Turning Points of WWII Major Events and Battles that Turn the Tide in Favor of the Allies.
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Transcript of Turning Points of WWII Major Events and Battles that Turn the Tide in Favor of the Allies.
Background•War going badly for Allies
▫American fleet destroyed▫Allied Asian territories being invaded by Japan Hong Kong, Malay Peninsula
▫Rommel controlling North Africa▫Soviets doing poorly vs. Germany
Early Air and Sea
Allied (esp. British) German
•Supplies by sea from American Lend-Lease Act
•114 ships sunk by 1939
•American naval fleet decimated by Pearl Harbor attack
•U-Boats (submarines) threaten supply lines
•Air ▫Attack suppliers▫Battle of Britain
Battle of the Atlantic
•Allies battle Germans for control of Atlantic Ocean – supply lines, troop movements, etc.
•May 1941 – German Bismark sent into battle▫May 23 – British navy finds Bismark and
others in Denmark Strait British open fire – British navy badly damaged, Bismark gets away
▫May 26 – Bismark seen off French coast
Battle of the Atlantic•Took 6 torpedo hits to sink Bismark•Ends German sea dominance•Will find ways to protect against U-boats
Early Air Attacks•Battle of Britain – Aug 1940 – Luftwaffe (German air force) begin bombing airfield and plane factories; air battles with RAF; night bombings of London; keeps Germany from land invasion of England
•Allied offenses in Germany – 1941 – aimed at factories, railroads, dockyards, cities/town▫To destroy war industry and weaken morale
Stalingrad
• July 1942 – Soviets retreating, Germans closing in on the city of Stalingrad▫Highly industrialized
(need economically)▫Named for Stalin (need
for morale/pride)▫Stalin STILL wants
Allies to open a western front to take pressure off of USSR/east – Churchill refuses in Aug 1942
Stalingrad• Sept – Soviet
counterattack, cut German supply lines▫Hitler refuses to
allow retreat▫Umm…..winter??
• Feb 1943 – German surrender of troops▫Germany: 100,000
dead, 80,000 captured, equipment seized
HUGE blow to the German army
The War in Africa
REASONSAxis Dominance Vichy Control Threat to
Egypt“Soft Underbelly” Access to Italy
North Africa• Jan 1942 – Allies struggling against Erwin
Rommel▫ Aka “Desert Fox”
• Spring – Rommel pushes British 2/3 way back to Egypt (out of Libya – part of Vichy France)
• May – continuing to battle and push British further east
North Africa• July 1942 – British
Gen. Bernard Montgomery stops German advances at El Alamein
• October – Brit counterattack = Germans forced back into Libya▫British follow ▫ January 1943 –
British capture Tripoli (capital)
North Africa•1942 – Allies land in Morocco and Algeria
to fight Rommel▫Both part of Vichy France▫Plan: trap Rommel by closing in from both
East (British out of Egypt) and West (US/Brit) “Pincer” strategy
▫Meet strong resistance from Vichy•Nov 194 – Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower gets Admiral Francois Darlan (Vichy) to sign armistice
North Africa•Results of Armistice
▫Ends Vichy resistance ▫Charles de Gaulle brings soldiers from Free
France to join allies▫Allows Allies to begin “closing their pincers”
•Rommel sees that the end is near…▫Flies to Berlin to tell Hitler that situation is
hopeless▫Hitler disagrees – bans Rommel from
returning to Africa•May 1943 - New German commander
surrenders
Invasion of Italy
•January 1943 – Casablanca Conference▫Allied leaders
discuss next move – invade Sicily to gain access to mainland Italy
Invasion of Italy
• July 1943 – air and sea attack on Sicily led by Eisenhower▫ Initially
meet little resistance – fighting intensifies as Germans/ Italians escape into Italy
•Beginning of the End of MussoliniJuly 25, 1943 – King Victor Emmanuel III fires and arrests MussoliniNew PM dissolves fascist party
SEPT 3, 1943 – SURRENDERS TO ALLIES
Secretly.
Invasion of Italy•Sept 3 1943 – Allies land on Italian mainland
▫Surrender is announced•Sept 5 - Germany occupies Rome and
Northern Italy▫Rescue Mussolini and put him in charge of
North•1943-early 1944 – Allies fight up the Italian
Peninsula▫Difficulty penetrating Monte Cassino –
needed for road to Rome Heavy artillery and 5 months needed to remove
Germans from mountaintop monestary• June 4, 1944 – Allies enter Rome
Pacific War
•Japan controls most of Southeast Asia▫Kill civilians, steal property = resistance
•Gains made by Allies▫May 1942 – Battle of the Coral Sea = Allied
victory▫June 1942 – Battle of Midway = MASSIVE
air and naval battle; ends Japanese naval dominance
Pacific War
•Allied Plan – “Leapfrogging” or “Island hopping”▫Begins with Guadalcanal
General Douglas MacArthur attacks Japanese on land while Admiral Chester Nimitz attacks from sea
6 month battle = Allied victory▫Series of island battles en route to Japan▫Capture islands or cut off their trade routes