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The Russian Front Stalingrad, 1942-1943 In Russia on the Eastern Front, the German onslaught against the Soviet Union had finally ground to a halt with the German defeat at Stalingrad .
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The Russian Front Stalingrad, 1942-1943 In Russia on the Eastern Front, the German onslaught against the Soviet Union had finally ground to a halt with the German defeat at Stalingrad. The fighting here was arguably the worst of World War II. An entire German army was wiped out by hordes of Russian soldiers. Because the Germans lost this crucial campaign, they were never on the offensive in Europe again. Stalingrad actually marked the turning point of the war in Europe.
The Pacific Throughout 1942 and 1943, United States Marines, sailors, and Army infantrymen continued to take various Japanese held islands, including Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, Tarawa, and several others. The type of fighting in the Pacific came to be known as Island Hopping, or the process of taking one Japanese held island at a time. The fighting, however, was heavy and the loss of human life heavier.
The Five Sullivan Brothers A tragic circumstance of the fighting in the Pacific was loss of all five of the Sullivan brothers, which were five brothers that were all killed in action on the same day on the USS Juneau on November 13th, 1942. When the Navy officers went to their parents house to tell them the news, the father asked which one of them had been killed. The response was, “all of them.”
By early 1943, the Allies, led by the United States, had produced enough airplanes to carry the war into the heart of Germany by bombing many of its large industrial sites. Hundreds of planes would take off from bases in England and elsewhere to rain down tons upon tons of high explosives. The mass bombing of targets deep into enemy territory was called strategic bombing. Two of the most famous planes used by the Americans were the P-51 Mustang and the B-17 heavy bomber. By late 1943, the bombing attacks had begun to take a toll on Germany. The loss of life for the pilots and air crews, however, were horrendous.
Explain why the Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point of World War II in Europe. In the Pacific, explain why the United States pursued the strategy of “Island Hopping.” Do you think that this was a good plan to follow? Why or why not? When all five of the Sullivan brothers went down with their ship, the military began reassessing the policy of family members serving together in the combat zone. Later on, a new policy was created which forbade this. Why? Why was the air campaign such and integral part of fighting the Germans and Japanese? In great contrast to today, there were no surgical strikes or laser-guided weapons used to minimize civilian deaths. Instead, whole cities and towns were reduced to ashes and rubble across Europe and Asia. Do you agree with this issue? Why or why not?
