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Fighting World War II

Fighting World War II. The War in Europe. Battle of the Atlantic. Since the start of the war in 1939, German U-boats had been working to disrupt & destroy Allied shipping in the Atlantic. When the US entered the war in 1942, its Atlantic coastal waters were relatively unprotected:

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Fighting World War II

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  1. Fighting World War II The War in Europe

  2. Battle of the Atlantic • Since the start of the war in 1939, German U-boats had been working to disrupt & destroy Allied shipping in the Atlantic. • When the US entered the war in 1942, its Atlantic coastal waters were relatively unprotected: • Not enough naval vessels • Did not require nighttime blackouts • The US reduced their losses using the convoy system & by beginning a period of massive shipbuilding.

  3. North Africa • Hitler hoped to cut off the Allies’ oil from the Middle East by securing North Africa for the Axis power & pushing the British out of Egypt. • Hitler sent Field Marshal Erwin Rommel & the Afrika Corps to join the Italian army in North Africa. • By June 1942, Rommel had taken much of North Africa & driven deep into Egypt.

  4. Poland • Poles were treated with contempt by the Nazis. • Jews in Poland were forced into ghettos. • Thousands of Jews died from disease & starvation in the Warsaw Ghetto. • Six death camps were built in Poland.

  5. Soviet Union • The Nazis invaded the western part of the Soviet Union. • The Nazis used blitzkrieg tactics to overcome Soviet troops. • Large German forces approached Moscow & the oil-rich Caucasus region.

  6. Southern Italy • The Allies used North Africa as a staging area to invade the island of Sicily in southern Italy. • The Allied assault met with little opposition at first. • Italy’s political leaders voted to oust Mussolini & restore the king & parliament. • Italy surrounded to the Allies & soon declared war on Germany. • German forces remained in Italy & battled Allied forces as they moved north.

  7. Stalingrad • Axis troops moved further into Soviet territory. • Hitler split his forces so they could seize the rest of the Caucasus & also take Stalingrad. • By mid-September, Axis troops had trapped a large Soviet force inside of Stalingrad. • The Soviet Red Army launched a counteroffensive against the Nazi assault. • The German troops were surrounded, but Hitler insisted that they fight to their death. • More than 200,000 German & 1 million Soviet soldiers died in the Battle of Stalingrad.

  8. Stalingrad

  9. Normandy • Operation Overlord called for an invasion of France. • On D-Day, landing craft unloaded Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy. • German gun batteries targeted the invading Allies. • By the end of the first day, the Allies held 59 miles of the Normandy coast. • From Normandy, Allied troops began a rapid sweep across France & liberated Paris in August 1944.

  10. Normandy

  11. Battle of the Bulge • Hitler planned for his armies to burst through the Allied lines in the Ardennes region of Belgium. • On December 16, 1944, eight German armored divisions smashed the American forces – creating a large bulge in the Allied line. • Allied air support & the support of General Patton’s Third Army forced the Germans to withdraw. • The Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive on the western front.

  12. Battle of the Bulge

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