The War for Europe and North Africa Ch 17-2

The Battle of the Atlantic After Pearl Harbor, Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America’s east coast. Hitler wanted to prevent food and war supplies from reaching Great Britain. Hitler succeeded at first. However, ships were later accompanied by groups of ships and airplanes and the Americans were able to destroy U-boats faster than they can be built.

The Battle of Stalingrad Summer of the German army attack Stalingrad, Soviet Union. Because the city was named after himself, Stalin ordered to defend it no matter what the cost. Germans conquered most of the city, house by house in hand to hand combat. Once winter set in the Soviet army closed around the city, trapping the Germans in and cutting off their supplies. German troops starved, froze, and later surrendered. The Soviets lost a total of 1,100,000 soldiers in Stalingrad…that’s more than all American deaths during the entire war.

The Italian Campaign Allies captured the island of Sicily (1943) and the Italian government forced dictator Benito Mussolini to resign. Mussolini was arrested while Italians celebrated the end of the war. Hitler was determined to stop the Allies in Italy rather than in Germany. Hitler defended Italy until the Allies took it in 1945, right before Germany’s collapse.

Heroes in Combat Some of the most famous pilots that fought in Italy were the all black 99 th Pursuit Squadron called the Tuskegee Airmen. Many Mexicans served in segregated units and had a Regiment become one of the most decorated of the war. Japanese Also served in Italy. Many were Nisei (American citizens whose parents were from Japan). The 100 th battalion became the most decorated in U.S. history.

D-Day Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike)- gathered a force of nearly 3 million British, American, and Canadians. Ike planned to attack Normandy in northern France. He radioed messages that the Germans could hear, stating that he was going to invade the French port of Calais. Hitler ordered his men to Calais. D-Day June 6, the largest land-sea-air operation in army history.

September 1944-Allies freed France, Belgium, and Luxemburg. The victory allowed FDR to be reelected for a fourth term. The key to the success of D-Day was the ability to deliver so many men at the same time. 1,200 ships, 4,126 landing craft, 804 transport ships, 10,000 planes, and 23,000 parachutists.

Battle of the Bulge October 1944, Americans captured their first German town, Aachen. Americans had an 80 mile front and German tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory creating a bulge in the lines. Germans lost 120,000 men, 600 tanks, and 1,600 planes. From that point on Nazis could do nothing but retreat.

Liberating Death Camps The Soviets were the first to reach the Nazi death camps in Poland. When the Soviets entered they found Nazis trying to cover up what they had done, 1,000 starving prisoners, the worlds largest crematorium, and a storehouse containing 800,000 shoes.

Unconditional Surrender April 25, 1945-the Soviet army storms Berlin and many Nazi soldiers retreated. They were shot on the spot or hanged with a placard on their chest reading “We betrayed the Fuhrer.” April 12, 1945 FDR dies. April 29, Hitler marries, blames the Jews for the war, and a day later he shot himself while his wife drank poison.

Hitler wrote out his last address to the German people. He stated “I die with a happy heart aware of the immeasurable deeds of our soldiers at the front. I myself and my wife choose to die in order to escape the disgrace of capitulation.” A week later Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. On May 8, 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day-Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was over.

Mussolini and his mistress