WWII: The US War in Europe. War on Two Fronts After Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The USA now had to fight a war.

WWII: The US War in Europe

War on Two Fronts

• After Pearl Harbor, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

• The USA now had to fight a war on two fronts…– Develop a “Europe

First” policy with Great Britain.

War in North Africa

• November 1942 - Allied troops land in Morocco and begin pushing east.

• Under US General Dwight Eisenhower.

• Why North Africa?– Gain Experience– Help British

• 240,000 Italian and German troops surrender. – Rest flee to Italy.

Meanwhile: War in the USSR• Frustrated by the stalemate in the

Battle of Britain, Hitler turned his attention to the East.– June 22, 1941: Germany

launches a Blitzkrieg on Russia.• German troops advance east.• Soviet army retreats to interior of

USSR.– Stalin orders troops to destroy

supplies the Nazis may find useful.

– German advance is stalled between July 1942 to January 1943 at Stalingrad.

• 90,000 German surrender• 330,000 Germans dead• Over 1 million Soviets dead

– Stalin pleads with his new allies (US, British) to open a new front in Europe…

The Invasion of Italy• “The soft underbelly of

Europe” – Churchill.– Why?

• July to September 1943 - Allies invade Sicily followed by Italy.– As Allied forces invade, Italy

declares war on Germany!• Mussolini is removed and

arrested by King Victor Emmanuel.

– Germans smuggle him to N. Italy as they retreat.

• Progress stalls north of Rome - Allies will not take all of Italy until April, 1945.

– Mussolini killed, 1945

Where to launch an invasion?

1943: The Soviets are still pleading with the USA and Britain to open up a second front against “Fortress Europe.” The Allies want to launch an attack, but where?

Operation Overlord• Late 1943 – June, 1944

– Allies built up forces in southern England in preparation of a massive invasion.

• Utilize carpet bombing– Scattering a large number of

bombs over a large area.

– Germans fortified the French coastline with machine-gun nests, barbed-wire fences, land and water mines, and underwater obstructions.

Where should an invasion be launched from?

The Invasion of mainland Europe• June 6th, 1944 – “D-Day”

– Operation Overlord– Establish foothold in

mainland Europe.• Midnight:

– Warships depart from Southern England

» 1,000 RAF aircraft begin pounding German forces on Normandy coast.

» 23,000 British and American “airborne” parachute behind enemy lines.

• Dawn: – 150,000 Allied troops

come ashore.– Intense fighting ensues.

Paris Liberated!• Within a week, 2

million Allied forces were in Normandy.– Allied forces quickly

moved south-east.

• Paris was liberated, August 25th, 1944.

Operation Market Garden• September 1944 –

British plan to end the war by Christmas.– Drop paratroopers

in Netherlands, capture bridges and move army quickly ahead.

– Fails miserably.

Battle of the Bulge• December 1944

- Last-ditch effort by Germany to turn back the Allied advance.– Invade sections

of Allied controlled Belgium.

– Largest battle of the War.

• 100,000 German loses

• 80,000 Allied loses

The Invasion of Germany and Battle of Berlin

• Spring 1945 – – Allied forces

invade Germany– Soviet Union

takes Berlin.• Hitler commits

suicide, April 1945.

V-E Day: May 8th, 1945