America and WWII:The War for Europe

and North Africa

U.S. & Britain Join Forces

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and FDR meet on December 22, 1941 to plan the war

#1 Allied Priority: The Defeat of Germany

FDR always considered Hitler #1 enemy of the U.S.

Stalin (now an Allied Power) was desperate for help

Only after Germany was defeated could the U.S. look

to Britain and the Soviet Union for help in defeating

Japan

U.S. & Britain Join Forces

Also decided they would only accept the UNCONDITIONAL surrender of the Axis Powers

What would be the positives and

negatives to this decision?

Battle of the AtlanticAfter Pearl Harbor Hitler ordered submarine raids on

America’s East Coast 1st four months 87 U.S. ships sunkAfter 7 months 681 Allied ships sunk

Allies used the convoy system to protect the ships used destroyers with sonar to detect U-boats

With sonar the Allies destroyed U-boats faster than Germany could replace them

U.S. went on a crash ship-building program 140 ships/mo.

By mid-1943 the Allies were winning the war in the Atlantic

Battle of Stalingrad

Summer 1943 Allies began to see some victories

German advance had stalled short of Leningrad and Moscow

Hitler changed tactics:1. Seize rich oil fields in the Caucasus MountainsCapture Stalingrad, a major industrial city

A brutal 3 month battle ensued with the Germans advancing house-by-house in brutal hand combat

End of Sept. 1943 9/10th of Stalingrad was German controlled

Battle of Stalingrad

November 1943, Soviets launched a massive counterattack

Fighting continued into the winter German soldiers froze/starved on the Russian frozen wasteland

Feb. 2, 1943 the Germans surrendered239,000 German soldiers died1,250,000 Soviet soldiers and civilians died

Despite the death toll, this was a major turning point in the war in the east Soviets pushed farther and father west toward Germany

The North African Front

U.S. and Britain opened a second front during the Battle of Stalingrad

Launched Operation Torch in Axis controlled N. Africa

This was led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower

The North African Front

November 1942, 107,000 troops landed in North Africa

With the British also in pursuit, the Allies sped eastward chasing Hitler’s Afrika Korps led by General Erwin Rommel

After months of heavy fighting the last of the Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943

Next step: Italy!

The Italian Campaign

Italy was considered the “soft underbelly of the Axis”

Allies quickly captured Sicily (summer 1943)

Italians were tired of war July 25, 1943 King Victor Emmanuel III strips Benito Mussolini of power Mussolini arrested Italians celebrated

Hitler then seizes control of Italy and reinstalls Mussolini as its leader

After 18 months of fighting the Allies are able to drive the Germans from Italy

The Italian Campaign

Worst battle was near Rome “Bloody Anzio”

Lasted 4 months25,000 Allies

died30,000 Axis

soldiers died50,000 Italians

partisan fighters assisted the Allies

Allies Liberate Europe

General Eisenhower organized Operation Overlord planned invasion of Hitler’s fortress in Europe

Allies had been planning for over two years and building an invasion force of over 3 million troops to cross the English Channel

D-Day: June 6, 1944

Three divisions parachuted down behind German enemy lines during the night

British, American, and Canadian troops fought their way ashore at five points along a 60-mile stretch of beach

D-Day numbers:156,000 troops4,000 landing craft600 warships11,000 planes

Largest land-air-sea operation in history

D-Day: June 6, 1944

German fortresses bombed and shelled by air and sea bombardment Allies still faced brutal retaliation from the German forces, Omaha Beach was the worst

Allies were able to hold the beachhead

Within a month they had landed: 1,000,000 troops, 567,000 tons of supplies, 170,000

vehicles

July 25th: General Omar Bradley launched an air attack at St.-Lo General Patton advances with troops

August 23rd they reach the Seine River, two days later Paris was liberated

Battle of the Bulge

By September 1944 France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and most of the Netherlands had been liberated

October 1944 Americans captured the first German town Aachen

Surprise counterattack by the Germans broke through the 80 miles of Allied troops

The resulting dent from the desperate last-ditch offensive was nicknamed the “Battle of the Bulge”

Battle of the Bulge

The battle lasted for a month (Dec. 1944 – Jan. 1945)

The Germans were pushed back and little seemed to have changed

However, the Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and assault guns, and 1,600 planes

These weapons and men could not be replaced

Germans could do little except retreat

Liberation of the Death Camps

Allies were pushing eastward towards Germany, Soviets were pushing westward across Poland

Soviet troops were the first to come across the death camps in July 1944

Majdanek was the first killing center they came across

Unconditional Surrender

By April 1945, the Soviet Army had stormed Berlin

Soldiers deserted rapidly but were shot or hanged on sight

Hitler was in his underground Berlin bunker in his final written address he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it

Committed suicide by shooting himself his body and his wife’s were carried outside, soaked in gasoline, and burned (Hitler’s orders)

Unconditional Surrender

One week later General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich

May 8, 1945 the Allies celebrated V-E Day – Victory in Europe Day

The first part of the war was finally over…