Retaking Europe

1. Retaking Europe Section 2

2. To secure victory in Europe, the Allies waged war in the Atlantic Ocean, North Africa, the Soviet Union, and Western Europe between 1941 and 1945.

3. Atlantic Charter • Meeting between Churchill and FDR • Both men felt that U.S would soon join Great Britain militarily as an ally in war. • Met to discuss the principles to guide them in the years ahead: • 1st – Allies seek no territorial gain • 3rd – They will respect the right of people to choose their own govt. • 8th – All countries of the world must come to the abandonment of the use of force

4. The Atlantic • The US entered the war in 1941, at a critical time for the allies. • The Germans' blitzkrieg had extended Nazi control across most of Europe. • Britain relied upon allied supplies from the U.S • German U – boats would wait and hunt these supply ships • To protect themselves better Allied ships formed convoys led by American and British warships. • Controlling the Atlantic would be vital for allied survival

5. Battle of the Atlantic • Allies develop sonar to spot u-boat “wolfpacks” (20 german u-boats). • Wolf packs U-boats still experience great success and sink over 175 ships in June 1942 alone

6. North Africa – August 1941 • Africa was the 1st step for the allies of recontrollingEurope • Hitler sends General Rommel “Desert Fox” to Northern Africa to help Italy defend against allied invasion • Rommels offense failed • German army retreated West

7. Morocco and Algeria • A few days later, Allied troops landed in the French territories of Morocco and Algeria on the northwest coast of North Africa. • A few days later, Americans land here under command of General Eisenhower • Pushed east as Britain pushes west towards Rommel’s army • Hitler sent 20,000 combat troops to reinformcerommels army. • 240,000 Axis troops surrender despite Hitler’s order to fight to the death • At this point Churchill and Rooselevelt agreed to accept nothing less than the unconditional surrender of Italy, Germany and Japan.

8. Invasion of Italy • Control of North Africa freed the allies to make the next move toward retaking Europe. • Decided to target Italy. • July 1943 under Gen. Patton the U.S invades the Island of Sicily, with British forces. • With the Italian mainland in jeopardy, Italians lost faith in Mussolini's leadership. • With Italy in jeopardy an official Fascist council voted to remove him from office, and King Victor Emmanuel III had him arrested. • Germans would free Mussolini and send him to Northern Italy

9. Italy cont. • Sept 1943 Allied troops threatened to overrun the south and take Rome. Italy’s new govt. surrenders • Italy declares war on Germany • Germans set up Mussolini as puppet leader of N. Italy

10. By November the allied advance had stalled in the face of stiffened German defense. • The town of Cassino, the key to the German defensive line, stood between the Allies and Rome. • After much struggle the allies break through in 1944 • 5 months of fighting and 10’s of thousands of allied deaths to take Rome

11. Mussolini • Germany surrenders Italy in April 1945 • Mussolini shot and killed by Italians

12. War in Soviet Union • As the Allies battled their way across North Africa and into Italy, an epic struggle unfolded in eastern Europe. • In Mein Kampf, Hitler had called for the conquest of the Soviet Union, to give the German people “living space.” • Hitler believed that Germany had to be self-sufficient, which meant that it needed its own sources of oil and food. • After losing the Battle of Britain Hitler would turn his armies to the east • In June 1941 3.6 million Axis troops cross the Soviet border and are met by 3 million Soviet soldiers • The Axis troops quickly gained control of Soviet territory

13. The Germans Advance, 1941–1942 • The attack began in the early morning hours of June 22, 1941. Nearly 3.6 million German and other Axis troops poured across the length of the Soviet border, from Finland in the north to Romania in the south. • The intensity and the brutality of the German attack took the Soviet defenders by surprise • Many Ukrainians and Lithuanians welcome the Germans as liberators • They would change their minds quickly as Germans began executing civilians and using forced labor camps

14. Battle of Stalingrad • By fall German armies advance 100’s of miles in Soviet Union • Sept. 1942 the Soviet Union decided to make its final stand in Stalingrad • House to house combat occurs and Germans take most of the city • However, Soviets launch a counterattack and surround the German troops within the city

15. Stalingrad cont. • Jan 31st 1943 90,000 German troops surrender • 330,000 Germans die at Stalingrad • 1,100,000 Soviets would die to save the city • The Battle of Stalingrad proved to be the turning point of the war in the east. • Germany's seemingly unstoppable offensive was over. • After their victory, Soviet forces began a long struggle to regain the territory lost to the Germans. • As the Red Army slowly forced the German invaders back, Stalin continued to push for the long-promised Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

16. Weird but true! • During WWII the Soviet Union trained dogs that were strapped with timed bombs to chase after German tanks. • 17 German tanks were destroyed this way!

17. Allied Air War • In order to invade Western Europe the Allies needed air power • Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) developed a technique called Carpet Bombing – scattered bombing of Germany by the allies -aimed at: • Factories, bridges, and railway lines • Typical raid was American during the day and British during the night • 100’s of B-17 would be escorted by fighters

18. Invasion of Western Europe (D-Day) • Stalin was not the only leader calling for an invasion of Western Europe. George Marshall, the top American general and FDR's Chief of Staff, voiced the same opinion. At every Allied strategy conference after the United States entered the war, he pushed for an attack on the German forces occupying France. • In late 1943, the British finally agreed to go along with Marshall's proposal. • D-Day • June 6th 1944 around 150,000 allied troops land in the Normandy coast • Supported by RAF bombers and war ships would take the beach at Normandy with over 2,000 casualties • By late July allied forces in France would be over 2,000,000

19. Liberating France • Once Allies establish a foothold in Normandy they burst out into the rest of France under General Patton in August 1944 • A French uprising then occurs in Paris w/ Allied help • Paris is officially liberated on August 25th 1944

20. The Battle of the Bulge • The Nazis fought desperately to defend their conquests. To the north, the Allied attack on the Netherlands faltered at the Rhine River. Meanwhile, Hitler reinforced the army with thousands of additional draftees, some as young as 15. • Germany launched a counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg. The German attack smashed into the U.S. First Army and pushed it back, forming a bulge in the Allied line. • Largest battle ever fought by U.S Army • Allies win battle – Nazi leaders recognize war is lost

21. The War Ends in Europe • March 1945 American forces advance into Germany from the west and Soviet troops advance in the east • Forces Germany to fight a battles on both fronts • Soviet troops arrive in Berlin in April 1945 and captured the German capital

22. Germany Surrenders • Hitler commits suicide in underground bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945 • May 8th remaining German troops surrender • When the fighting in Europe came to an end, American soldiers rejoiced, and civilians on the home front celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day). They knew, however, that the war would not be over until the Allies had defeated Japan.

23. Yalta Conference • Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill meet in Yalta (a Soviet city) • Germany is split into 4 zones – each zone was to be controlled by one of the allies • Stalin promised free elections for Eastern European countries he had liberated from Germany and to declare war on Japan • He failed on both of his promises