America and WWII: The War for E urope and North Africa

1. America and WWII:The War for Europe and North Africa

2. 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

3. 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?

4. Battle of the Atlantic • After Pearl Harbor Hitler ordered submarine raids on America’s East Coast • 1st four months  87 U.S. ships sunk • After 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

5. 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 Mountains • Capture 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

6. 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 surrendered • 239,000 German soldiers died • 1,250,000 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

7. 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

8. 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!

10. 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

11. The Italian Campaign • Worst battle was near Rome  “Bloody Anzio” • Lasted 4 months • 25,000 Allies died • 30,000 Axis soldiers died • 50,000 Italians partisan fighters assisted the Allies

12. 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

14. 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 troops • 4,000 landing craft • 600 warships • 11,000 planes • Largest land-air-sea operation in history

15. 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

16. 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”

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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)

21. 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…