Download The War for Europe and North Africa

The War for Europe and North
Africa
Guided Notes
Eisenhower and Patton
• Generals George S. Patton (1885-1945)
and Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) at
Patton's headquarters in Tunisia, March
16, 1943. The Allied victory in Africa was
hastened (hurried) by the November 1942
invasion in Morocco and Algeria of a force
of 400,000 American and British troops
under Eisenhower's command.
Joseph Goebbels
• Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) is known chiefly
for his role as Nazi minister of propaganda.
Goebbels had been named Nazi Gauleiter
(district party leader) of Berlin in 1926, a post he
held through World War II. A better orator than
Hitler himself, Goebbels realized and exploited
to the fullest the potential of the mass media to
influence the public. In order to instill hatred of
the selected enemy and total dedication to the
Führer and Fatherland, he carefully orchestrated
the use of art, posters, mass rallies, and movies.
He committed suicide with his family in 1945 as
the Russians were invading Berlin.
Heinrich Himmler
• Heinrich Himmler and his SS men were in
charge of the administration of the camps.
Invasion of Poland
• September 1, 1939
• Blitzkrieg – lightening war (fast tanks and
powerful aircraft)
• This invasion forced Great Britain and
France to declare war on Germany since
they had an alliance with Poland
Feb. 1943 – Battle of Stalingrad
• Germans attack Soviet Union
– Need to wait for warm weather
– Wanted Stalingrad b/c a major industrial center on a
river
• Germans end up controlling 9/10 of city – but
winter sets in
– Soviets close around Stalingrad and trap Germans
• Marked a turning point in the war – now Soviet
Army began moving westward towards Germany
May 1943 – Operation Torch
• Allied invasion of Axis-controlled North
Africa
• Afrika Corps (German troops sent to
Africa) surrenders in May, 1943
• Position allows Allies to attack Axis
powers from the south
Mid-1943 - Victory in the Battle of
the Atlantic
• German goal in the Atlantic – to keep supplies
from reaching Great Britain
– Cut lifeline = Britain starved into submission
• Unprotected American ships easy targets at first
• Allies responded by organizing ships into
convoys
• Convoys were equipped with sonars and
airplanes with radars
• U.S. launches shipbuilding program that cranks
out ships to outnumber sinkings
June 1944 – D-Day
• June 6, 1944
• Allied invasion of Normandy, France
• After seven days of fighting, Allies held an
80-mile strip of France
August 1944 –Liberation of France
• Allied invasion successful – France is
liberated after four years of occupation
• By September 1944, the Allies have freed
France, Belgium, and Luxemburg
– Germany was being contained
Battle of the Bulge
• BATTLE FACTS
– The coldest, snowiest weather “in memory” in the Ardennes
Forest on the German/Belgium border.
– Over a million men, 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans
(more than fought at Gettysburg) and 55,000 British.
– 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured.
– 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and
19,000 killed.
– 1,400 British casualties - 200 killed.
– 800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft.
– 106th Infantry Division, average age of 22 years, suffered 564
killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing in action at
the end of the offensive. Most of these casualties occurred
within the first three days of battle, when two of the division’s
three regiments was forced to surrender.
– In it's entirety, the “Battle of the Bulge,” was the worst battles- in
terms of losses - to the American Forces in WWII.
Battle of the Bulge
• Nazis could only retreat
• Nazis had lost troops and supplies that
couldn’t be replaced easily
Spring 1945 – End of Italian
Campaign
• Sicily is captured in 1943 and Mussolini is forced
to resign (Italians glad the war is over…so they
think)
• Hitler continued fighting and tried to stop Allies in
Italy rather than fight on German soil
• Effort to free Italy doesn’t succeed until 1945
when Germany was close to collapse
May 1945 – V-E Day
• Victory in Europe Day
– A week after Hitler’s suicide, General Eisenhower
accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany
• Unconditional meant the enemies would have to accept
whatever terms of peace the Allies dictated
– On May 8, 1945, Allies celebrate V-E Day
• the war in Europe was finally over
– President Roosevelt does not get to see V-E day – he
dies in April
• Truman becomes the 33rd President