Standard and Objective SSHS-S1C8-01-d Strand 1: American History Concept 8: Great Depression and World War II PO 2. Describe the impact of American involvement in World War II: f. turning points such as Pearl Harbor, D-Day, Hiroshima/Nagasaki Students will analyze the War in Europe by inspecting the the major battles and strategies of World War II.

The War in Europe

Battle for North Africa FDR wanted to invade Europe right away, but Churchill thought it would be more effective to fight Germany on the periphery first Dwight D Eisenhower commanded the army in North Africa against German general, Erwin Rommel Americans lost the first battle badly. Eisenhower fired the general who had led the attack and put General Patton in command May 13, 1943, the last German in Africa Surrendered

Erwin Rommel Commanded the Afrika Korps Desert Fox He was not an awful human being Germany’s favorite commander He treated war prisoners humanely and ignored orders to kill Jewish soldiers and civilians Was erroneously suspected in an assassination plot and given the option to commit suicide rather than be tried for treason

The Battle of the Atlantic German U-boats entered American waters Cargo ships were easy targets especially at night when city lights silhouetted the ships for the U-boats Citizens dimmed their lights at night and used blackout curtains and didn’t use headlights if they had to drive Still losing a lot of ships so the U.S. started using the convoy system

The Battle of Stalingrad Hitler really wanted to take Stalingrad because it controlled a major river and railroad junction and was the city that bore Stalin’s name German soldiers attacked Stalingrad in mid-September Stalin ordered his troops to hold the city at all costs and wouldn’t let civilians leave Germans were forced to to fight from house to house

Russian Winter Battle was drawn out and the Germans were not prepared to fight during the winter Soviet reinforcements arrived and surrounded Stalingrad trapping about 250,000 German troops 91,000 Germans surrendered but only 5,000 of them survived the Soviet prison camps

Strategic Bombing Britain’s Royal Air Force dropped an average of 2,300 tons of explosives on Germany every month for more than three years From January 1943 to May 1945 the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force dropped approximately 53,000 tons of explosives on Germany every month Destroyed Germany’s airplane factories and oil reserves, leaving the skies free

Firestorms Old German cities were made mostly out of wood everything caught fire creating firestorms Firestorms get up to 1,800 degrees Bombing of Hamburg - killed 42,000 civilians and completely destroyed the city German civilian deaths on the low end: 1,067,000

Striking the Soft Underbelly The Allies thought of Italy as the soft underbelly of the Axis Powers Invaded Sicily Were able to take the island pretty quickly The Italian government decided to depose Mussolini They then surrendered to the Allies but Germany seized control of Northern Italy releasing Mussolini and putting him back in power Very bloody war in Italy but it was eventually retaken by the Allies

The Tehran Conference Before invading France, FDR and Churchill met with Stalin in Tehran, Iran Stalin promised to to launch a full- scale offensive against the Germans when the Allies invaded France -War on two fronts again FDR and Stalin agreed to divide Germany after the war was over Stalin then promised to help the U.S. in its fight against Japan

D-Day Invasion Operation Overlord American, Canadian, and British troops would land in Normandy June 6, 1944 Nearly 7,000 ships carrying 100,000 soldiers headed for the coast and 23,000 paratroopers were dropped inland “Utah,” “Omaha,” “Gold,” “Sword,” and “Juno” Omaha had some problems because the Germans had the high ground

Let’s Review What were the goals of strategic bombing in Germany and the invasion of Sicily? Why did Churchill and Roosevelt want to attack German-controlled areas in North Africa before areas in Europe?