Chapter 15, Section 3

Victory in Europeand

the Pacific

1942 and 1943 , Allies turned back the Axis advances.

1944 and 1945, Allies attack Germany from West and East; US advance across the Pacific to the doorstep of Japan

Americans create a new form of weapon that changes both warfare and global politics

Planning Germany’s DefeatThroughout 1943, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin over when a second front would be started in France

Up to that point Soviet troops had done most of the fighting in Europe.

Stalin wanted Britain and US to carry more of the military burden; hoping to force Germany to divide its troops.

Planning Germany’s Defeat

Roosevelt sympathized with Stalin’s position

Churchill hesitated and delayed- Remembered slaughter of British troops on Western Front during WWI; did not want it repeated- argued German U-boat presence great in English Channel- felt Allies needed more land craft, equipment, and better-trained soldiers

Planning Germany’s DefeatNovember, 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill travel to Teheran to meet Stalin

Churchill still hesitant about cross-channel invasion

Roosevelt sides with Stalin

6 months after conference, plan to open second front becomes reality-code name “Operation Overlord”

D-Day Invasion of Normandy

Overlord involved the most experienced of officers

General Dwight David Eisenhower; Supreme Allied Commander

General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the ground forces

General Omar Bradley, led the US First Army

Eisenhower Plans the InvasionOverlord involved landing:

- 21 American divisions- 26 British, Canadian and Polish divisions- all this on a 50 mile stretch of beaches in

Normandy-comprised of more than 4,400 ships and landing crafts

Plan involved 5 beaches in Normandy:1. Utah2. Omaha3. Gold4. Juno5. Sword

Plus an elaborate deception

Eisenhower Plans the Invasion

Allies create fictional army under General George Patton

Set up fake headquarters in southeast England across the English Channel from Calais; had wood and cardboard tanks, useless ships, detectable radio traffic

Deception eventually works; Hitler orders top tank division to Calais

Heroes Storm the Beaches

Heroes Storm the BeachesJune 6, 1944 – D-Day; Allies hit Germany in force.

More than 11,000 planes prepare the way, attemptingTo destroy German communication and transportationNetworks and soften beach defenses

At 6:30 am; after rough crossing of Channel, first troops land.

On four beaches, landings lightly opposed; casualties relatively low

Omaha, one of the two beaches assigned to US, Germans offer stiff opposition

On cliffs overlooking beach, Germans dug trenches, built small concrete pillbox structures from which heavy artillery could be fired

Heroes Storm the BeachesBeaches covered with wide variety of deadly guns

Beaches were heavily mined

When first American soldiers landed, met with rainstorm of bullets, shells and death

Some crafts dumped occupants too far from beach; soldiers weighted down by heavy packs, drowned.

Heroes Storm the BeachesOne writer called D-Day the “Longest Day”

By end of day, Allies gained toehold in France

Within a month, more than million Allied troops had landed in Normandy.

Liberation of Europe

After D-DAY, Germans faced two-fronted war:

-Soviets soldiers were advancing steadily from the East; Germans forced out of: a. Latvia b. Romania c. Slovakia d. Hungary

Germans lost the lands it once dominated and natural resources it once plundered

Allies AdvanceAllies on move from the West

August 1944, Paris liberated

Hitler ordered his generals to destroy the French capital-Generals disobeyed Hitler; left “City of Lights” as beautiful as ever.-Parisians celebrated-Allied troops kept advancing

Allies AdvanceA mood of hopelessness falls over Germany

Rommel and other leading generals plot to overthrow Hitler-July 20, 1944, an officer planted a bomb at Hitler’s Headquarters-Explosion killed or wounded 20 people-Hitler escapes-Rommel takes poison to escape being put on trial-Claiming “fate” on his side; Hitler refuses to surrender to advancing troops.

Germany CounterattacksDecember 1944, Hitler ordered counterattack-Massed near the Ardennes-Scenario: English speaking German soldiers in US uniforms to cut telephone lines, change road signs, spread confusion * German tanks then take over communication and transportation hubs

Counterattack known as “Battle of the Bulge”-Almost succeeded-Germans caught Allies by surprise-Created bulge in American line-Captured several key towns

Snowy, cloudy skies prevented Allies from using air support

Germany CounterattacksAt Belgium town of Bastogne; American forces hold despite frostbite and brutal German assaults.

December 23, 1944, skies clear, Allied bombers attack German positions, reinforcements arrive, Allies back on the offensive

Germany Counterattacks

“Battle of the Bulge” was a desperate attempt by Germans to drive wedge between American and British forces

Instead, crippled Germany by using its reserves and demoralizing its troops

German troops were pushed back into Germany and never went on the offensive again.

Allies Push to VictoryJanuary 1945, Soviet Army reaches Oder River outside Berlin

Allies advanced northward in Italy

April 1945, Mussolini tried to flee to Switzerland-was captured and executed

American and British troops cross the Rhine River

In April, a US army reached the Elbe River, 50 miles West of Berlin

Allied forces now in position for all-out assault against Hitler’s capital

Allies Push to VictoryHitler now a physical wreck-Shaken by tremors-Paranoid from drugs-Kept alive by mad dreams of a final victory

Hitler give orders that no one followed and planned campaigns no one would ever fight

Finally, on April 30, 1945, Hitler and a few of his closest associates commit suicide.

Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich” had lasted only a dozen years.

Allies Push to VictoryMay 7, 1945, in a little French schoolhouse, that served as Eisenhower’s headquarters, Germany surrenders

Americans celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

FDR did not see this day; died a few weeks earlier.

Now up to new president, Harry Truman, to lead the country to final victory

Advancing in the Pacific