Ch. 17, Section 2: The War for Europe and North Africa

The United States and Britain Join Forces December 1941: Churchill arrives at White House to spend three weeks composing war plans with Roosevelt They both believed that Italy and Germany were much bigger threats than Japan Believing this, Churchill convinced Roosevelt to strike against Hitler first Their meeting resulted in a strong bond between the U.S. and Britain

The Battle of The Atlantic Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along the east coast of the U.S. The aim of the Germans in this battle was to prevent aid, food and war materials from reach Great Britain and the Soviet Union If this line was cut off, Britain would suffer greatly and be forced to surrender For a time, Hitler’s plan seemed as though it would work American ships that did not have any way to protect themselves were easy targets for him

The Battle of The Atlantic Within the first four months of 1942, Germans sank 87 ships. By seven months in, German wolf packs had destroyed well over 681 Allied Ships War at sea was at risk of being lost The Allies response was organizing convoys In 1943, 140 Liberty Ships were being produced every month The Battle of the Atlantic had turned over to the Allies favor by mid 1943

The Eastern Front and the Mediterranean Germans had been fighting in the Soviet Union since June 1941 November 1941: It had become extremely cold and the Germans were stopped right outside Moscow and Leningrad The following summer, Germans took the offense in the southern Soviet Union August 1942: Germans approached Stalingrad The Luftwaffe attacked nightly throughout the city Germans had the advantage for a while, but eventually the Soviets were able to close in on the Germans It was a standstill for a while but eventually the Germans surrendered

The North African Front At the same time as the battle raged in Stalingrad, Stalin was urging the U.S. and Britain to open a second front in Europe Both Churchill and Roosevelt didn’t think that Allies had nearly enough troops By November 1942, 107,000 Allied Troops landed in Casablanca, Oran and Algiers in North Africa The fighting went on for a little while but eventually the Afrika Corps surrendered in 1943

The Italian Campaign Roosevelt, Churchill and commanders met in Casablanca The leaders agreed only to accept an unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers This meant whatever the Allies wanted the Axis Powers would have to accept Roosevelt and Churchill disagreed on where to attack first Roosevelt wanted to attack Italy, Churchill wanted to attack Germany The Italian government forced Mussolini to resign and the king called him the most hated man in Italy Hitler was determined to defeat Allies in Italy, rather than Germany

Heroes In Combat The all black 99th Pursuit Squadron were some of the bravest heroes in battle They were called the Tuskegee Airmen Most Mexican Americans served in segregated units as well Seventeen Mexican Americans were awarded the Congressional Medal Of Honor Japanese Americans served in Italy and North Africa as well

The Allies Liberate Europe The task of Operation Overlord fell on to the shoulders of Dwight D. Eisenhower Allies gathered a force of nearly 3 million British, American and Canadian troops Allies set up a huge phantom army to keep their plans secret The invasion was originally set for June 5, but bad weather kept it from happening Eisenhower settled on June 6th instead

The Allies Liberate Europe The invasion was originally set for June 5, but bad weather kept it from happening Eisenhower settled on June 6th instead On early June 6th, shortly after midnight, three divisions of troops parachuted onto German lines German retaliation was brutal, despite the massive air and sea bombardment

The Allies Gain Ground After seven days of fighting, the Allies held an 80 mile strip of France Within a month, they landed a million troops, 567,000 tons of supplies and 170,000 vehicles in France Omar Bradley unleashed massive air and land bombardment This provided a gap in the German line of defense through which General George Patton and his troops were able to advance Two days later, French resistance forces and American troops liberated the French capital from 4 years of German occupation By September of 1944, Allies had freed France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The Battle of The Bulge/Liberation of Death Camps October 1944: Americans captured the first German town Hitler ordered his troops to break through Allied lines and to recapture Belgian port December 16: German tank divisions broke through weak American defenses Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory creating a bulge Battle went on for a month. When it was done, the Germans had been pushed back and lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks 1600 planes Allied troops pushed on eastward and Soviets pushed towards Poland