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The rise of axis power was not permanent. Having won
for four years, Japan, Germany and Italy finally had
their taste of defeat. The allies defeated Germany and
Italy before Japan. When Japan lost, it marked the end of
world war II.
The surrender
of Germany and Italy
At battle of El Alamein, the British troops drove the
Germans out of Egypt at the end of 1942. The allies in
Tunisia later surrounded the Germans who fled leftwards.
| By mid 1942, the
Germans had occupied parts of Russia and is
preparing to invade Stalingard. The Russians
managed to drive them out by early 1943. |
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After the first
allied victory, the allied attacked Italy. With
Mussolini overthrown the Italy surrounded
willingly to the allied in June 1944.
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After a few days of Italy’s defeat, the
British’s allied troops invaded France. The
British succeeded in reconquering France. |
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In march 1945, the allied and the Russians
attacked Germany from east and west. Trapped in
between, Hitler realized that he had lost the war
and committed suicide. Germany surrender on 7 may
1945. |
THE SURRENDER
OF JAPAN
After the Japanese had conquered Southeast Asia in
early 1942, they began to invade the Pacific Islands near
Australia. Let’s have a look at the events leading
to Japan’s downfall.
| CORAL SEA:
The Japanese had their first taste of defeat
here. The American and Japanese planes took off
from aircraft carriers and fought in the air.
Both parties suffered heavy losses. The Americans
succeeded in stopping the Japanese from taking
more islands. |
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MIDWAY
ISLAND: In June 1942, the Japanese
decided to attack the Midway Island. The
American, having worked out the Japanese secret
radio messages, were aware of the plan. They
prepared Americans then destroyed many Japanese
planes and ships, leaving the Japanese greatly
handicapped.
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NEW GUINEA: By August 1942, the Japanese
had conquered half of the island of New Guinea.
They aimed to use Port Moresby as a base to
attack the main American base in South Pacific,
Australia. However, the American and Australian
troops managed to cut into the Japanese invasion. |
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THE PHILIPPINES: In 1942, the Americans
were driven out of the Philippines. The American
commander in the Philippines, General Douglas
MacArthur, vowed to make a return to the country.
In 1944, the Americans had a great sea battle
with Japan and successfully drove out the
Japanese. |
JAPANESE SUICIDE PILOTS
Japanese
suicide pilots
To get closer to Japan, the Americans decided to
capture two Japanese islands, Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
However, the Japanese retaliated by sending suicide
pilots (kamikazes) that crashed bomb-laden planes into
the Allied ships. Despite this, the American forces
succeeded in capturing the two islands in mid 1945.
THE ATOMIC BOMBS
The first atomic
bomb dropped at Hiroshima
By early 1945, the Americans began to drop bombs in
Japan. When Japan refused to surrender, the Americans
dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and
Nagasaki three days later. The effects of the deadly,
newly-invented atomic bombs were destructive. Japan
finally surrendered after these two attacks.
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