Transcript War in Africa and Italy

War in Africa and Italy
Mr. White’s US History
2
Big Questions
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Main Idea: In order to weaken the Nazi military’s
hold on Europe, the United States first fought the
Germans in North Africa and Italy.
After we complete this section, you should be
able to:
–
–
Describe early setbacks and lessons learned by the
United States military in World War II
Evaluate the importance of these lessons for the
United States military
Allied War Plans
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Roosevelt and Churchill
met to discuss the aims
for the war
Both agreed that
Germany and Italy were
the greater threat, and
had to be dealt with first
Both men would also
later agree to only
accept unconditional
surrender from
Germany and Italy
Battle of the Atlantic
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After Germany declared
war on the United
States, Hitler ordered
submarine attacks on
the United States coast
Hitler wanted to cut off
the flow of supplies
from the US to Britain
United States started
blacking out its cities to
make it harder on
German submarines
Battle of the Atlantic 2
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Americans and British again
began using the convoy
system that had been used
in World War I
US also began to step up its
shipbuilding program to
have more ships
Gradually, the Allies
defeated the German subs,
and sub attacks gradually
ended
The Eastern Front
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Hitler invades Soviet Union
in 1942, breaking his nonaggression agreement with
Stalin
After huge initial successes,
the Germans are stopped by
the Soviets
The Soviets held out in three
major Soviet cities –
Leningrad, Moscow, and
Stalingrad
Stalingrad
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Stalingrad would be the
turning point for the Soviet
Union
German army takes over
90% of the city
However, winter sets in, and
the Soviets counter-attacked
Starving and freezing, over
91,000 German troops are
surrounded and surrender
Of these 91,000 prisoners of
war, only 5,000 will survive
Soviet work camps until the
end of the war
Trial By Fire: The United States in the
Africa Campaign
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1942 – North Africa is
controlled by Axis powers to
control the Mediterranean
Allies decide to invade
Africa and take it back from
the Germans before
anything else
This will be the first combat
that any of the American
troops have seen
United States in Africa
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US and Britain would face one of Germany’s best generals,
Erwin Rommel
US lands troops in Morocco, and landings are initially easy
However, Americans were still totally unprepared for was
coming
This would be the trial by fire of many of the Americans
Attack and Repulse
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Rommel uses his
experienced Afrika Korps to
attack and push back the
Americans and British
US and British forces
panicked and ran very far at
first
However, Allied forces were
able to rally and counterattack
In several months, Africa is
lost to the Germans
Allies will use Africa as a
springboard to launch an
invasion of Italy
Differences of Opinion
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Stalin, under heavy attack
from the German army,
wanted Churchill and
Roosevelt to open up a
second front and attack
Germany – take some heat
off him
United States, after Africa,
wanted to invade France
and go straight to Germany
Churchill wanted to invade
Italy instead
Allies decided that the
invasion of Italy would be
next
Invasion of Italy
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Island of Sicily invaded first
– good success, taken in 38
days
Allies next invaded mainland
Italy (the Boot)
Mussolini was overthrown
by the Italian people (but
would come back later)
Germans defended tough at
Monte Cassino and Anzio
Italy would be hard fighting;
wouldn’t fall to Allies until
1945, with Germany
The Atlantic Wall
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After failing to take England,
Hitler had ordered the
construction of the Atlantic
Wall, a system of defenses
to stop the coming Allied
invasion of France
System of fortifications;
concrete artillery
emplacements, bunkers,
machine gun nests, beach
obstacles, mines, etc.
The Allies prepared for the
invasion of Europe, and they
knew the whole world would
be watching
Big Questions


Main Idea: In order to weaken the Nazi military’s
hold on Europe, the United States first fought the
Germans in North Africa and Italy.
After we complete this section, you should be
able to:
–
–
Describe early setbacks and lessons learned by the
United States military in World War II
Evaluate the importance of these lessons for the
United States military