You are in charge of Allied strategy for defeating the Axis

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Objective:What strategies did the Allies use to

win World War II in Europe?

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You are in charge of Allied strategy for defeating the Axis. What plan of

attack will you use to succeed?

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By 1942, after having conquered much of Europe, the Axis powers

appeared unstoppable.

France had fallen.

The USSR was under attack.

Britain was weakened.

North Africa was under Axis control.

Poland was gone.

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But things were about to go very poorly for the Axis.

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1942At the Casablanca conference,

Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on a “grand strategy” for defeating Hitler.

• push Axis out of Africa

• conquer Italy

• invade Northern Europe by 1943

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The Nazi Afrika Corps under Erwin Rommel had swept across North Africa, capturing important

oil fields and strategic bases. His target: Egypt and the Suez Canal.

Could anyone stop the “Desert Fox”?

1942

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Germany’s first African defeat came at El Alamein, a desert battle

that put the Germans on the defensive.

General “Monty” Montgomery, hero of El Alamein British troops

1942

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1942Far to the west, the United States landed its first army of the war in

Algeria. The Axis powers were caught in a pincer.

US ArmyBritish Army

The struggle for North Africa ended after hard fighting in Tunisia. The Allies won.

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1943Using North Africa as a base, the Allies next

attacked what Winston Churchill called “The Soft Underbelly of Europe” – Fascist Italy.

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Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front Hitler’s early successes against the Soviets had

evaporated…the blitzkrieg was stalled.

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Top 5 Underlying Reasons Why Germany Lost the War on the

Eastern Front:

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Reason 1: German Supply Lines FailedAs Germany drove deeper into Russia, its

supply lines grew long and vulnerable to partisan [guerilla] attacks. Shortages in fuel, blankets and ammunition took a major toll.

partisans

GermanyRussia

(supply line)

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Reason 2: Russia is very cold.

Germans freeze in their trenches

Gasoline freezes in tanks

Heavy snow slows the advance of soldiers

Communications break down

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Reason 3:Russia had superior manpower.

USSR

170 million people

Germany

79 million people

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Reason 4: Russians had “home advantage”

We will defend our homes and families to the

death!

We know every rock and tree to

hide behind!

If we surrender, the

Nazis will murder us anyway!

Stalin puts machine guns behind us to keep us from running away!

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Reason 5:German over-confidence

The Russian degenerates are poorly

trained and led. My Aryan supermen will

quickly defeat them just as we defeated the

French. *

*paraphrase

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I sure wish Hitler had thought to provide us with winter coats!

I’m cold.

Ja. But Hitler promises we will

be in Moscow before the first

snow falls!

German soldiers on the Eastern Front (A hypothetical conversation)

I sure wish I had bullets for my rifle!

The ammunition trucks have been

blown up by partisans and a new one won’t arrive from

Berlin for 3 weeks!

Ja. But Hitler assures us that our Bolshevik enemies are weak. We can attack

them with our stale bread!

Waah!I wanna go home!

You will have to walk 2000 miles in

the snow. Our gasoline is frozen

and the horses have all died of exposure!

Shh! I think I hear tanks approaching! We must

prepare to sacrifice ourselves for the glory of

the Fatherland. Is your bread loaded?

They are an unstoppable horde!

We keep killing them and there are

always more!

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Hitler loses his best troops at Stalingrad and other major battles.

Soon, his army is on the defensive in Russia. Then they are on the run.

With 2,000,000 casualties, Stalingrad is the largest battle in human history.

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As the Soviets begin their counterattack against Nazi

Germany in the East, the Western Allies are steadily “climbing the

boot” of Italy.

Monte Cassino

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1944After heavy fighting, Italy was eventually

“liberated” by the Allies in late 1944. Germany had lost its southern ally.

After liberationBefore liberation

Mussolini

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The day after Rome was liberated, the Allies launched an invasion of

France…

“D-Day” June 6, 1944

23D-Day + 1 (June 7, 1944)

Against enormous odds, a “beachhead” was established that allowed the Allied armies to enter France.

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With British and American armies in France, the Germans were once

again in a two front war in Europe.

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As battles raged and armies clashed, the Americans and British began massive bombing campaigns of German cities and factories.

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In one of the most controversial decisions of the war, American and British planes attacked non-

military targets in Dresden, Germany -- payback for German assaults on Britain during the Blitz.

(Do two wrongs make a right?)

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After fighting across France, the first major barrier to the Allies was the “Sigfried Line” – a defensive

barrier in Germany erected opposite the French Maginot Line.

How would YOU try to get through?

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In order to “go around” the Siegfried Line...and cross the Rhine River…the Allies attempted a quick attack at the

bridges at Arnhem.

Failed assault on the Arnhem Bridge in “Operatiton Market Garden”

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These attacks fail and the Allies get bogged down by the end of 1944.

Their hope of quick victory was dashed. They hunkered down & prepared to wait through winter

before resuming the attack.

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Christmas 1944: in a desperate move, Hitler shifted 500,000 soldiers from East to West for one final offensive…The Battle of the Bulge

His goal: split the Allied army in half and destroy it. Then turn all of his forces to the East and finish Russia.

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This surprise German counterattack, also known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” was the largest battle the US fought in World War II. (89,000

casualties)

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By the time the Battle of the Bulge was over, the Nazi armies in the West were

exhausted. Within a few short months, the Allies were across the Rhine river:

Germany was wide open.

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Soon they and the Soviets would begin liberating concentration

camps and discovering just how bad the Holocaust had been.

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The final battle in the war took place in Berlin. By the time it was

over…

Soviets raising the hammer and sickle over Berlin

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600,000 more people would be dead.

Reichstag

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Hitler would commit suicide.

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Hitler’s “Third Reich” – meant to last 1000 years -- was gone.

U.S. and Soviet troops shaking hands in central Germany, 1945

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V-E day was declared May 8, 1945

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