New Mexico in WWII Slides and Assignment

New Mexico in WWII

U.S.S. New Mexico

WWII Battleship

New Mexico 9-12 Benchmark 1A

-Analyze how people and events of New Mexico have influenced United States and world history since statehood-

 AXIS POWERS

   WWII began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 

Axis Powers

1. Germany - Adolph Hitler in Power

2. Italy- Benito Mussolini in Power

3.  Japan- Emperor Hirohito in Power

ALLIED POWERS

  Allied Powers

1.   Russia (Soviet Union)

2.   Great Britain (England)

3.   France

4.  United States (December, 1941)

22 additional countries not named, but on the side of the allied forces

War fought on 3 fronts

 Pacific theater – Mainly U.S., but support from Great Britain

3 fronts of WWII

Eastern European front- Primarily fought by Soviet forces, with help from Allied forces

**More Soviet citizens lost in war

**Germans considered Soviets “subhuman” like Jews.

3 Fronts of WWII

Western European Front – Fought around Mediterranean Sea and France’s borders.

  4 major air bases built in NM in 1941 and 1942

1. Kirtland Air Force Base – Albuquerque

2. Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis

3. Holloman Air Force Base near Alamogordo

4. Walker Air Force Base south of Roswell

The Manhattan Project

Building the Atomic Bomb

-Military leader - General Leslie Groves

-Scientific leader - J. Robert Oppenheimer

Los Alamos

Oppenheiner Recommended Los Alamos

                                                                                   *  Took over the Los Alamos Ranch School

1.     Bought school

2.     Closed it

3.     Created a base for scientists

4.     5000 men, women and children in Los Alamos by 1945.

Los Alamos

To house 5000 people, they had to add to the ranch school! Los Alamos eventually became a small village.

TOP SECRET

No address (P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe)

                                                                                   This is the address EVERYONE received their mail

1.   Mail screened in and out

2.  This is the address children were born at

3.  Required a government pass to enter or leave

                                                                                  Residents called it “Lost Almost”

Scientists on the Project

a.     Enrico Fermi

b.     Edward Teller

c.     William Parsons

d.     Leo Sczilard

e.     Hans Bethe

f.      Otto Frisch (Born in Austria – British citizen)

g.     Albert Einstein (did not work on the bomb until assembly)

Szilard and Einstein

 Leo Szilard was a Hungarian physicist that worked closely with Einstein to draft the Einstein Letter to President Roosevelt that prompted the president to establish the Manhattan Project. 

JUMBO

Jumbo was the code name for the 214-ton Thermos shaped steel and concrete container designed to hold the precious plutonium core of the Trinity device in case of a nuclear mis-fire.

The remains of Jumbo after the blast.

TRINITY SITE

 White Sands Missile Range

a.     Scientists divided on their creation

  “IT was beautiful”

 “What have we done?”

“Behold, I am death, destroyer of worlds.”

The Culmination of New Mexican Effort

Our 200th Coast Artillery fought in the Pacific

The Code Talkers helped us take Iwo Jima and then Tinian Island

The Manhattan Project bombs were created and taken to Tinian Island by ship.

The Enola Gay (bomber plane) would carry "Little Boy" to Hiroshima

Bombing Japan

Many of the scientists did not want to drop the bomb on Japan. They suggested we just demonstrate it for them and not risk killing so many people.

President Truman chose to use the bombs.

Little Boy is loaded into the Enola Gay to head for Hiroshima.

 Two bombs for use against Japan

1. Little Boy – Uranium atom bomb (fission)

 Dropped on Hiroshima, Japan (8/9/45 @ 8:16 a.m.)

2. Fat Man – Plutonium atom bomb (Fission)  Dropped on Nagasaki, Japan 8/12/45 @ 11.01 a.m.)

VJ-Day

(Victory over Japan)

 Japan surrenders on 8/15/45

VE Day (Victory in Europe) 5/8/45

World War II is over!

Our soldiers can come home!

​VJ Day: Victory over Japan

​Victory over Japan happens on August 15, 1945. This is three months after the surrender f Germany, and after the united Stated dropped 2 nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Multiple Choice

Why was rationing important during WWII?

• We had no food supply because of the Dust Bowl.

• Food was too expensive to purchase during war time.

• We were still in the Gret Depression, so there was no food.

• We needed to save food to send to feed our military men and women.

Multiple Choice

What was the difference between the bombs "Fat Man" and "Little Boy?"

• One was atomic and one was hydrogen

• One was plutonium and the other uranium.

• One was hydrogen and one was plutonium

• One was hydrogen and the other was uranium.

Multiple Choice

Who originally suggested to President Roosevelt that the United States should begin working on the atomic bomb?

• Oppenheimer and Frisch

• Szilard and Frisch

• Einstein and Szilard

• Einstein and Frisch

Multiple Choice

Which countries made up the Axis Powers?

• Germany, Italy and Japan

• Soviet Union, Germany and Japan

• Germany, Italy and The Soviet Union

• Germany, Soviet Union, and Italy

Multiple Choice

Who were the big 4 of the Allied Forces?

• The U.S., Britain, Italy and Spain

• The U.S., Britain, France, and Spain

• The U.S., France, Soviet Union, and Spain

• The U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, and France

Multiple Choice

Why was life hard for the people working at Los Alamos during the war?

• They were fighting battles everyday.

• They were limited on travel and communication.

• They hated building the bomb.

Open Ended

List 5 ways that New Mexico contributed to the war effort. (Use complete sentences!)

Open Ended

How did scientists feel about the atomic bomb, did they want to use it, and what did President Truman eventually decide to do?

Multiple Choice

Why was Los Alamos chosen for the site of the Manhattan Project?

• Oppenheimer recommended it because it was isolated and he had a ranch there.

• Einstein recommended it because he had a hard time finding it, and figured others would too.

• General Leslie Groves had trained there, and decided it would be easy to keep secret.

• President Truman recommended it because his family was from there and he knew it was hidden in the mountains.

Multiple Choice

What were the names of the two bombs developed for use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

• Jumbo and Little Boy

• Fat Man and Jumbo

• Fat Man and Little Boy

Multiple Choice

Who was the lead scientist on the Manhattan Project?

• Otto Frisch

• Leo Szilard

• Albert Einstein

• J. Robert Oppenheimer

Multiple Choice

On which front did the United States see the most fighting in WWII?

• The Pacific Front

• The Western Front

• The Eastern Front

Poll

If you had been a scientist on the Manhattan Project, would you have recommended that we not use the bomb, or would you have chosen to use the bomb after seeing its power at the Trinity Site?

• Don't use the bomb.

• Use the bomb.

• I am not sure what I would do.

Multiple Choice

Curse Of The Chupacabra

Why wouldn't the police investigate Jose's death?

• They didn't care for Americans, especially tourists.

• They said that since he was in the selva, he was probably a narcotraficante.

• They didn't like Rosa, and wanted her to go home.

Multiple Choice

Who did Rosa hear calling to her at the lago while she was investigating Jose's murder?

• El Jefe

• Jose

• Malorio

• The Chupacabra