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The Liberation of Europe

The Liberation of Europe. By mid-1944, the Allies were ready to invade German-occupied Europe. Why? They had already occupied most of Italy. They had almost complete air superiority over Germany. The Russians were pushing the Germans back in Eastern Europe. How?

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The Liberation of Europe

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  1. The Liberation of Europe

  2. By mid-1944, the Allies were ready to invade German-occupied Europe. • Why? • They had already occupied most of Italy. • They had almost complete air superiority over Germany. • The Russians were pushing the Germans back in Eastern Europe.

  3. How? • The Allies used their naval and aerial superiority to bombard German positions near the coast of Northern France (Normandy). • After months of bombing, the Allies invaded on June 6, 1944. • This day is known as D-Day, and is the first day of Operation Overlord.

  4. German Reaction: • The Germans did not react effectively. • Their meteorologists had concluded that the weather was too rough for the Allies to try an invasion on that day. • The details of the attack had been kept secret. • The invasion was too massive and too well supported from the sea and the air to be defeated.

  5. Canada’s Role: • Canada was a major contributor to Operation Overlord. • On D-Day, we contributed 14,000 troops, 100 ships, and 36 bomber squadrons. • Canadian troops were responsible for attacking 1 of the 5 beaches that were attacked on D-Day. • At Juno Beach, we captured more land than any of the Allied attacks that day.

  6. After D-Day: • Within a month, over 1 million Allied soldiers were in France, along with over 200,000 vehicles. • D-Day and the battles that followed led to the final defeat of the Germans in Europe. • These were also the bloodiest battles in the war against Germany, resulting in over 20,000 Canadian casualties.

  7. Effect on Germany: • The success of Operation Overlord was a disaster for the Germans. Why? • They had no more soldiers or resources to call upon, while the Allies seemed to have an endless supply. • At this point, the defeat of the Germans became a matter of time. • Hitler began a desperate search for miracle weapons that might help him win the war.

  8. The end of the war in Europe: • In May of 1944, the Allies, including the Canadians, liberated Holland. • The Germans continued to fight hard. Progress was slow as the Allies were fighting house to house. • In April of 1945, the Allies and the Soviets finally met in Germany. • On April 30, 1945, as Russian troops approached his hideout in Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. • The last German troops surrendered on May 8, 1945 (VE Day), and the war in Europe was over!

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