Transcript 12. Retaking Europex

THE EUROPEAN
THEATER
RETAKING EUROPE
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
• Britain and the Allies struggled to control the
Atlantic
• German U-boat circled like sharks!
• Came out of occupied France to attack
• Allied merchant ships were accompanied by
convoys - led by allied warships
BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC
• Groups of u-boats called Wolf packs - carried out
attacks at night (very successful)
• Sank nearly 175 ships in June of 1942 alone!
• solution: allies used long-range sub-hunting aircraft
• success rate of U-boats declined
NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
• Starting in 1940 British armies were successful in AXIS
occupied territories of North Africa
• Germany sent Erwin Rommel
• “Desert Fox” - due to his shrewd tactics
Operation Torch
• November 1942 under Montgomery - Allied troops
won El Alamein and sent the Axis retreating west
NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
• November 1942 - more Allied troops (including
Americas) land in Morocco and Algeria
• Under command of Dwight D. Eisenhower
NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
Response from Hitler:
• Sent 20,000 troops from Italy to
reinforce army in Tunisia
• Inexperienced American lost
defending the Kasserine Pass
• Learned their lesson and cornered
240,000 AXIS troops
• Casablanca conference used by
Churchill and Roosevelt to map out
their plans for the rest of the war
• accept nothing less than unconditional
surrender from Italy Germany and Japan
KASSERINE PASS
INVASION OF ITALY
• Now that the Allies had control of North Africa
• Gave them access to Italy
• George S. Patton -seventh Infantry
• Invaded Sicily - Operation Husky
• Gave them access to Europe!
• Italians lost faith in Mussolini
• King Victor Emmanuel II had him arrested
• Germans free him and help him escape to N. Italy
• Allies threated to take Italy
• New government surrenders
INVASION OF ITALY
• Allies still face opposition from German army
• Blocking roadways, destroying bridges as it retreated
• Sneak attack at Anzio beach
• Come up behind the German troops
• Not organized in time
• Germans trap troops - attack for 4 months
• Unite with Anzio troops and N. Italy surrenders in
April 1945
• Mussolini shot and killed trying to flee across the border
WAR IN THE SOVIET UNION
• Remember the
Non-Aggression
Pact between Hitler
and Stalin?!
• Silly Stalin!
• Hitler actually writes
in Mein Kampf
calling for a
conquest of the
Soviet Union (this
was even before
their pact), to give
German people
living space
WAR IN THE SOVIET UNION
• Soviet soldiers lined up to defend against the
Germans blitzkrieg from the Luftwaffe
• Unhappy with Stalin, some Russians welcomed
Germans as liberators
• Hitler introduced forced labor and began executing
civilians
• Stalin asked America for help through the LendLease program
• We agreed
THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD
• Winter arrived in October
• Russians will use the weather to their advantage
• Germans target oil fields in the South
• The Red army decided to make a stand at
Stalingrad to protect their industrial center
THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD
• Germans start a campaign of firebombs for two
months
• Nearly destroy the city
• Soviets launch a counterattack and surround the
freezing Germans making 90,000 troops surrender
• Over 2 million casualties
TURNING POINT
• Stalingrad proved to be a turning point in the war in
Eastern Europe
• Soviets fight to regain lost land to Germans
• Germany’s unstoppable offensive was over
• Germany is now fighting on both fronts (again)
• Keeps Germans busy! (weakens them)
EXIT
• One Question
• 3 Main idea or major take-aways
from today’s lesson