17.2 The War for Europe and North Africa

The United States and Britain Join Forces  Their first major decision was to make the defeat of Germany the Allies’ top priority  Adolf Hitler, the number one enemy of the United States  Joseph Stalin was desperate for help against invading German forces  Only after Germany was defeated could the United States look to Britain and the Soviet Union for help in defeating Japan

The Battle of the Atlantic  Seven months into 1942, German wolf packs had destroyed a total of 681 Allied ships in the Atlantic  Convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater and by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface

The Battle of Stalingrad  Germans pressed in on Stalingrad, conquering it house by house in brutal hand-to-hand combat  November, the Soviets launched a massive counterattack  February 2, 1943, some 91,000 frost-bitten, lice- ridden, half-starved German troops surrendered  In defending Stalingrad, the Soviets lost a total of 1,250,000 soldiers and civilians  More than all the American casualties during the entire war

The North African Front  Operation Torch  An invasion of Axis- controlled North Africa  Dwight D. Eisenhower-American Commander  Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox”

The Italian Campaign  In July, 1943, King Victor Emmanuel III stripped Benito Mussolini of his power  Hitler responded by seizing control of Italy, reinstalling Mussolini as its leader  On April 28, 1945, Italian rebels found Mussolini disguised as a German soldier trying to escape the country  He was executed

D-Day  June 6, 1944  Three divisions parachuted down behind German lines during the night  British, American, and Canadian troops fought their way ashore at five points along the 60-mile stretch of beach  By September 1944, the Allies had freed France, Belgium, Luxembourg and much of the Netherlands

The Battle of the Bulge – The Turning Point  December 16, 1944, eight German tank divisions broke through weak American defenses along an 80-mile front  When it was over, the Germans had been pushed back and little seemed to have changed  Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and assault guns, and 1,600 planes in the Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge Map

Liberation of the Death Camps  July 1944  SS guards worked to destroy all evidence of their atrocities.

Unconditional Surrender  By April 25, 1945, the Soviet army had stormed Berlin  April 29, Hitler married Eva Braun  The next day Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison  The two bodies were soaked with gasoline and burned  On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day)