1. Chapter 25 Section 2: Retaking Europe

2. Atlantic Charter- agreed upon by FDR & Churchill in Aug. 1941- basis for the United Nations

3. Americans Join the Struggle The Battle of the Atlantic –U-Boats were attacking US ships headed for GB –Allies formed convoys –Germans countered with wolf packs (20 U-Boats) that carried out coordinated nighttime attacks

4. After the US entered the war, U-Boats began attacking merchant ships within sight of the coast Allies used sonar to locate & attack U- Boats, but the wolf packs experienced great success –Sank 175 in June 1942 Allies developed better strategies & U- boat success dropped

5. The North Africa Campaign Aug 1940- British army successfully battled Italian troops in Egypt & Libya Feb. 1941- Hitler sent General Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox) & a German division to reinforce the Italians

6. Won several battles & pushed deep into British controlled Egypt & threatened the Middle East Offensive failed in Nov. 1942 when British Gen. Bernard Montgomery won a decisive battle at El Alamein

7. Days later, Allies landed on Morocco & Algeria led by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, pushed east, while British troops chased Rommel from Egypt Hitler sent 20,000 more troops to Tunisia –Feb. 1943 Americans suffered a major defeat trying to defend the Kasserine Pass

8. Early May, had the Axis force trapped in North Africa –240,000 Germans & Italians surrendered Churchill & Roosevelt met in Jan. 1943 at Casablanca, Morocco –Casablanca Conference- mapped out their war strategy –Concentrate on Europe first

9. Invasion of Italy July 1943- US 7 th Army under Gen. George Patton invaded Sicily Italy started to lose their faith in Mussolini –removed from office & arrested

10. Fascist Party was disbanded, Germans freed him & took him to northern Italy Sept. 1943- Italy’s new government surrendered Oct. 13- Italy declared war on Germany

11. German army in Italy continued to resist, blocking roads & destroying bridges Set up Mussolini as the puppet ruler of a fascist Italian state in northern Italy Jan. 1944- Allies landed behind German lines at Anzio (35 miles south of Rome) –Took too long to organize forces & Germans blocked off the beach trapping the Allies & attacked them for 4 hours

12. Allies attacked Cassino & broke through the German line & joined forces at Anzio in May & captured Rome Surrendered April 1945 –Mussolini was shot & killed as he tried to flee

13. War in the Soviet Union The Germans advance 1941-42 –Attack began June 22, 1941 Nearly 3.6 million Axis troops crossed in the SU from Finland & Romania

14. Opposed by 3 million poorly trained & badly equipped Red Army soldiers The Luftwaffe quickly gained control of the air & troops drove deeper into Soviet territory Ukrainians & Lithuanians welcomed the Germans as liberators from Stalin –Germany soon introduced forced labor

15. Stalin announced that if the Army was to retreat, destroy everything to help the enemy Also asked FDR for help through the Lend Lease Program & American aid began to help

16. By fall, Germany threatened the capital –Stalin urged his Allies to attack on the western front forcing Hitler to fight on 2 fronts Instead they invaded Italy

17. The Battle of Stalingrad German advance was stopped on Oct. due to winter Next summer they attacked oil fields –Red Army made a stand at Stalingrad, a major rail & industrial center on the Volga River –Germany began bombing Sept. 1942

18. Mid Nov.- Soviets launched a counterattack & the Germans were soon surrounded with few supplies Surrendered January 31, 1943 –Germany lost more than 330,000 troops Turning point in the war in eastern Europe

19. The Allied Air War RAF started carpet bombing where planes scattered a large number of bombs over a wide area –Germany suffered heavy losses Allied bombing intensified after the US entered the war

20. Typical raid had bombs rain down on German aircraft factories, railway lines, ball-bearing plants, bridges, & cities –Aided to destroy German ability to fight July 28, 1943 firebombing turned Hamburg into a huge blaze

21. The Invasion of Western Europe Invasion code named Operation Overlord would be launched from Great Britain with Gen. Eisenhower as supreme commander Massive military build up in England, with Polish, Dutch, Belgian, & French troops joining the Americans, British, & Canadians

22. French strengthened their forces along the coast adding machine guns nests, barbed wire fences, land & water mines, & underwater obstructions

23. D-Day June 6, 1944- 4,600 invasion craft & warships left England shortly after midnight 1,000 RAF bombers pounded German defenses at Normandy while 23,000 airborne British & American soldiers parachuted behind enemy lines

24. At dawn the invasion began –Hitler hesitated to counterattack because he feared a second, larger invasion at the narrowest part of the English Channel By late July, the Allied forces in France numbered 2 million troops

25. Liberating France Aug.- Patton used a blitzkrieg to open a hole in the German lines & burst out of Normandy After breaking German defenses, Patton led his army on a successful sweep across northern France

26. In Paris, an uprising started by the French Resistance freed the city Aug. 25 1944, a French division liberated Paris & Charles de Gaulle arrived to take charge of the government

27. Battle of the Bulge Allied attack on the Netherlands falters at the Rhine River, while Hitler reinforced his army Mid- Dec. 1944 Germany launched a counterattack in Belgium & Luxembourg, smashing the Allied army, creating a huge bulge in the Allied line

28. Many small units were forced to fight against overwhelming odds Allies sent troops & in a few weeks under General Omar Bradley knocked the Germans back After the battle, most Nazi leaders recognized that the war was lost

29. The War in Europe Ends March 1945- Gen. Bradley crossed the Rhine River & moved towards Berlin from the west, while the Soviets pushed in from the east

30. Soviet Forces Advance At any given time more than 9 million were fighting on the eastern front –11 million Soviets & 1 million German soldiers died April 1945 Soviet troops fought their way to Berlin, destroying the city Eventually connected with American troops at the Elbe River

31. Germany Surrenders Hitler choose to commit suicide instead of fleeing the city on April 30, 1945 May 8- Germany surrendered –V-E day was celebrated

33. The Yalta Conference Feb. 1945 –FDR, Churchill, & Stalin met Plan the defeat of Germany & decide the shape of the post war world –Agreed to split Germany into 4 zones each under control of the Allies (including France)

34. Planned a similar division of Berlin Stalin promised elections in the nations of eastern Europe that his army liberated from Germany & to enter the war against Japan within 3 months of Germany’s surrender –Stalin didn’t fulfill his promises