended by the Imperial Army at Okinawa, was roughly 1,430. The Allies destroyed 27 Japanese tanks and 743 artillery pieces (including mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns), some of them eliminated by the naval and air bombardments but most knocked out by American counter-battery fire.

Civilian losses, suicides, and atrocities

A US Marine Corps Stinson Sentinel observation plane flies over the razed Naha, capital of Okinawa, in May 1945.

Some of the other islands that saw major battles in World War II, such as Iwo Jima, were uninhabited or had been evacuated. Okinawa, by contrast, had a large indigenous civilian population; US Army records from the planning phase of the operation made the assumption that Okinawa was home to about 300,000 civilians. The official US Tenth Army count for the 82-day campaign is a total of 142,058 recovered enemy bodies (including those civilians pressed into service by the Imperial Japanese Army), with the deduction made that about 42,000 were non-uniformed civilians who had been killed in the crossfire. Okinawa Prefecture's estimate is over 100,000 losses.

During the battle, American forces found it difficult to distinguish civilians from soldiers. It became common for them to shoot at Okinawan houses, as one infantryman wrote:

There was some return fire from a few of the houses, but the others were probably occupied by civilians-and we didn't care. It was a terrible thing not to distinguish between the enemy and women and children. Americans always had great compassion, especially for children. Now we fired indiscriminately.

In its history of the war, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum presents Okinawa as being caught between Japan and the United States. During the battle, the Imperial Japanese Army showed indifference to Okinawans' safety, and its soldiers used civilians as human shields or outright killed them. The Japanese military also confiscated food from the Okinawans and executed those who hid it, leading to mass starvation, and forced civilians out of their shelters. Japanese soldiers also killed about 1,000 people who spoke in the Okinawan language to suppress spying. The museum writes that "some were blown apart by [artillery] shells, some finding themselves in a hopeless situation were driven to suicide, some died of starvation, some succumbed to malaria, while others fell victim to the retreating Japanese troops."

With the impending Japanese defeat, civilians often committed mass suicide, urged on by the Japanese soldiers who told locals that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampage of killing and raping. Ryūkyū Shimpō, one of the two major Okinawan newspapers, wrote in 2007: "There are many Okinawans who have testified that the Japanese Army directed them to commit suicide. There are also people who have testified that they were handed grenades by Japanese soldiers" to blow themselves up. Thousands of civilians, having been induced by Japanese propaganda to believe that American soldiers were barbarians who committed horrible atrocities, killed their families and themselves to avoid capture at the hands of the Americans. Some of them threw themselves and their family members from the southern cliffs where the Peace Museum now resides.

Okinawans "were often surprised at the comparatively humane treatment they received from the American enemy". Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power by Mark Selden states that the Americans "did not pursue a policy of torture, rape, and murder of civilians as Japanese military officials had warned". American Military Intelligence Corps combat translators such as Teruto Tsubota managed to convince many civilians not to kill themselves. Survivors of the mass suicides blamed also the indoctrination of their education system of the time, in which the Okinawans were taught to become "more Japanese than the Japanese" and were expected to prove it.

Witnesses and historians claim that soldiers, mainly Japanese troops, raped Okinawan women during the battle. Rape by Japanese troops reportedly "became common" in June, after it became clear that the Imperial Japanese Army had been defeated. Marine Corps officials in Okinawa and Washington have said that they knew of no rapes by American personnel in Okinawa at the end of the war. There are, however, numerous credible testimony accounts which note that a large number of rapes were committed by American forces during the battle. This includes stories of rape after trading sexual favors or even marrying Americans, such as the alleged incident in the village of Katsuyama, where civilians said they had formed a vigilante group to ambush and kill three black American soldiers who they claimed would frequently rape the local girls there.

There is ongoing disagreement between Okinawa's local government and Japan's national government over the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides during the battle. In March 2007, the national Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) advised textbook publishers to reword descriptions that the embattled Imperial Japanese Army forced civilians to kill themselves in the war to avoid being taken prisoner. MEXT preferred descriptions that just say that civilians received hand grenades from the Japanese military. This move sparked widespread protests among Okinawans. In June 2007, the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly adopted a resolution stating, "We strongly call on the (national) government to retract the instruction and to immediately restore the description in the textbooks so the truth of the Battle of Okinawa will be handed down correctly and a tragic war will never happen again."

On 29 September 2007, about 110,000 people held the biggest political rally in the history of Okinawa to demand that MEXT retract its order to textbook publishers regarding revising the account of the civilian suicides. The resolution states, "It is an undeniable fact that the 'multiple suicides' would not have occurred without the involvement of the Japanese military and any deletion of or revision to (the descriptions) is a denial and distortion of the many testimonies by those people who survived the incidents." In December 2007, MEXT partially admitted the role of the Japanese military in civilian mass suicides. The ministry's Textbook Authorization Council allowed the publishers to reinstate the reference that civilians "were forced into mass suicides by the Japanese military", on condition it is placed in sufficient context. The council report states, "It can be said that from the viewpoint of the Okinawa residents, they were forced into the mass suicides." That was not enough for the survivors who said it is important for children today to know what really happened.

The Nobel Prize-winning author Kenzaburō Ōe wrote a booklet that states that the mass suicide order was given by the military during the battle. He was sued by revisionists, including a wartime commander during the battle, who disputed this and wanted to stop publication of the booklet. At a court hearing, Ōe testified "Mass suicides were forced on Okinawa islanders under Japan's hierarchical social structure that ran through the state of Japan, the Japanese armed forces and local garrisons." In March 2008, the Osaka Prefecture Court ruled in favor of Ōe, stating, "It can be said the military was deeply involved in the mass suicides." The court recognized the military's involvement in the mass suicides and murder-suicides, citing the testimony about the distribution of grenades for suicide by soldiers and the fact that mass suicides were not recorded on islands where the military was not stationed.

In 2012, Korean-Japanese director Pak Su-nam announced her work on the documentary Nuchigafu (Okinawan for "only if one is alive") collecting living survivors' accounts to show "the truth of history to many people", alleging that "there were two types of orders for 'honorable deaths'-one for residents to kill each other and the other for the military to kill all residents". In March 2013, Japanese textbook publisher Shimizu Shoin was permitted by MEXT to publish the statements that "Orders from Japanese soldiers led to Okinawans committing group suicide" and "The [Japanese] army caused many tragedies in Okinawa, killing local civilians and forcing them to commit mass suicide."

According to historian George Feifer, Okinawa was the "site of the largest land-sea-air battle in history" and that the battle was the "last major one before the start of the atomic age". At least 90% of the buildings on the island were destroyed, along with countless historical documents, artifacts, and cultural treasures, and the tropical landscape was turned into "a vast field of mud, lead, decay and maggots". The military value of Okinawa was significant, as Okinawa provided a fleet anchorage, troop staging areas, and airfields in proximity to Japan. The US cleared the surrounding waters of mines in Operation Zebra, occupied Okinawa, and set up the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands, a form of military government, after the battle. In 2011, one official of the prefectural government told David Hearst of The Guardian:

You have the Battle of Britain, in which your airmen protected the British people. We had the Battle of Okinawa, in which the exact opposite happened. The Japanese army not only starved the Okinawans but used them as human shields. That dark history is still present today - and Japan and the US should study it before they decide what to do with next.

Because the next major event following the Battle of Okinawa was the total surrender of Japan, the effect of this battle is more difficult to consider. Because Japan surrendered when it did, the anticipated series of battles and the invasion of the Japanese homeland never occurred, and all military strategies on both sides which presupposed this apparently-inevitable next development were immediately rendered moot.

Some military historians believe that the Okinawa campaign led directly to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a means of avoiding the planned ground invasion of the Japanese mainland. This view is explained by Victor Davis Hanson in his book Ripples of Battle:

... because the Japanese on Okinawa ... were so fierce in their defense (even when cut off and without supplies), and because casualties were so appalling, many American strategists looked for an alternative means to subdue mainland Japan, other than a direct invasion. This means presented itself, with the advent of atomic bombs, which worked admirably in convincing the Japanese to sue for peace [unconditionally], without American casualties.

Meanwhile, many parties continue to debate the broader question of "why Japan surrendered", attributing the surrender to a number of possible reasons including: the atomic bombings, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, and Japan's depleted resources.[page needed ]

In 1995, the Okinawa government erected a memorial monument named the Cornerstone of Peace in Mabuni, the site of the last fighting in southeastern Okinawa. The memorial lists all the known names of those who died in the battle, civilian and military, Japanese and foreign. As of 2022, the monument lists 241,686 names.

Significant US forces remain garrisoned on Okinawa as the United States Forces Japan, which the Japanese government sees as an important guarantee of regional stability, and Kadena remains the largest US air base in Asia. Local residents have long protested against the size and presence of the base.

1. ^ "Okinawa: The Costs of Victory in the Last Battle". The National WWII Museum. 7 July 2022.

2. ^ This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Appleman, Roy; Burns, James; Gugeler, Russel; Stevens, John (1948). Okinawa: The Last Battle. United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 1410222063. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010.

3. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Nichols, Charles; Shaw, Henry (1955). Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific (PDF). Government Printing Office. ASIN B00071UAT8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2021.

4. ^ "Okinawa: The Costs of Victory in the Last Battle". The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. 7 July 2022.

5. ^ Huber, Thomas (May 1990). "Japan's battle of Okinawa, April-June 1945". Combined Arms Research Library. Archived from the original on 16 October 2004.

6. ^ "Okinawa Confederate Flag". Abbeville Institute Press. 6 April 2018.

7. ^ "'The World is beginning to know Okinawa': Ota Masahide reflects on his life from the Battle of Okinawa to the Struggle for Okinawa". Japanfocus.org. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015.

8. ^ "The Cornerstone of Peace - names to be inscribed". Okinawa Prefecture. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.

9. ^ "Recollecting the War in Okinawa". Japan Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016.

10. ^ "Okinawa marks 62nd anniversary of WWII battle". Japan Times. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.

11. Reid, Chip. ^ "Ernie Pyle, trail-blazing war correspondent - Brought home the tragedy of D-Day and the rest of WWII" Archived 17 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, NBC News, 7 June 2004. Retrieved 26 April 2006.

12. ^ "H-048-1: Kamikaze Attacks on U.S. Flagships off Okinawa". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.

13. Morison, Victory, p. 177

14. Morison, Victory, pp. 186-191

15. ^ "Destroyer History, USS Howorth". Destroyer History. Destroyer History Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021.

16. Morrison, Victory, p. 279

17. ^ Molasky, Michael S. (1999). The American Occupation of Japan and Okinawa: Literature and Memory. Routledge. p. 16. ISBN 978-0415191944. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023.

18. ^ Molasky, Michael S.; Rabson, Steve (2000). Southern Exposure: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa. University of Hawaii Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0824823009. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023.

19. ^ Sheehan, Susan D; Hein, Laura; Selden, Mark (9 April 2003). Islands of Discontent: Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 978-1461637929. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023.

20. ^ Okinawa's war time wounds reopened Archived 6 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine BBC News, 17 November 2007.

21. ^ New high school texts say Japanese Imperial Army ordered WWII Okinawa suicides, The Mainichi, 29 March 2013.

22. ^ "Okinawan History and Karate-do". Archived from the original on 19 August 2011.

23. ^ Gaddis, John Lewis (2005). The Cold War. Allen Lane. p. 50. ISBN 978-0713999129. [Hiroshima and Nagasaki] brought about the Japanese surrender.

24. ^ "Soviets declare war on Japan; invade Manchuria". Archived 3 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 6 July 2014.

25. ^ "Did Nuclear Weapons Cause Japan to Surrender?". Archived 24 September 2021 at the Wayback Machine Wilson, Ward. YouTube. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, 16 January 2013. Web. 6 July 2014.

26. ^ Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (2005). Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674022416.

27. ^ Fackler, Martin (5 July 2013). "In Okinawa, Talk of Break From Japan Turns Serious". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Army Center of Military History.

Alexander, Joseph (1995). The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa (PDF). U.S. Marine Corps History Division. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 January 2021.

Appleman, Roy; Burns, James; Gugeler, Russel; Stevens, John (1948). Okinawa: The Last Battle. United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 1410222063. Archived from the original on 8 November 2010.

Fisch, Arnold G. Jr. (2004). Ryukyus. World War II Campaign Brochures. Washington, DC: United States Army Center of Military History. ISBN 0160480329. CMH Pub 72-35. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012.

Morison, Samuel Eliot (2002) [1960]. Victory in the Pacific, 1945, vol. 14 of. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252070658. OCLC 1036894412.

Nash, Douglas (2015). Battle of Okinawa III MEF Staff Ride Battle Book (PDF). U.S. Marine Corps History Division. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2021.

Nichols, Charles; Shaw, Henry (1955). Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific (PDF). Government Printing Office. ASIN B00071UAT8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 March 2021.

Astor, Gerald (1996). Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II. Dell. ISBN 0440221781.

Buckner, Simon; Stilwell, Joseph (2004). Nicholas Evan Sarantakes (ed.). Seven Stars: The Okinawa Battle Diaries of Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. and Joseph Stilwell.

Coski, John M. (2005). The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem. United States of America: First Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674019830.

Frank, Richard B. (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. Random House. ISBN 978-0679414247.

Hastings, Max (2008) [2007]. Retribution - The Battle for Japan, 1944-45. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0307263513.

Lacey, Laura Homan (2005). Stay Off The Skyline: The Sixth Marine Division on Okinawa - An Oral History. Potomac Books. ISBN 1574889524.

Sledge, E. B.; Fussell, Paul (1990). With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195067142., famous Marine memoir

Toll, Ian W. (2020). Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945. New York: W.W. Norton.

Dyer, George Carroll (1956). "The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner". United States Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.

Huber, Thomas M. (May 1990). "Japan's Battle of Okinawa, April-June 1945". Leavenworth Papers. United States Army Command and General Staff College. Archived from the original on 16 December 2006.

A film clip "footage from the National Archives.By Sgt. Rhodes" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

A film clip "Landings On Okinawa, 1945/04/09 (1945)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

A film clip "Argentine Admitted To World Parley, 1945/05/03 (1945)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

A film clip "Final Days of Struggle in Okinawa, 1945/07/05 (1945)" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive

US military on the Battle of Okinawa Archived 26 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine

New Zealand account with reference to Operation Iceberg

Cornerstone of Peace

Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum

The Peace Learning Archive in OKINAWA

A photographic record of aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable, 1944-45, including Operation Iceberg, the attack on the Sakashimas

WWII: Battle of Okinawa Archived 10 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine - slideshow by Life magazine

Operation Iceberg Operational Documents Archived 26 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine Combined Arms Research Library, Fort Leavenworth, KS

Oral history interview with Mike Busha, a member of the 6th Marine Division during the Battle of Okinawa Archived 14 December 2012 at archive.today from the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University

Oral history interview with Albert D'Amico, a Navy Veteran who was aboard LST 278 during the landing at Okinawa Archived 12 December 2012 at archive.today from the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University

Booknotes interview with Robert Leckie on Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II, September 3, 1995.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Okinawa Part of the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign of the Pacific Theater ( World War II) 1st Marine Regiment during fighting at Wana Ridge during the Battle of Okinawa, May 1945 Belligerents Ground forces: United States Naval support: United Kingdom Japan Commanders and leaders Simon B. Buckner Jr.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms (1953-1961) to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War. He pursued the moderate policies of "Modern Republicanism," pointing out as he left office, "America is today the strongest, most influential, and most productive nation in the world."

Born in Texas in 1890, brought up in Abilene, Kansas, Eisenhower was the third of seven sons. He excelled in sports in high school, and received an appointment to West Point. Stationed in Texas as a second lieutenant, he met Mamie Geneva Doud, whom he married in 1916.

In his early Army career, he excelled in staff assignments, serving under Generals John J. Pershing, Douglas MacArthur, and Walter Krueger. After Pearl Harbor, General George C. Marshall called him to Washington for a war plans assignment. He commanded the Allied Forces landing in North Africa in November 1942; on D-Day, 1944, he was Supreme Commander of the troops invading France.

After the war, he became President of Columbia University, then took leave to assume supreme command over the new NATO forces being assembled in 1951. Republican emissaries to his headquarters near Paris persuaded him to run for President in 1952.

"I like Ike" was an irresistible slogan; Eisenhower won a sweeping victory.

Negotiating from military strength, he tried to reduce the strains of the Cold War. In 1953, the signing of a truce brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea. The death of Stalin the same year caused shifts in relations with Russia.

New Russian leaders consented to a peace treaty neutralizing Austria. Meanwhile, both Russia and the United States had developed hydrogen bombs. With the threat of such destructive force hanging over the world, Eisenhower, with the leaders of the British, French, and Russian governments, met at Geneva in July 1955.

The President proposed that the United States and Russia exchange blueprints of each other's military establishments and "provide within our countries facilities for aerial photography to the other country." The Russians greeted the proposal with silence, but were so cordial throughout the meetings that tensions relaxed.

Suddenly, in September 1955, Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver, Colorado. After seven weeks he left the hospital, and in February 1956 doctors reported his recovery. In November he was elected for his second term.

In domestic policy the President pursued a middle course, continuing most of the New Deal and Fair Deal programs, emphasizing a balanced budget. As desegregation of schools began, he sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. "There must be no second class citizens in this country," he wrote.

Eisenhower concentrated on maintaining world peace. He watched with pleasure the development of his "atoms for peace" program-the loan of American uranium to "have not" nations for peaceful purposes.

Before he left office in January 1961, for his farm in Gettysburg, he urged the necessity of maintaining an adequate military strength, but cautioned that vast, long-continued military expenditures could breed potential dangers to our way of life. He concluded with a prayer for peace "in the goodness of time." Both themes remained timely and urgent when he died, after a long illness, on March 28, 1969.

For more information about President Eisenhower, please visit Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum

Learn more about Dwight D. Eisenhower's spouse, Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Bringing to the Presidency his prestige as commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms (1953-1961) to ease the tensions of the Cold War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Called "the greatest American battle of the war" by Winston Churchill, the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler's last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front. Hitler's aim was to split the Allies in their drive toward Germany. The German troops' failure to divide Britain, France and America with the Ardennes offensive paved the way to victory for the allies.

Lasting six brutal weeks, from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, the assault, also called the Battle of the Ardennes, took place during frigid weather conditions, with some 30 German divisions attacking battle-fatigued American troops across 85 miles of the densely wooded Ardennes Forest.

As the Germans drove into the Ardennes, the Allied line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name. The battle proved to be the costliest ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. The formerly serene, wooded region of Ardennes was hacked into chaos by fighting as the Americans dug in against the German advance at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division.

"Did you ever see land when a tornado's come through? Did you ever see trees and stuff, twisted and broken off? The whole friggin' forest was like that," said U.S. Army Charlie Sanderson in My Father's War: Memories from Our Honored WWII Soldiers.
READ MORE: 8 Things You May Not Know About the Battle of the Bulge
The surprise German attack broke through the front on day one as stories quickly spread of massacred soldiers and civilians, according to the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

"For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas," the center writes. "Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught."

Troops Faced Severe Cold

Hitler's mid-December timing of the attack-one of the bloodiest of the war-was strategic, as freezing rain, thick fog, deep snow drifts and record-breaking low temperatures brutalized the American troops. More than 15,000 "cold injuries"-trench foot, pneumonia, frostbite-were reported that winter.

"I was from Buffalo, I thought I knew cold," baseball Hall of Famer and WWII veteran Warren Spahn said in The Love of Baseball. "But I didn't really know cold until the Battle of the Bulge."

Nazis Sent in Imposters and Changed Road Signs

Another Nazi strategy was to attempt to infiltrate the Allied troops.

Veteran Vernon Brantley, a private first class in the 289th Regiment, told the Fort Jackson Leader in 2009 that his unit had just arrived in Germany from France when they were told to load up and return to Luxembourg.

"We got word that the Germans had dropped a lot of paratroopers behind our lines, and that they were dressed like American Soldiers and spoke English," he said. "... They were there to create confusion."

The Germans also changed road signs and spread misinformation.

"The Nazis were carefully groomed for their dangerous mission," LIFE magazine reported in 1945. "They spoke excellent English and their slang had been tuned up by close association with American prisoners of war in German camps. ... Under the rules of the Hague Convention these Germans were classifiable as spies and subject to an immediate court martial by a military tribunal. After brief deliberation American officers found them guilty, and ordered the usual penalty for spies: death by firing squad."

To stop infiltrators, the U.S. troops would ask suspected Germans to answer American trivia questions.

"Three times I was ordered to prove my identity," Gen. Omar Bradley recalled, according to the Washington Post. "The first time by identifying Springfield as the capital of Illinois; the second by locating the guard between the center and the tackle on a line of scrimmage; the third time by naming the then-current spouse of a blonde named Betty Grable."
Click here to watch the full episode on the Battle of the Bulge and more from WWII in HD on History Vault
Allied Air Forces Arrived on Christmas Day

It wasn't until Christmas Day that the weather conditions finally cleared, allowing Allied air forces to strike.

"It was on that bright, clear and cold Christmas morning in 1944 that the ground froze solid," Brantley told the Leader. "The tanks and air forces could finally maneuver, and get assistance to all of us who were previously blocked off. ... It was a welcome sign to see the sun come up. It meant that we were alive for one more day."

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. led the American defense to restore the front. According to the National Archives' Bloodiest Battle, Eisenhower gave Patton the Third Army, about 230,000 soldiers, and ordered him to head to the Ardennes.

101st Airborne Division Arrive in Bastogne

In the small, pivotal Belgian town of Bastogne, the Germans surrounded thousands of Allied troops. Eisenhower, in response, sent in more units, including the famed 101st Airborne Division.

"When the Germans sent a message demanding the surrender of the 101st on December 22, they got a one-word response from its commander, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe: 'Nuts!'" the Bloodiest Battle states. "This was interpreted by German officers as a more colorful-and negative-response to their demand. The day after Christmas, units of Patton's rapidly approaching Third Army finally arrived, broke through the German lines, and rescued the troops."

Claiming victory of the battle on January 25, 1945, and the Allies headed for Berlin. The war ended less than five months later with Germany's May 7 surrender.

In all, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, 1 million-plus Allied troops, including some 500,000 Americans, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, with approximately 19,000 soldiers killed in action, 47,500 wounded and 23,000-plus missing. About 100,000 Germans were killed, wounded or captured.

"The Ardennes campaign of 1944-45 was only one in a series of difficult engagements in the battle for Europe," wrote John S.D. Eisenhower, in his 1969 book, The Bitter Woods. "Nevertheless, it can be said that the Ardennes campaign epitomized them all. For it was here that American and German combat soldiers met in the decisive struggle that broke the back of the Nazi war machine."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of the Bulge - Definition, Dates & Who Won

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of the Bulge took place in December 1944, after Adolf Hitler launched a surprise blitzkrieg against Allied Forces in northwest Europe. Caught off-guard, American units fought to stem the German advance. As the Germans pushed through American defenses, the front line took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle's name.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Battle of Iwo Jima, (February 19-March 16, 1945), World War II conflict between the United States and the Empire of Japan. The United States mounted an amphibious invasion of the island of Iwo Jima as part of its Pacific campaign against Japan. A costly victory for the United States, the battle was one of the bloodiest in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps and was cited as proof of the Japanese military's willingness to fight to the last man.

Context

Shortly after its attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Japan gained control over much of Southeast Asia and the central Pacific. The Japanese sphere of control extended west to Burma ( Myanmar), south to the Dutch East Indies (now Malaysia) and New Guinea, and east to Wake Island. However, the United States assumed command of Allied forces in the Pacific theatre and mounted a counteroffensive that incorporated a strategic combination of land, air, and naval assaults.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS)-Adm. Ernest King, Adm. William Leahy, Gen. George Marshall, and Gen. Henry ("Hap") Arnold-was created in 1942 to provide a body of high command to direct U.S. operations during the war. Each member was a four-star officer from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Army Air Forces (AAF). The Marine Corps was not represented in this body during World War II. Convention dictated that a single officer should command all armed forces in the Pacific, but the JCOS could not agree on any one person to do so. At King's urging, the body chose to bifurcate the theatre and gave Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Adm. Chester Nimitz command over one half each. Even then, however, there was contention over how to make progress toward the Japanese homeland. MacArthur wanted to retake the Philippines en route to Tokyo, while Nimitz wanted an "island-hopping" approach that focused on small strategic gains throughout the Central Pacific. In 1944 the JCOS agreed on a two-pronged plan that combined both strategies. By October of that year, MacArthur had landed on Filipino soil, and Nimitz had seized the Mariana Islands, severely crippling Japanese naval and air power along the way.

Arnold was of the opinion that the Bonin Islands could be useful for conducting B-29 Superfortress air raids on Tokyo. He was convinced that Iwo Jima (now Iō-tō) in particular, being halfway between the Mariana Islands and the Japanese capital, would place his fighters in range of the city so that they could support bombing operations in the region. Arnold had to rely on the Navy to take these islands for him, however. At the JCOS's direction, Nimitz initially intended to take Formosa ( Taiwan) rather than Iwo Jima, but recommendations from his subordinate admirals prompted him to propose that he seize Iwo Jima and Okinawa instead. The JCOS approved the plan, and in October 1944 Nimitz began preparations for an Iwo Jima invasion, later known as Operation Detachment.

Battle

Iwo Jima is located about 760 miles (1,220 km) from Tokyo. It is a small island covering an area of about 8 square miles (20 square km) and spanning about 5 miles (8 km) in length. A volcanic island, Iwo Jima is dotted with hundreds of caves and is covered with volcanic sand and ash. At the southwest tip of the island is Mount Suribachi, a largely dormant volcano that provides a sweeping view of most of the island. Two beaches flank the northwest and southeast parts of the western sector. At the time of the U.S. invasion, there were two airfields in the middle of the island, Motoyama 1 and 2. A third airfield to the north was unfinished.

In May 1944 Japanese Prime Minister Tōjō Hideki had sent seasoned Lieut. Gen. Kuribayashi Tadamichi to organize the defense of Iwo Jima. Despite the apparent futility of resistance, Kuribayashi resolved to make the United States bleed for its victory. He began by ordering the construction of a tunnel network beneath the island to provide both protection and a means to circumvent enemy lines. He then had his troops erect hundreds of pillboxes, blockhouses, and gun sites for aboveground coverage, many of which were so well constructed that only a direct hit from a battleship could cause serious damage. However, rather than heavily defending the coastline, he planned to keep his soldiers in caves and tunnels until the Americans advanced far enough inland to be decimated by coordinated infantry and artillery fire. Finally, in a break from traditional Japanese defensive strategy, Kuribayashi gave his men strict orders to abandon the often-suicidal banzai charges and instead kill 10 Americans each from their hideouts. By the time U.S. forces initiated their assault, Kuribayashi's Iwo Jima garrison had grown to an estimated 21,000 soldiers.

Nimitz created a U.S. Joint Expeditionary Force of Navy and Marines to carry out Operation Detachment. At its disposal was an armada of 11 warships that were intended to soften up Japanese defenses with sustained bombardment. Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt took charge of Marine operations. He fielded the largely veteran 3rd, 4th, and 5th Marine divisions, totaling some 70,000 troops. U.S. intelligence had reported only 13,000 Japanese defenders and excellent beach terrain for landing, so planners chose to have the Marines land on the southeastern beach in seven sections (listed southwest to northeast): Green, Red 1, Red 2, Yellow 1, Yellow 2, Blue 1, and Blue 2. The 28th Regiment at Green would plow across the 0.5-mile (0.8-km) stretch to the other side of the island to cut off and eventually take Mount Suribachi. The 27th Regiment at Red 1 and 2 would head northward past Motoyama 1, which would be taken by the 23rd Regiment at Yellow 1 and 2. The 25th Regiment at Blue 1 and 2 would head east to secure the right flank. Schmidt was prepared for Japanese banzai attacks and expected the swarm of bodies to expedite the invasion process, anticipating total control of the island in no more than four days.

Before landing his Marines on the beaches, Schmidt had requested that the Navy bombard the island for 10 consecutive days. His request was denied, however, and he was granted a mere three days on account of Nimitz's tight schedule ahead of the Okinawa invasion. The brief period of shelling was blighted by poor weather, and, when compounded with the island's well-protected defenses, the bombardment did little to soften up the Japanese. About 9:00 am on February 19, 1945, Marines began to land on the beach in intervals. They were surprised to encounter embankments of volcanic ash towering some 15 feet (4.6 meters) high. What was supposed to be an easy and methodical landing process quickly became congested, and Kuribayashi maximized the confusion by directing his troops and artillery to fire on the U.S. soldiers.

Schmidt sent in U.S. Naval Construction Battalion units (Seabees) with bulldozers to clear some of the ash, and by the end of that day the 28th Regiment had successfully isolated Suribachi from the rest of the island. On February 21 Kuribayashi executed a kamikaze attack on U.S. Navy vessels, badly damaging several ships. U.S. Marines continued to press forward on land, though, and on February 23 they secured Suribachi. Marines twice raised the American flag on Suribachi's summit. The second flag raising was photographed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press, and his photograph became one of the most famous combat images of World War II.

The 23rd, 25th, and 27th regiments began to measure their advances in yards. The 23rd Regiment managed to take Motoyama 1 by February 24 and Motoyama 2 by February 27, but progressing past that point proved exceedingly difficult. The first main Japanese line of defense lay beyond a sulfur field filled with man-made and natural defenses. Japanese soldiers battered the Marines with artillery by day, and at night they would slip behind the U.S. rear and plant mines along roads to disrupt enemy movements. On February 27 the central regiments, reinforced by the 21st Regiment from the 3rd Marine Division, mounted a massive coordinated assault that broke through the centre of the Japanese line and overran the heights adjacent to the unfinished Motoyama 3 airfield the following day. However, intense fighting continued on the right flank at the Amphitheater, Turkey Knob, and Hill 382, a rise that would be dubbed "the Meat Grinder." From their defensive positions, the Japanese fired on the Marines relentlessly, and U.S. soldiers resorted to using flamethrowers to snuff out every possible defender, but the area remained at a stalemate even after Marines took the Meat Grinder on March 2.

On the northern end of the island, the 28th Regiment fought alongside troops from the 5th Division for control of Hills 362A and 362B, seizing them both with considerable difficulty by March 3. Similarly, the 21st Regiment managed to take Hill 362C near the island's northeast shore, leaving only a small but resilient group of Japanese soldiers in that sector holding out at a site known as Cushman's Pocket. On March 8 Japanese Navy Capt. Samaji Inouye led a nighttime banzai attack against Kuribayashi's orders in hopes of driving the Americans off of their hill. His attack proved futile, however, and the casualties inflicted provided an opening for the Marines. By March 10 U.S. troops had finally cleared the Amphitheater and Turkey Knob of its defenders.

Despite areas of intense resistance at Cushman's Pocket, the northwest coast, and a small area on the east coast, the U.S. declared Iwo Jima secure on March 16. In actuality the island would not be secure until March 26, when a few hundred Japanese troops moved behind enemy lines toward Motoyama 1 and killed about 100 Americans in their sleep before being gunned down themselves. With the other pockets of defenders killed or captured, that night attack marked the last major engagement at Iwo Jima.

Aftermath and criticism

Operation Detachment was one of the deadliest conflicts in U.S. Marine Corps history. The Japanese death toll approached 18,500 soldiers, and some 6,800 U.S. Marines were killed and 19,200 were wounded. Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded at the conclusion of the battle. The fact that Marines were forced to kill the Japanese virtually to the last man is a testament to the iron grip that Japan's military indoctrination had on its servicemen. Even Kuribayashi refused to surrender in the end, by some accounts preferring to commit seppuku rather than fall into American hands alive. Those few Japanese soldiers who survived were often ostracized at home because of their failure to defend the homeland with their lives.

For the United States, the Pyrrhic victory at Iwo Jima provided the AAF with important airfields that would be used throughout the rest of the Pacific War, but the impetus for the battle has drawn criticism from both high-ranking generals and prominent historians. Military historian and Marine Capt. Robert Burrell found that the provision of fighter escorts on bombing raids-the principal reason for Operation Detachment-was minimal overall, as only 10 escort missions ever occurred. B-29 bomber raids did originate from the island and were especially impactful, but these raids were not cited as a justification for the assault prior to the conclusion of the war. The primary postwar justification was Iwo Jima's capacity to provide emergency landings, but, while 2,251 B-29s landed on the island throughout the rest of the war, the majority of them were not strictly emergencies. Most concerning, though, was the fact that the JCOS did not consider either the opinion of the Marines or the doubts of their planners ahead of ordering the invasion. Had they done so, thousands of lives might have been saved.
Myles Hudson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Iwo Jima | Facts, Significance, Photos, & Map

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Iwo Jima (February 19-March 16, 1945), World War II battle fought between the United States and Japan over a strategically important island some 760 miles (1,220 km) south of Tokyo. A photo of Marines raising the American flag atop Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi became one of the Pacific War's iconic images.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was most recently revised and updated by

Battle of Guadalcanal, (August 1942-February 1943), series of World War II land and sea clashes between Allied and Japanese forces on and around Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. Along with the naval Battle of Midway (June 3-6, 1942), the fighting on Guadalcanal marked a turning point in favour of the Allies in the Pacific War.

The naval campaign at Guadalcanal

Landings in the southern Solomons and the Battle of Savo Island

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese moved a force consisting of troops and labourers to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and began constructing an airfield. The Allies recognized that land-based planes operating from this field would seriously menace bases in the New Hebrides and New Caledonia as well as Port Moresby in New Guinea. Immediate steps were taken to eject the Japanese, utilizing forces that were available in the South Pacific.

On August 7, 1942, some 6,000 men of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Alexander Vandegrift, launched an amphibious assault on Guadalcanal and Florida Island, surprising Guadalcanal's 2,000 Japanese defenders. The landings were made with strong naval and air support and met with little initial resistance, and the airfield on Guadalcanal and the harbour on Florida Island were seized in the first 36 hours. The Marines named the airstrip Henderson Field, after Maj. Lofton Henderson, a Marine aviator who had perished while leading a bombing run at the Battle of Midway the previous month. Henderson Field would quickly become the centre of gravity for the conflict on Guadalcanal.

The Japanese reacted quickly, and just before 2:00 am on August 9 they struck hard at the Allied naval force supporting the operation. A force of Japanese cruisers and destroyers engaged the Allied fleet in a furious night battle that came to be called the Battle of Savo Island. The result was a disaster for the Allies. Over the course of roughly a half hour, the Japanese sank the U.S. cruisers Astoria, Quincy, and Vincennes and crippled the Australian cruiser Canberra while suffering negligible losses. Over the following months, some two dozen Japanese and Allied ships would be sunk in the waters to the north of Guadalcanal; the sea lane between Guadalcanal and Florida Island would subsequently be known to Allied sailors as Ironbottom Sound.

The Battles of the Eastern Solomons, Cape Esperance, and Santa Cruz

Japanese forces began gathering at Rabaul, New Britain, some 650 miles (roughly 1,050 km) northwest of Guadalcanal, and Vice Adm. Robert Ghormley responded by concentrating Task Force 61, under Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, southeast of Guadalcanal. The carriers USS Enterprise and USS Saratoga and the battleship USS North Carolina were supported by numerous cruisers and destroyers, as well as land-based aircraft from Henderson Field. On August 24 contact was made with the powerful 1st Carrier Division under Nagumo Chūichi, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons ensued. Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from the Saratoga sank the Japanese light carrier Ryujo, and Saratoga dive-bombers seriously damaged the seaplane carrier Chitose. The Enterprise was struck by dive-bombers from the Japanese carrier Shokaku, and a fire deep in the ship caused its rudder to jam. It spent nearly an hour steaming in a circle before control was restored; if a second wave of Japanese planes had not followed an erroneous position report on the American carriers, the Enterprise almost certainly would not have survived the day.

Both sides withdrew their ships from the area by midnight, and a Japanese resupply convoy under the command of Rear Adm. Tanaka Raizō attempted to force its way through to Guadalcanal without the benefit of air cover on the morning of August 25. Dive-bombers from Guadalcanal struck Tanaka's flagship, the cruiser Jintsū, and inflicted heavy damage on a Japanese troop ship. U.S. Army Air Forces B-17s scored a direct hit on the destroyer Mutsuki, sinking it. Tanaka was forced to retire, but he quickly revised his tactics, and his destroyer squadron-the so-called "Toyko Express"-would ferry tens of thousands of Japanese troops and tons of vital supplies to Guadalcanal over the following months.

During the next six weeks, no major action took place in the Solomons, although Japanese planes and submarines continued to harass the U.S. resupply effort, and Japanese surface ships shelled Henderson Field. The most notable loss during this time was the carrier USS Wasp, which was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-19 on September 15. That single torpedo attack also fatally struck the destroyer USS O'Brien and damaged the USS North Carolina. The Japanese resupplied and reinforced their positions at Guadalcanal with nightly runs of the "Tokyo Express," and Tanaka would earn a reputation as arguably the most gifted destroyer captain in the Pacific War. Just before midnight on the night of October 11, five U.S. cruisers and four destroyers under the command of Rear Adm. Norman Scott intercepted a strong Japanese surface force that was en route to Henderson Field. In the ensuing Battle of Cape Esperance, the Japanese lost the heavy cruiser Furutaka and the destroyer Fubuki, while the Americans lost the destroyer USS Duncan.

Two weeks later the much larger Battle of Santa Cruz occurred against the backdrop of a major Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal. U.S. commanders were anticipating a Japanese attack, and Vice Adm. William ("Bull") Halsey, who had succeeded Ghormley as commander of U.S. naval forces in the South Pacific on October 18, concentrated his available assets into two carrier battle groups. The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which had spent nearly a month at Pearl Harbor undergoing repairs, sailed with the battleship USS South Dakota, the heavy cruiser USS Portland, and a screen of light cruisers and destroyers. The carrier USS Hornet was supported by the heavy cruisers USS Northampton and USS Pensacola and a light cruiser and destroyer escort. Against this force was arrayed Vice Adm. Nagumo Chūichi's fleet carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku-both of which had participated in the Pearl Harbor attack-the light carrier Zuiho, the escort carrier Junyo, four battleships, and an assortment of destroyers and other support craft. The two forces met north of Guadalcanal on October 26, and the result was a tactical victory for Japan. The Hornet was sunk, as was the destroyer USS Porter, and the Enterprise was seriously damaged. Nagumo was forced to retire, however, as the Zuiho and the Shokaku had suffered numerous bomb hits and the loss of nearly 100 aircraft had left him without a significant portion of his naval air complement. The Japanese retreat bought the Americans a much needed breathing spell.

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The climax of sea fighting in the Solomons came in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 12-15, 1942). On November 11-12, the U.S. landed a sizable contingent of reinforcements and supplies on the island. At roughly the same time, a fleet of Japanese transports, carrying some 7,000 men, steamed southward from Rabaul behind an escort of several battleships and a large screen of cruisers and destroyers. When the Americans detected this force descending on their vulnerable transports and cargo vessels, they dispatched a force of cruisers and destroyers to fight a delaying action. The result was a series of violent confrontations that inflicted heavy losses on both sides, but left the United States in a position of strength in the southern Solomons.

Just after midnight on November 13, the U.S. task force, under the command of Rear Adm. Daniel Callaghan, engaged Japanese ships commanded by Vice Adm. Abe Hiroaki. The battle that followed was a brutal 24-minute melee that saw capital ships on both sides blasting away at extremely close range. The Japanese lost the battleship Hiei while the U.S. lost the cruisers USS Atlanta and USS Juneau as well as several destroyers. Callaghan and Rear Adm. Norman Scott were killed in the engagement; they were the only two flag officers of the U.S. Navy to be killed in a surface engagement in World War II.

On November 14 Japanese cruisers and destroyers shelled Henderson Field, and another invasion force was discovered north of Guadalcanal. The Japanese ships were subjected to air attacks throughout the day, and that night they were engaged by the battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota. About midnight, contact was made north of Savo Island, and another fierce night action ensued. The Japanese lost the battleship Kirishima and the heavy cruiser Kinugasa, and the U.S. lost three more destroyers.

The land campaign on Guadalcanal

The initial amphibious assault on the southern Solomons represented a superb coordination of Allied naval, air, and ground forces. Warships laid down heavy barrages to screen the approach of troop transports and carrier-based planes, and U.S. Army Air Forces bombers softened Japanese defenses. Landing craft took the Marines ashore at key points throughout the islands. The Marines rapidly secured a beachhead on Guadalcanal and captured the almost-complete airstrip that would become Henderson Field. They also seized the smaller islands of Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanombogo. While the Japanese construction units on Guadalcanal were overcome with comparative ease-or simply melted away into the jungle-the defenders of Tulagi and Gavatu included elements of the elite Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF), and they fought desperately. The battle for Tulagi saw the Japanese garrison destroyed virtually to the last man; this would serve as a grim preview of later engagements in the U.S. campaign in the Pacific.

Almost as soon as the U.S. Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Japanese commanders began making preparations for the retaking of the island. Vandegrift had concentrated some 11,000 Marines into a tight defensive perimeter centred on Henderson Field. He had been warned of an imminent attack, thanks to the efforts of U.S. cryptanalysts, who had penetrated the Japanese naval code. The Japanese, believing that the Americans had withdrawn many of their troops after the stinging defeat at Savo Island, vastly underestimated the strength of the U.S. presence on Guadalcanal. In the predawn hours of August 21, the Japanese launched their first ground offensive on Guadalcanal. At the Battle of the Tenaru (also called the Battle of Alligator Creek), U.S. Marine defenders annihilated a force of some 900 veteran Japanese army troops east of Henderson Field.

Shelling by Japanese ships and aerial bombardment from Japanese planes became routine, but the U.S. defenders were able to cling to their narrow toehold on Guadalcanal, thanks in part to the efforts of the so-called " Cactus Air Force," a motley collection of Marine, U.S. Army Air Forces, and U.S. Navy aviators operating out of Henderson Field. Cactus Air Force pilots shot down more than 150 Japanese planes in the first five weeks of the battle, and Henderson's bomber contingent pounded Japanese warships and transports. On September 13-14, U.S. Marine Corps Col. Merritt ("Red Mike") Edson, the 800 Marines of the 1st Raider Battalion, and a handful of Marine parachute troops were subjected to one of the most intense assaults on Henderson Field thus far, when they were attacked by a Japanese force more than three times their size. Their tenacious defense in what came to be called the Battle of Edson's Ridge helped to cement the reputation of the Raiders in Marine lore and earned Edson the Medal of Honor.

The Japanese forces on the island reached a peak strength of 36,000 troops by October, but they were unable to overwhelm the Americans' defensive perimeter and retake the airfield. The hardest fighting occurred on October 24-25, when a single Marine battalion was all that stood between Henderson Field and two Japanese regiments. The 1st Battalion of the 7th Marine Division, commanded by Lieut. Col. Chesty Puller, repelled the Japanese assault and inflicted heavy casualties on the attackers. Reinforced by soldiers of the 164th Infantry Regiment, the first U.S. Army unit to land on Guadalcanal, Puller's Marines weathered repeated Japanese charges and held their positions. Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone was awarded the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry" during the engagement, and Puller received his third Navy Cross (of an eventual five). By November the U.S. Navy was able to land reinforcements on Guadalcanal faster than the Japanese, and Allied counterattacks had steadily pushed the Japanese toward the northwest part of the island.

In December the 1st Marine Division was withdrawn after four months of intense combat, and the U.S. 25th Infantry Division began arriving on Guadalcanal. At the start of 1943, Allied combat strength on Guadalcanal stood at two U.S. Army divisions and a Marine regiment, totaling some 44,000 troops. Offensive operations continued through January 1943, narrowing and compressing the Japanese position. During the first week of February, light surface craft began evacuating the 12,000 remaining Japanese troops from Guadalcanal. On February 8, 1943, almost exactly six months after the initial landings, the last remaining Japanese pocket of resistance was eliminated, and Guadalcanal was at last firmly in Allied hands.

Outcome and casualties

Although U.S. losses were heavy in both the naval and ground campaigns, the Battle of Guadalcanal was decisive in that U.S. positions in the southern Solomons were never again seriously threatened. The Japanese lost a total of 24,000 men killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal, while the Americans sustained 1,600 killed, 4,200 wounded, and several thousand dead from malaria and other tropical diseases. The various naval battles cost each side 24 warships: the Japanese lost 2 battleships, 4 cruisers, 1 light carrier, 11 destroyers, and 6 submarines, while the Americans lost 8 cruisers, 2 heavy carriers, and 14 destroyers.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Michael Ray.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Guadalcanal | Facts, Map, & Significance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Battle of Guadalcanal, (August 1942-February 1943), series of World War II land and sea clashes between Allied and Japanese forces on and around Guadalcanal, one of the southern Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific. Along with the naval Battle of Midway (June 3-6, 1942), the fighting on Guadalcanal marked a turning point in favour of the Allies in the Pacific War.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry Truman scarcely saw President Franklin Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became America's 33rd President.

During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry S. Truman scarcely saw President Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became President. He told reporters, "I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me."

Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, in 1884. He grew up in Independence, and for 12 years prospered as a Missouri farmer.

He went to France during World War I as a captain in the Field Artillery. Returning, he married Elizabeth Virginia Wallace, and opened a haberdashery in Kansas City.

Active in the Democratic Party, Truman was elected a judge of the Jackson County Court (an administrative position) in 1922. He became a Senator in 1934. During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars.

As President, Truman made some of the most crucial decisions in history. Soon after V-E Day, the war against Japan had reached its final stage. An urgent plea to Japan to surrender was rejected. Truman, after consultations with his advisers, ordered atomic bombs dropped on cities devoted to war work. Two were Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese surrender quickly followed.

In June 1945 Truman witnessed the signing of the charter of the United Nations, hopefully established to preserve peace.

Thus far, he had followed his predecessor's policies, but he soon developed his own. He presented to Congress a 21-point program, proposing the expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, and public housing and slum clearance. The program, Truman wrote, "symbolizes for me my assumption of the office of President in my own right." It became known as the Fair Deal.

Dangers and crises marked the foreign scene as Truman campaigned successfully in 1948. In foreign affairs he was already providing his most effective leadership.

In 1947 as the Soviet Union pressured Turkey and, through guerrillas, threatened to take over Greece, he asked Congress to aid the two countries, enunciating the program that bears his name-the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan, named for his Secretary of State, stimulated spectacular economic recovery in war-torn western Europe.

When the Russians blockaded the western sectors of Berlin in 1948, Truman created a massive airlift to supply Berliners until the Russians backed down. Meanwhile, he was negotiating a military alliance to protect Western nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949.

In June 1950, when the Communist government of North Korea attacked South Korea, Truman conferred promptly with his military advisers. There was, he wrote, "complete, almost unspoken acceptance on the part of everyone that whatever had to be done to meet this aggression had to be done. There was no suggestion from anyone that either the United Nations or the United States could back away from it."

A long, discouraging struggle ensued as U.N. forces held a line above the old boundary of South Korea. Truman kept the war a limited one, rather than risk a major conflict with China and perhaps Russia.

Deciding not to run again, he retired to Independence; at age 88, he died December 26, 1972, after a stubborn fight for life.

For more information about President Truman, please visit the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.

Learn more about Harry S. Truman's spouse, Elizabeth Virginia Wallace Truman.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During his few weeks as Vice President, Harry Truman scarcely saw President Franklin Roosevelt, and received no briefing on the development of the atomic bomb or the unfolding difficulties with Soviet Russia. Suddenly these and a host of other wartime problems became Truman's to solve when, on April 12, 1945, he became America's 33rd President.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Prelude to the Battle of Stalingrad

In the middle of World War II - having captured territory in much of present-day Ukraine and Belarus in the spring on 1942 - Germany's Wehrmacht forces decided to mount an offensive on southern Russia in the summer of that year.

Under the leadership of ruthless head of state Joseph Stalin, Soviet forces had already successfully rebuffed a German attack on the western part of the country - one that had the ultimate goal of taking Moscow - during the winter of 1941-42. However, Stalin's Red Army had suffered significant losses in the fighting, both in terms of manpower and weaponry.

Stalin and his generals, including future Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, fully expected another Nazi attack to be aimed at Moscow. However, Hitler and the Wehrmacht had other ideas.

They set their sights on Stalingrad, because the city served as an industrial center in Russia, producing, among other important goods, artillery for the country's troops. The Volga River, which runs through the city, was also an important shipping route connecting the western part of the country with its distant eastern regions.

Ultimately, Adolf Hitler wanted the Wehrmacht to occupy Stalingrad, seeing its value for propaganda purposes, given that it bore Stalin's name. For similar reasons, the Russians felt a special need to protect it.

When Hitler proclaimed that upon taking Stalingrad all of the city's male residents would be killed and its women deported, the stage was set for a bloody, hard-fought battle. Stalin ordered all Russians strong enough to hold a rifle to take up arms in defense of the city.

The 6th Army of the Wehrmacht began their assault on August 23, 1942.

Battle of Stalingrad Begins

Russian forces were initially able to slow the German Wehrmacht's advances during a series of brutal skirmishes just north of Stalingrad. Stalin's forces lost more than 200,000 men, but they successfully held off German soldiers.

With a firm understanding of Hitler's plans, the Russians had already shipped much of the stores of grain and cattle out of Stalingrad. However, the city's 400,000-plus residents were not evacuated, as the Russian leadership believed their presence would inspire troops.

Within a few days of launching its attack, Germany's Luftwaffe air force had rendered the Volga River impassable to shipping and had sunk several Russian commercial vessels in the process. From late August through the end of the assault, the Luftwaffe conducted dozens of air strikes on the city.

The number of civilian casualties is unknown. However, it's believed that tens of thousands were killed, and that tens of thousands more were captured and forced into slave labor in camps in Germany.

By September, the Luftwaffe essentially had control of the skies over Stalingrad, and the Russians were getting desperate. Workers in the city not involved in war-related weapons production were soon asked to take up fighting, often without firearms of their own. Women were enlisted to dig trenches at the front lines.

And yet, the Russians continued to suffer heavy losses. By the fall of 1942, Stalingrad was in ruins.

'Not a Step Back!'

Despite heavy casualties and the pounding delivered by the Luftwaffe, Stalin instructed his forces in the city to not retreat, famously decreeing in Order No. 227: "Not a step back!" Those who surrendered would be subject to a trial by military tribunal and face possible execution.

With fewer than 20,000 troops in the city and less than 100 tanks, Stalin's generals finally began sending reinforcements into the city and surrounding areas. Fighting raged in the streets of Stalingrad, with both sides using snipers poised on the roofs of the city's buildings.

Russian generals Georgy Zhukov and Aleksandr Vasilevsky organized Russian troops in the mountains to the north and west of the city. From there, they launched a counterattack, famously known as Operation Uranus.

Although they again sustained significant losses, Russian forces were able to form what in essence was a defensive ring around the city by late November 1942, trapping the nearly 300,000 German and Axis troops in the 6th Army. This effort became the subject of a propaganda film produced after the war, The Battle of Stalingrad.

With the Russian blockade limiting access to supplies, German forces trapped in Stalingrad slowly starved. The Russians would seize upon the resulting weakness during the cold, harsh winter months that followed.

Russian Winter Sets In

As Russia's brutal winter began, Soviet generals knew the Germans would be at a disadvantage, fighting in conditions to which they weren't accustomed. They began consolidating their positions around Stalingrad, choking off the German forces from vital supplies and essentially surrounding them in an ever-tightening noose.

Thanks to Russian gains in nearby fighting, including in Rostov-on-Don, 250 miles from Stalingrad, the Axis forces - mostly Germans and Italians - were stretched thin. Through Operation Little Saturn, the Russians began to break the lines of mostly Italian forces to the west of the city.

At this point, German generals abandoned all efforts to relieve their beleaguered forces trapped in Stalingrad. Still, Hitler refused to surrender even as his men slowly starved and ran out of ammunition.

Battle of Stalingrad Ends

By February 1943, Russian troops had retaken Stalingrad and captured nearly 100,000 German soldiers, though pockets of resistance continued to fight in the city until early March. Most of the captured soldiers died in Russian prison camps, either as a result of disease or starvation.

The loss at Stalingrad was the first failure of the war to be publicly acknowledged by Hitler. It put Hitler and the Axis powers on the defensive, and boosted Russian confidence as it continued to do battle on the Eastern Front in World War II.

In the end, many historians believe the Battle at Stalingrad marked a major turning point in the conflict. It was the beginning of the march toward victory for the Allied forces of Russia, Britain, France and the United States.

In February 2018, Russians gathered in what is now known as Volgograd to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the conclusion of the battle that had ravaged their city.

Sources

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "75th Anniversary Of Victory In The Battle Of Stalingrad." rferl.org.

Barnes, T. (2018). "Russians take to streets in their thousands to mark 75 years since Battle of Stalingrad. Independent.co.uk.

BBC World Service: Witness. "The battle of Stalingrad." BBC.co.uk.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Battle of Stalingrad - Definition, Dates & Significance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of Stalingrad was a brutal military campaign between Russian forces and those of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers during World War II. Germany's defeat in the battle marked a turning point of the war in favor of the Allies.