Standard 7.

3 Essential to Know

USHC-7.3 Explain how controversies among the Big Three Allied leaders over war strategies led to post-
war conflict between the United States and the USSR, including delays in the opening of the second front in
Europe, the participation of the Soviet Union in the war in the Pacific, and the dropping of atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It is essential for the students to know:

Circumstances and decisions made during World War II laid the foundation for the postwar tension between
the Soviet Union and United States known as the Cold War. During World War II, the United States and the
Soviet Union were allies only because both were enemies of Germany. Tensions between the United
States and the Soviet Union were based on the fundamental differences in their economic and political
systems.

1. The United States and the Soviet Union were fundamentally different. Why were they allies in WWII?

United States - Economic system

Political system

Soviet Union - Economic system

Political system

At the end of World War I, the United States landed troops in Russia in support of the forces that opposed
the Russian Revolution which increased the Soviet distrust of Americans. American fear of communism was
reflected in the Red Scare of the 1920s (USHC 6.2). American distrust of the Soviet Union grew when Stalin
signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler. However, when Hitler violated that pact and invaded the Soviet
Union, the Soviets became recipients of Lend Lease and an American ally in the war against Germany. An
understanding of the timeline of major events during World War II is vital to comprehending the war itself
and the tension that continued to grow between the wartime allies (USHC 7.5).

2. Why were the Soviets distrustful of the United States at the end of WWI?

3. What was the non-aggression pact Stalin signed with Hitler?

4. When did the Soviets become an American ally in the war against Germany?

The Big Three allied leaders, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the United
States, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union, met throughout the war to plan strategy and later to make
post-war plans. The Soviet Union, taking the brunt of German aggression in 1941-1944 on the eastern front,
desperately wanted the other Allies to open a second ground front that would directly attack Germany and
provide the Soviet Union with some relief. The British were more anxious for United States bombers to help
the Royal Air Force (RAF) take out the German Air Force that was devastating Britain [Battle of Britain].
The delay in opening a second front that would take pressure off the ground forces in the Soviet Union was
partly based on the decision to produce bombers rather than the landing craft needed to launch a full scale
invasion of Europe.

5. Why did the Soviet Union want the allies to open up a second front and launch a full scale invasion of
Europe between1941-1944?
6. Research the Battle of Stalingrad
Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?
Why is this battle considered a turning point battle?

The invasion of North Africa [Operation Torch] was launched to free the Mediterranean Sea from German
control and protect the oil fields of the Middle East. This military operation took some pressure off the Soviet
Union but it was their fierce resistance to the Germans at Stalingrad that turned the tide on the eastern
front.

7. Research Operation Torch

Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?

American and British landings in Italy [Italian Campaign] opened another front in Europe but again delayed
a direct attack on Germany. Italy surrendered but German forces continued the bitter fight on the Italian
peninsula and tied down Allied forces there. The invasion of Normandy on D-Day [Operation Overlord]
finally provided the long-awaited western front.

8. Research Operation Overlord

Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?
What is the significance of this battle?

Germany was now engaged on three fronts in Europe [Italy, France, and the Soviet Union] and had to divert
military resources to the western front. The Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive and the
beginning of the end for the Nazis. American, British, and French forces marched towards Berlin from the
west as the Soviets moved towards Berlin from the east, laying the foundation for the post-war division of
Berlin and Germany and Cold War tensions over the Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe.

9. Research Battle of the Bulge

Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?
What is the significance of this battle?

In the Pacific theater, the United States pursued a strategy of island-hopping. The goal was to get close
enough to the Japanese home islands to launch air attacks in preparation for an invasion of the Japanese
home islands.

10. What was the goal of island-hopping?

The unexpected naval victory at Midway stopped the Japanese advance and put Japan on the defensive.

11. Research the naval victory at Midway.

Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?
Why is this battle considered a turning point battle?
Battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa demonstrated the tenacity of Japanese soldiers and the cost in American
lives that any invasion of the Japanese home islands would entail. Consequently, the United States was
determined to have the participation of the Soviet Union in any invasion of Japan and gained that
agreement at a Big Three conference [Yalta].

12. Research the battle of Iwo Jima

Include a picture
When did it happen? Who were the opponents? Who won? What were the causalities on each side?
Why is the significance of this battle?

As promised, soon after the war in Europe ended, the Soviet Union marched into Korea. President
Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was designed to prevent the
necessity for landing and fighting on the Japanese home islands and consequently prevent large numbers
of American casualties. As a result, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally before any Allied troops
landed on their home islands and the end of the war found the United States in Japan providing economic
aid and military supervision to rebuild and democratize Japan.

13. Research Hiroshima

Include a picture
When did it happen? How many people were killed?

14. Research Nagasaki

Include a picture
When did it happen? How many people were killed?

15. Who was the President that ordered the dropping of the bombs? Why?

Consequently, with the advent of the Cold War, post-war U.S. occupation and assistance also created a
strong new ally in modern Japan. The end of the war left the Soviets occupying northern Korea, laying the
foundation for the Korean War in the 1950s.The use of the atomic bomb also had the effect of increasing
the distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union since the technology was not shared either
before the bombs were dropped or after the end of the war. Instead, the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki started an arms race with the Soviet Union.

Advent means start

16. What is the Cold War?

17. With the start of the Cold War who became a new ally of the United States?

18. Who occupied North Korea?

19. How did the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki increase the distrust between the
United States and the Soviet Union?