World War II: Americans at War

1. World War II: Americans at War II. Retaking Europe

2. Bell Ringer • Have you ever used the term D-Day? What did you mean by it? What is it? • Do you know anybody who fought in WWII? Who? Where did they fight?

3. A) Setting the Scene • Page 600 • Atlantic Charter: set of principles to guide the allies in the years to come. • Basis of the UN

4. B) Americans Join the Struggle 1939-1942 U-boats reign By 1942 – 1664 allied ships sunk Admiral Karl Dornitz and Erich Raeder 1941 – Bismark sinks the Hood U-boat losses by year 1939 – 9, 1940 – 22, 1941 – 35, 1942 – 96, 1943 – 237, 1944 – 241, 1945 – 153. • The Battle of the Atlantic: U-boats tried to stop supplies from going to Britain • Convoy System • Wolf Packs – 20 or more U-boats • New techniques allowed allies to win

5. C) The North Africa Campaign • British fighting the Italians in Egypt – Germans send General Erwin Rommel “Desert Fox” • British General Montgomery beat him at El Alamein • US land in Morocco and trap the Germans – loose first battle at Kasserine Pass – eventually capture 240,000 troops – Eisenhower in charge • Casablanca Conference – Churchill and Roosevelt agree to beat Europe first Asia second – accept nothing less then unconditional surrender

6. D) The Invasion of Italy • “Soft underbelly” • July 1943 Patton invaded Sicily • On threat of invasion, King Emmanuel III ordered Mussolini arrested and disbanded the Fascist party – Germans freed him and put him in charge of Northern Italy • Italy declared war on Germany • US invade at Anzio –fighting hard also land at Cassino • Germans surrender in April 1945 – US never took Italy • Mussolini caught escaping by Italians and shot

7. Mussolini • Mussolini is captured by the free Italians and executed.

8. E) War in the Soviet Union • Summer of 1941, Hitler breaks deal with USSR and invaded – living space – got oil in Romania wants farmland of Ukraine • USSR retreats – destroy everything as they go • Ukrainians and Lithuanians welcome Germans as liberators – then Nazi’s start executing them Eitzengruppen • Stalin wants an invasion of France – relieve pressure – not yet

9. F) The Battle of Stalingrad • Red Army makes stand at Stalingrad – allow the city to fall but surround it – at winter launch a counter-attack • Hitler said fight to death – 90,000 Germans surrender – 330,000 killed – Von Paulus • USSR – 1,100,000 killed • Turning point of the European war

10. G) The Allied Air War • Carpet bombing: planes scatter large numbers of bomb over a wide area (city) • Strategic bombing – US bombers bomb factories, railroads, bridges, and cities B-17)(Total War) • Swinefurt – ball bearing • Dresden, February 1945 – 300,000 killed – firestorm – Hamburg – 40,000 killed • 3,000 planes a day at height

11. H) The Invasion of Western Europe • Operation Overlord – Dwight Eisenhower in charge - Normandy • Atlantic wall – German defense of France • Huge Ally deception at Calais 8) D-Day: day of the invasion of Europe • 150,000 troops at 5 beaches – Utah and Omaha – Omaha very bloody 2,000 dead • By July of 1944 2 mil troops have landed

12. I) Liberating France • Patton uses a blitzkrieg to punch through Normandy into Northern France • Paris is freed by the French Resistance – Charles de Gaulle takes over France • US on border of Germany

13. J) Battle of the Bulge • Germans plan one last desperate counter-attack • Have to attack in bad weather because of allied air power • Battle of the Bulge: German counter-attack in Belgium December 1944. • Formed a bulge in the line – biggest battle in Western Europe • African Americans called to the front • Battered Bastards of Bastogne – 101st Screaming Eagles

14. K) The Yalta Conference • Big three met in Yalta February 1945 – planned the final offensive and the postwar world • Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin • Germany split in 4 zones (Berlin also) • Stalin promised elections in Eastern Europe • Promise to enter war against Japan 3 months after fall of Germany • Did not fulfill promises

15. Germany unleashes its “vengeance weapons” V1 and V2

16. Operation Valkrye • German Generals Plot to kill Hitler. • Bomb carried by colonel Count Claus Von Stauffenberg blow’s up in Hitler’s conference room at Wolf’s Lair. • Hitler walks away with scratches • Many people are rounded up and killed, around 1000. • Rommel is implicated in the plot and is given a choice. State funeral

17. L) The War in Europe Ends • US and USSR on borders of Germany • 18 million USSR deaths • 9 million German • USSR given permission to take Berlin • Hitler commits suicide in bunker on April 30th 1945 – Germany surrenders on May 8th 1945 • V-E Day

18. Hitlers End • April 30, 1945 Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun commit suicide. Dr. Joseph Goebels does also. • Hitler names Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz as the second Furher of the 3rd Reich

19. Review • Where did Americans join the struggle against the Axis? • How did the war in the Soviet Union change from 1941 – 1943? • What role did air power play in the war in Europe? • Why did the invasion of Western Europe succeed? • What events marked the end fo the war in Europe?