D-Day Invasion: June 6, 1944

1. Allies crossed a narrow strip of sea from ____________to Normandy, ___________, & cracked the Nazi grip on western Europe This was considered the turning point in the war. D-Day Invasion: June 6, 1944 • “it all seemed unreal, a sort of dreaming while awake, men were screaming & dying all around me…I honestly could have walked the full length of the beach without touching the grown – they were that thickly strewn about” • ________________: December 1944 German forces began a fierce counterattack, pushing Allies back & creating a bulge in the front lines & temporarily slowing Allied advances • - The battle slowed Allies but did NOT stop them • - Allied armies advanced on the ground • - Allied planes bombed Germany • - British airmen dropped tons of bombs on German cities • U.S. troops bombed factories & oil refineries which caused fuel shortages & reduced the • nation’s ability to produce war goods • A New President • - FDR ran for a ______thterm & won more than 54% of the vote!!!! • - In April of 1945, FDR abruptly grew ill, complained of a headache, and was dead in hours • - ___________took over & was now faced with taking over a country in the middle of a war • - By April 1945, Germany was collapsing • - American troops were closing in on Berlin from the west • - Sov. Troops were advancing from the east/ Allied air raids pounded Berlin • - Hitler hid in his underground bunker – unwilling to accept defeat, he commits suicide • - One week later, Germany surrenders to the Allies • - __________________________: Victory in Europe Day, May 8th 1945 • Despite intense German gunfire & heavy losses, Allied forces pushed on • - August 25 1944, the Allies pushed their way to Paris & within a month, all of France was free • By the end of August 1944 Paris (capital of France) had been liberated from the German’s • After ______years of German occupation • - September 1944 – Allied powers had reclaimed lands in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands