Transcript NO YES The Battle of the Bulge

Bell Quiz (pgs. 576 – 577)
1. Hitler used 8 Panzer tank divisions in the
Battle of the Bulge. There were 75 tanks per
division. How many tanks were used in all?
2. What did the Germans do to the 120
captured American soldiers at Malmedy?
3. How did Hitler’s life end on April 30, 1945?
4. What country captured Berlin in April 1945?
5. Why was FDR not able to see the end of
WWII?
Answers
1. 600
2. Massacred the captured GI’s.
3. Hitler shot himself in the head.
4. Soviet Union
5. FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945
during his 4th term in office.
Objectives:
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Identify the events in the war in
Europe that led to the liberation of
Europe and the defeat of Nazi
Germany.
The Allies Gain Ground
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Seven days after D-day the allies held an
80-mile strip of France.
Within a month 1,000,000 allied troops
had landed in France.
On July 25, 1944, General Omar Bradley
launched a massive air and land
bombardment against the Germans.
Bradley’s attack provided a gap in the
German line of defense.
General George Patton
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General George Patton
and the Third Army took
advantage of his gap.
On August 23, Patton and
the Third Army reached
the Seine River south of
Paris.
August 25, Patton
liberated Paris.
• Paris had been under
German occupation for four
years.
The Allies
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By September 1944,
the allies had also
freed Belgium and
Luxembourg.
This news led to the
election FDR for a
fourth term.
The Battle of the Bulge
NO
YES
The Battle of the Bulge: 12/44-1/45
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October 1944, Americans captured their first
German town, Aachen.
Hitler launched an offensive in a desperate
attempt to recapture the Belgian port of Antwerp.
Hitler ordered his troops to break through Allied
lines and take Antwerp.
Hitler hoped this move would disrupt the enemy’s
supply lines and demoralize the Allies.
December 16, 8 German tank divisions broke
through American defenses.
This assault created an 80 mile long 60 mile deep
“bulge” into allied territory.
This last-ditch offensive was named the Battle of
the Bulge (Ardennes Offensive).
German SS troops captured and killed 120
American soldiers (Malmedy Massacre) .
Results of The Battle
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The Sixth Panzer Army, was
to lead the attack and to
capture Antwerp.
The Fifth Panzer Army was to
attack the centre of the
American forces, capture
the strategic road and rail
centre of St Vith and then
drive on to Brussels.
The Seventh Army was to
attack in the southern flank,
as designated by Hitler,
and to create a buffer zone
to prevent American
reinforcements from
attacking the Fifth Panzer
Army.
The Fifteenth Army was to be
held in reserve to counter
any Allied attack when they
took place.
The Battle of the Bulge
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The Allies were surprised by the attack. They had received
little intelligence that such an attack would take place.
Before the attack started, English speaking German soldiers
dressed in American uniforms went behind the lines of the
Allies and caused havoc by spreading misinformation,
changing road signs and cutting telephone lines. Those who
were caught were shot after a court martial.
The weather was also in Hitler’s favor. Low cloud and fog
meant that the superior air force of the Allies could not be
used – especially the tank-busting Typhoons of the RAF or
Mustang fighters from the USAAF which would have been
used against the German tanks. Though the weather was
typical for the Ardennes in winter, the ground was hard
enough for military vehicles to cross and this suited the
armored attack Hitler envisaged.
The Battle of the Bulge
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After a month of fighting the Germans
had been pushed back.
The Germans lost 120,000 troops, 600
tanks, 1,600 planes in the Battle of the
Bulge.
The German offensive had failed: the
German Air Force had been destroyed;
and the German Army in the West was
being pushed back.
The Americans lost 81,000 men of the
600,000 used in the battle.
Liberation of Concentration Camps
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As the Allied troops pressed eastward, the
Soviet army pushed westward across Poland.
Soviet troops were the first to come across
the Nazi death camps.
July 1944, the Soviets liberated a camp near
Majdanek Poland.
Within the camp, the Soviets found thousands
of starving prisoners and the world’s largest
crematorium, where SS troops were
attempting to burn all the evidence of their
crimes.
American soldiers later liberated more Nazi
death camps in Germany.
Unconditional Surrender
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April 25, 1945, the
Soviet army captured
Berlin.
April 30, 1945 Hitler, in
his underground
headquarters, shot
himself while his wife
Eva Braun swallowed
poison.
May 7, 1945 General
Eisenhower accepted the
unconditional surrender
of the Third Reich.
May 8 1945, the Allies
celebrated V-E Day
(Victory in Europe).
Roosevelt’s Death
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President Roosevelt did
not live to see V-E Day.
April 12, 1945
Roosevelt had a stroke
and died.
Vice President Harry S.
Truman became the
nations 33rd president.