Transcript World War II in Europe

The War In Europe
Mr. White
US History 2
Invasion of France
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To defeat Germany and
win the war, the Allies
would have to invade
Europe
Allies planned to invade
and liberate France,
then push on Germany
Invasion was gradually
pushed back to June of
1944
The Atlantic Wall
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Hitler had been preparing for
the coming Allied invasion
Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall” had
been built – a system of
concrete bunkers, gun
emplacements, machine
gun nests, etc., to pin the
invasion forces on the
beaches
Allies decided to avoid the
strongest point and attack at
Normandy, where it was
weakest
Three Phases of D-Day
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Phase One – Paratroopers and glider
infantry would be dropped behind beaches to
secure bridges
Phase Two – Bombers would bomb
Germans and the beaches
Phase Three – Allied troops would land on
the beaches and take them, creating a
beachhead
Phase One: Airborne Landings
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Paratroopers and glider
infantry would drop
behind enemy lines and
seize bridges
Troops would defend
the bridges to keep
German tanks from
crossing them
Would drop at night to
avoid detection
Phase Two: Bombings from the Air
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American planes would
drop bombs on
Germans and the
beaches
Destroy German
fortifications and troops
Bombs on the beach
would create large
craters for soldiers to
take cover in
Phase Three: Beach Landings
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Allied troops would
come from ships and
land on five different
beaches (two
American, three British)
Troops would take the
beaches, then move
inland to relieve the
paratroopers holding
the bridges
Results of D-Day
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Phase One – Airborne troops had landed
disorganized and scattered, but managed to
hold bridges
Phase Two – Planes had largely missed their
targets; no craters on the beaches, Germans
largely unhurt
Phase Three – Allied beach landings
successful, but did not move as far inland as
plans had called for
Breaking Out
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After D-Day, Allies were bogged down in
hedgerows – thick banks of hedges that kept
them from moving forward, and made it easy
for Germans to ambush
Gradually, Allies broke out of hedgerows and
pushed on to the borders of Germany
British commanders had a daring plan to end
the war by the end of 1944
Operation Market Garden
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British wanted to make
largest drop ever of
airborne troops
Wanted to seize a
series of bridges, hold
the bridges, and have
tanks race across them
into Germany
Plan had to go perfectly
to work
Market Garden Results
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Many British troops, at the farthest bridge at
Arnhem, were captured by German tank
units
Casualties were high, and few objectives
were accomplished
Widely regarded as a failure, although not a
total one
End of 1944
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At the beginning of 1944, many American
troops and commanders thought the war
would be over by Christmas
Failure at Market Garden would make the
Americans and British realize that the war
was going to be much longer
Germans were going to fight to the end
Situation at the end of 1944
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France had been
completely liberated
Allies were right up
to the border of
Germany
Allies thought that
Germany army was
about to collapse
German army still
had fight left in it
Hitler’s Last Attack
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German army would use last
remaining troops, tanks,
fuel, and other resources to
mount one last attack
German army would drive
through a weak spot in the
American lines and drive all
the way to Antwerp
Germans would capture
Antwerp and trap many
Allies
Hoped Americans would
have to agree to peace
The Attack
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Germans attacked
on December 16th,
1944
Americans holding
the line were taken
totally by surprise
Germans advanced
quickly
Desperate Times
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Fog and clouds
prevented the
Americans from
bringing in air support
to destroy German
tanks
Many American units,
like the 101st airborne
(including Easy
Company) were
surrounded
These units were kept
supplied by air and kept
fighting
Rallying
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American units
gradually rallied and
slowed the German
advance
When asked to
surrender, General
McAuliffe of the 101st
Airborne responded to
the Germans, “Nuts.”
German attack
eventually stalled and
failed to achieve its
objectives
FDR Dies
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April 12, 1945 – FDR
dies of a sudden stroke
Had been president for
12 years
Had led the United
States through the
Depression and most of
the war
Americans would have
to find a way to go on
without him
Liberating the Death Camps
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As Americans pushed on,
they began to come
across Hitler’s death
camps, where Jews and
other “sub-humans” were
being exterminated
Americans had known
about what Hitler was
doing, but many were
stunned at the brutality
and the extent of it
This experience would
change many American’s
lives
Freeing the Prisoners
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German troops had
killed as many
prisoners as they could
on their way out
Many prisoners were
too weak to stand or
walk
Many American
soldiers started giving
food to the prisoners,
but this shock to their
systems ended up
killing many of them
Germany’s Final Collapse
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During the spring of
1945, the German
army begins
surrendering en
masse.
At the river Elbe,
American and Soviet
troops linked up
Germany’s defeat
was almost complete
Hitler’s End
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Hitler forbade any of his
people, soldiers or
civilians, to surrender
With the Soviets closing
in on Berlin, Hitler
committed suicide on
April 30, 1945, hiding in
his bunker
Germany and the
German Army soon
surrendered
War in Europe Over!
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War in Europe ended with the surrender of
Germany
Europe would now be split into two
America now shifted its entire focus to the
Pacific, and the Japanese
Many Americans expected a long fight in the
Pacific