Victory in Europe

1. Victory in Europe Chapter 27, Section 3

2. Review • U.S. first offensive in Europe started out rather cautiously. • What was this offensive called? • What was the plan? • Allies now going into the soft underbelly of Europe

3. Allied Attacks in the Mediterranean

4. Allied Attacks in the Mediterranean • Invasion of Italy • North Africa offered a gateway to Sicily • July 1943 – Allied troops subdued Sicily in a little over a month • Guided by George S. Patton • Italian king named new prime minister to replace Mussolini and ordered his arrested. • Germans took Mussolini – set up a base for him in northern Italy • January 1944 – Allies landed in south Rome at Anzio • Rome falls to U.S. and Britain • 1945 – Germans occupying Italy defeated; Mussolini captured and shot by Italian rebels • Question: Why was losing Italy an important defeat to the Axis powers?

5. Sea and Air Assaults • German U-boats continued to take a toll on allied ships, lives, and supplies • Battle of the Atlantic turned in the Allies favor because of refined sonar equipment. • Uses sound waves to detect underwater objects • Allies developed fast escort ships for convoys • Allies air bombed German U-boats and submarine yards • 1944 – Allies won Battle of the Atlantic

6. Creative Representation • After being cautious at the beginning of the war, the Allies were starting to turn the war in Europe to their favor. • Draw an image or icon that represents this problem and how it worked in America • Surround your image with a word cloud including at least 5 nouns, 5 verbs, and 5 adjectives • Discuss and develop with your partner • You have 6 minutes

7. Operation Overlord • Allied invasion of German-occupied France • U.S. Army chief of staff and key allied strategist George C. Marshall led the planning • General Dwight D. Eisenhower led the invasion • Dummies and false clues installed to convince Germans the invasion would be near Calais on the English Channel • Instead, Allies landed farther north in Normandy on D-Day • June 6, 1944

8. Operation Overlord • General Omar Bradley led troops that landed at Normandy • Planes dropped 23,000 airborne troops • Bombed roads, bridges, and German troop concentrations

9. Operation Overlord • Germans fortified Normandy beaches with concrete bunkers, tank traps, and mines • Allied campaign of disinformation and distraction had done its job • Hitler refused to send reinforcements to Normandy because he believed the main invasion would be elsewhere

10. Operation Overlord • Success: • 20 miles into France by early July • Liberated Paris on August 25, 1944 • Early September – 2 million Allied troops landed in western Europe

11. Video • Answer these questions while watching the video: • How did the men prepare for D-Day? • How did their generals attempt to keep morale up, knowing their men would most likely die in battle? Cite specific examples. • Write down specific strategic information pertaining to D-Day that you saw in the video. • How did Saving Private Ryan depict the chaos that ensued on D-Day?

12. The Holocaust • Nazi Germany’s systematic slaughter of European Jews, Gypsies, Poles, mentally disabled, and religious and political prisoners. • Made camps specifically for genocide • Deliberate annihilation of an entire people • Nazis called the extermination program the “final solution of the Jewish problem”

13. Defeating Germany • Hitler refused to give up.

14. Battle of the Bulge • September 1944 – Allies crossed German border • Germans launch final counterattack • Thickly wooded Ardennes region of Belgium and northern France • Pushed to create a dangerous bulge in the Allied lines • 200,000 Germans vs. 80,000 U.S. troops • Allied generals rushed in reinforcements and pushed Germans back

15. Video • Answer these questions while watching the video: • What is Germany’s strategy at the Battle of the Bulge? • How does the situation for the Americans get worse? • Why were Americans refreshed by the victory in the Ardennes?

16. The Yalta Conference • February 1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met to plan for postwar peace

17. The Yalta Conference • Stalin pledged to declare war on Japan three months after Germany’s surrender • Agreed to divide and occupy Germany after the war and outlined plans for a new international peace organization

18. Presidency • Urgency of the war effort convinced President Roosevelt to run for an unprecedented fourth term • Missouri Senator, Harry S. Truman as his running mate • Roosevelt won the election

19. The Race to Berlin • Early months of 1945 – Allied bombers continued to blast German cities • Leipzig and Berlin • March 1945 – Allied troops crossed the Rhine River from the west and drove into the heart of Germany • Soviet troops occupied much of eastern Europe • April 1945 – Allied advance halted at the Elbe River

20. End of the Fuhrer • April 30, 1945 – Hitler committed suicide in his bunker deep under the ruins of Berlin. • May 7, 1945 – Germany surrendered unconditionally • May 8, 1945 – known as V-E (Victory in Europe) Day • Marked the formal end of a brutal war that held Europe in its grip for more than five years

21. Video • Answer these questions while watching the video: • How did the Allies celebrate their victory over Germany? • What was President Truman’s message to the American people?