Download Chapter 17 Section 2 The War for Europe and North Africa

Chapter 17 Section 2
The War for Europe and
North Africa
Main Idea:
Allied forces, led by the United
States and Great Britain, battled
Axis powers for control of
Europe and North Africa.
17-1 HW review
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Page 5 – “EXPLAIN WHAT MADE EACH
EVENT A CRITICAL MOMENT OR
TURNING POINT IN THE WAR.”
The US and GB Join Forces
 Churchill
and Roosevelt met at the
White House on December 22, 1941
 Allied Plan- To wage war against
Germany and Italy first then focus on
the Pacific and Japan
 Battle of the Atlantic- Hitler ordered
submarine attacks on Allied ships
 Convoy system and radar helped
Allied victory
Battle of Stalingrad Q#1
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Winter 1943
Soviet Union prevented Germany from taking
over their country – so Marked turning point in the war because Hitler's
army was stuck in the harsh winter weather and
unable to recover. 230,000 German soldiers
died. Germany at one point had controlled the
majority of the city but the Soviets pulled back
and counterattacked & were the victors!
Soviet Union moved westward toward Germany
Soviets lost 1,100,000 soldiers…more than the
U.S had in the entire war
North African Front
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Operation Torch – Q#2
General Dwight D. Eisenhower led Allied
troops through Axis controlled North Africa
Gave Allies a place to launch attack on Italy –
within 6 months of heavy fighting the Axis
powers were defeated. The victory was a
major morale booster for Allied troops.
Battle of the Atlantic
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3 - Following Pearl Harbor the Germans
wanted to block supplies from crossing the Atlantic
& with their subs (“U-boats”) they did very well
initially; in the first 4 months of the “Battle of the
Atlantic” Germans sank 87 ships & over the next 7
months that number rose to 681. The Allies used a
WW1 tactic – convoys – (groups of ships travelling
together with a sonar equipped destroyer leading the
pack) & both the US & GB launched crash
shipbuilding programs that together turned the tide
by 1943.
D-DAY June 6, 1944
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Q# 4 & 6 - 3 million British, American and Canadian
Troops dramatic plan to invade France & free Western
Europe from the Germans.
Under Eisenhower's direction they planned to attack at
Normandy; Code named ‘Operation Overlord’
General George Patton advanced his troops to Paris
Allies freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg
It was the largest land-sea-air operation in history!
German retaliation was brutal – especially at Omaha
Beach – but despite heavy casualties the Allies held the
beach & within a month had landed a million troops,
567,000 tons of supplies and 170,000 vehicles in France.
All was used to create a gap in the German line of
defense & allowed Gen. Patton to advance.
SPR - Art of the Scene
SPR - 9 mins
Liberation of Death Camps Q #5
As Allied troops pressed into Germany
 Soviet troops moved through Poland &
were the 1st to come across death
camps. At Majdanek they found 1000
prisoners who were barely alive; the
world’s largest crematorium & over
800000 shoes…leading them to
conclude that the concentration camps
were really “murder camps”.
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Battle of the Bulge Q #8
Decisive month long battle that would be
Germany’s last offensive move. While the
Nazi’s captured or wounded 80,000 G.I.s ,
- more than in any battle in U.S. history,
their own losses were so monumental
(120,000 troops, 600 tanks, 1,600 planes)
that they could not recover so this Battle
led directly to Nazi retreat.
 Battle of the Bulge facts
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Unconditional Surrender
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Mussolini was stripped of power by the Italy’s
King as Italy fell to the Allies in 1943; Mussolini
was killed in 1945 (p. 573) – Germany would
continue to try to regain Italy until their own
surrender years later Q# 9
Hitler and his wife killed themselves in Berlin in
April of 1945 rather than witnessing the
“disgrace of capitulation (surrender).”
Eisenhower accepted unconditional surrender
called V-E day (Victory in Europe Day) May 8,
1945 Q# 10 HOWEVER -Roosevelt did not see the victory he died of a stroke just
weeks earlier…leaving his VP Harry Truman as the new
President (hw would see WW2 to its end as the Pacific
campaign unfolded next – 17-3).