Transcript The War for Europe and North Africa Ch 17-2

The War for Europe and North
Africa
Ch 17-2
The Battle of the Atlantic
• After Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered
submarine raids against ships along
America’s east coast.
• Hitler wanted to prevent food and war
supplies from reaching Great Britain.
• Hitler succeeded at first. However, ships
were later accompanied by groups of
ships and airplanes and the Americans
were able to destroy U-boats faster than
they can be built.
The Battle of Stalingrad
• Summer of 1942- the German army attack Stalingrad,
Soviet Union.
• Because the city was named after himself, Stalin
ordered to defend it no matter what the cost. Germans
conquered most of the city, house by house in hand to
hand combat.
• Once winter set in the Soviet army closed around the
city, trapping the Germans in and cutting off their
supplies.
• German troops starved, froze, and later surrendered.
• The Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers in
Stalingrad…that’s more than all American deaths during
the entire war.
The Italian Campaign
• Allies captured the island of Sicily (1943)
and the Italian government forced dictator
Benito Mussolini to resign.
• Mussolini was arrested while Italians
celebrated the end of the war.
• Hitler was determined to stop the Allies in
Italy rather than in Germany.
• Hitler defended Italy until the Allies took it
in 1945, right before Germany’s collapse.
Heroes in Combat
• Some of the most famous pilots that fought in
Italy were the all black 99th Pursuit Squadron
called the Tuskegee Airmen.
• Many Mexicans served in segregated units and
had a Regiment become one of the most
decorated of the war.
• Japanese Also served in Italy. Many were Nisei
(American citizens whose parents were from
Japan). The 100th battalion became the most
decorated in U.S. history.
D-Day
• Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike)- gathered a force of
nearly 3 million British, American, and
Canadians.
• Ike planned to attack Normandy in northern
France.
• He radioed messages that the Germans could
hear, stating that he was going to invade the
French port of Calais. Hitler ordered his men to
Calais.
• D-Day June 6, 1944- the largest land-sea-air
operation in army history.
• September 1944-Allies freed France, Belgium,
and Luxemburg.
• The victory allowed FDR to be reelected for a
fourth term.
• The key to the success of D-Day was the ability
to deliver so many men at the same time.
• 1,200 ships, 4,126 landing craft, 804 transport
ships, 10,000 planes, and 23,000 parachutists.
Battle of the Bulge
• October 1944, Americans captured their
first German town, Aachen.
• Americans had an 80 mile front and
German tanks drove 60 miles into Allied
territory creating a bulge in the lines.
• Germans lost 120,000 men, 600 tanks,
and 1,600 planes. From that point on
Nazis could do nothing but retreat.
Liberating Death Camps
• The Soviets were the first to reach the
Nazi death camps in Poland.
• When the Soviets entered they found
Nazis trying to cover up what they had
done, 1,000 starving prisoners, the worlds
largest crematorium, and a storehouse
containing 800,000 shoes.
Unconditional Surrender
• April 25, 1945-the Soviet army storms
Berlin and many Nazi soldiers retreated.
They were shot on the spot or hanged with
a placard on their chest reading “We
betrayed the Fuhrer.”
• April 12, 1945 FDR dies.
• April 29, Hitler marries, blames the Jews
for the war, and a day later he shot himself
while his wife drank poison.
• Hitler wrote out his last address to the
German people. He stated “I die with a
happy heart aware of the immeasurable
deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself
and my wife choose to die in order to
escape the disgrace of capitulation.”
• A week later Eisenhower accepted the
unconditional surrender of the Third Reich.
• On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E
Day-Victory in Europe Day. The war in
Europe was over.
Mussolini and his mistress