Transcript Major Battles

Major Battles
Campaigns of the European
Theater
Origins of North Africa
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Fought over Suez Canal
Began in Oct. 1935
Italy attacked Ethiopia
Britain and Italy fought on
border of Libya and Egypt
Britain
• Britain had over
100,000 troops
• More organized and
better trained
• In 2 months,
advanced 500 miles,
10 Italian divisions,
and 130,000 prisoner
• Battle of Britain
reached climax,
Britain reinforced in
North Africa
U.S. Joins In
• Started on Nov.
• Eisenhower became
8th,1942
Supreme Commander
of all Allied forces in
• Dwight D. Eisenhower
Mediterranean west
was in charge and
of Tripoli
George S. Patton
controlled the West
force
• Objectives were to
capture Tunis and
port/airfield Bizerte
Major Battles
• Operation Torch was
U.S. involvement to
attack North Africa
• Operation Brevity was
to gain Halfaya Pass
on Egypt’s border
• Operation Battleaxe
was to pass through
Halfaya Pass to
Sollum
• November 8, the
largest amphibious
operation in history to
that time
• Operation Lightfoot
was the Battle at El
Alamien
Point of North Africa
• Control of Vichy: Morocco, Algeria, and
Tunisia provide bases were Allies could do
air operations to protect Mediterranean
shipping and strategic bombing in Europe
• Invasion of North Africa would give combat
experience for U.S troops against a
military inferior to the German Wehrmacht.
Gen. Erwin Rommel with the 15th
Panzer Division between Tobruk and
Sidi Omar. Sdf. Zwilling, Libya
"General Bernard L. Montgomery
watches his tanks move up." North
Africa, November 1942
"From Coast Guard-manned "sea-horse"
landing craft, American troops leap forward
to storm a North African beach during final
amphibious maneuvers.
Battle of Stalingrad
• Turning point on
Eastern Front
• Started on Aug. 24
1942
• 1.1 million causalities,
485,000 dead (Just
Soviet Union)
Germany
• Point of Stalingrad
was to control the
river by gunfire and to
destroy the city's
arms factories
• Harsh terrain made it
hard to transport
people and tanks
• Cold winters
• Hitler refused to give
up
• Unnecessary from a
military point of view
Soviet Union
• Defensive battle
• Turning point of the
war
• Encirlcled the
Germans to trap them
and forced them to
surrender
Outcome
• 294,000 men trapped at Stalingrad
• 91,000 became prisoners and less than
5,000 survived and weren’t released until
1955
• Axis lost over 500,000 men and Soviets
lost 485,000 and 1.1 million causalities
• Turning point in the war
German prisoners of war
Bibliography
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/wwtw
o_map_n_africa/index_embed.shtml
• http://www.usatwar.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=21&entryid=96
1013&searchtext=north+africa&type=simple&option=all
• http://www.usatwar.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=21&entryid=75
9120&searchtext=north+africa&type=simple&option=all
• http://www.usatwar.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=21&entryid=75
8957&searchtext=stalingrad&type=simple&option=all