Taking the Offensive: Election of 1944, The
The election of 1944 hinges more on the potential for world peace than domestic reform. Roosevelt abandons many New Deal policies and replaces controversial vice-president Henry Wallace with Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri. Republicans nominat...
Taking the Offensive: Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The
Different alternatives are available to ending the war in the Pacific. Truman's decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still being debated. Harvard historian Akira Iriye talks about the shock of the bombing, the Soviet Union's entry into the war...
Taking the Offensive: Liberation of France; Germany's Surrender, The
By mid 1943, the United States and its allies begin to slow the Nazi Advance. England witnesses a gathering of 3 million troops in preparation of a major advance off the Normandy Coast of France. Generally known as D-Day, Dwight D. Eisenhower leads ...
Taking the Offensive: Truman's Terrible Decision: Atomic Warfare?
Truman succeeds Roosevelt upon the president's death in April 1945. As fighting rages on between the Allies and Japan, Truman declares an ultimatum to the Japanese to surrender unconditionally by August 3, 1945. But Japan wants one condition, to kee...
Taking the Offensive: Seeds of U. S.-Russian Conflict Visible at War's End, The
As the war concludes, Japan is to be demilitarized, democratized, and decentralized. Stalin had agreed at Yalta to enter the Pacific war three months after European fighting was concluded. The United States would have welcomed Soviet involvement if ...
Taking the Offensive: Focus of War Shifts to Asian Theater
After Germany surrenders in 1944, the war focus shifts to the Pacific. The United States gain victories in Japan, surrounding islands, and in the Philippine Islands. The Special Division that negotiates the exchange of prisoners and civilians under ...
Taking the Offensive: U.S. Ships and Troops Circle Closer to Japan
The capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa moves U.S. troops closer to Tokyo. In desperation, the Japanese launch suicide kamikaze attacks. The firebombing of Tokyo and the anticipation of a final battle on the mainland prompts the Japanese government to e...
Taking the Offensive: Manhattan Project, The
Even before the U. S. is involved in World War II, Roosevelt warns that the Germans are considering developing an atomic bomb. Once these rumors are confirmed, the U.S. creates The Manhattan Project to research and develop the first atomic bomb.
America in a World At War: Holding off the Germans
The United States enters WWII in Europe through North Africa, delaying an earlier plan to enter through France. This discourages the Soviet Union as Stalin sees it as the United States and Britain wanting the Soviets to suffer more casualties. The N...
America in a World At War: Containing the Japanese
Despite massive mobilization, the war in 1942 is going badly on both fronts. One by one, Allied strongholds in the Pacific collapse under Japanese onslaught. With the Battle of Midway in June 1942, the United States finally begins to hold its own, a...