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iii)In 1944 Pres election Repubs nominated Thomas Dewey; Dems renominated Roosevelt but w/ new, less liberal VP candidate Harry
Truman
iv)Despite deteriorating health Roosevelt was popularly elected; Dems
maintained control of both Houses of Congress
3)The Defeat of the Axis
a)The Liberation of France
i)By 1944 devastating Allied strategic bombing against German industry
at Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin reduced production + complicated
transport; German Luftwaffe forced to retreat to bases w/in Germany
itself, weakened it
ii)After 2 year buildup in England Supreme Allied Commander Gen
Dwight Eisenhower ordered invasion across English Channel into
Normandy, France on D-Day (June 6, 1944); Allies drove Germans
from the coast, by September forced them to retreat from France,
Belgium
iii)In December Germany counter-attacked during Battle of the Bulge in
the Ardennes Forest, but soon repelled; with Soviet advances on
Eastern front, Allies began moving into Germany across Rhine
iv)April 30 Hitler commits suicide; May 8, 1945 full surrender + V-E
Day
b)The Pacific Offensive
i)Thru 1944 American navy crippling Japanese shipping and economy
in Pacific; on mainland Asia Japan attacking thru Chinese interior
trying to cutoff Gen Stilwells Burma Road for supplies
ii)June 1944 Americans captured Mariana Islands, in September Battle
of Leyte Gulf Japanese navy decimated by US sinking of its aircraft
carriers; in next few months Japanese fought desperate battles of
resistance in Feb at Iwo Jima, in June at Okinawa (used Kamikaze
suicide bombers throughout)
iii)Many feared bloody island battles would ensue w/ invasion of
Japanese mainland, but by 1945 Japanese weakened by firebombing
in Tokyo, shelling of industrial centers; moderates in govt trying to
sue peace against will of military leaders wanting to continue fight
c)The Manhattan Project
i)After news in 1939 that Nazis pursuing atomic bomb, US and +GB
began race to develop one before them; work based on discovery of