W ORLD W AR II Turning Back the Germans

T URNING BACK THE G ERMAN A RMY In 1942 Allied forces began to win victories in Europe as well. Stalin (Soviet Union) urged FDR to open a 2 nd front in Europe. Stalin appreciated the Lend-Lease supplies from the US, but the Soviets were still doing most of the fighting – if British & US troops opened a 2 nd front by attacking Germany from the west, it would take pressure off the Soviet Union.

Churchill did not believe the US & GB were ready to launch a full-scale invasion of Europe & instead wanted to attack the periphery of the German empire, FDR agreed and in July 1942 ordered the invasion of Morocco & Algeria – 2 French territories under German control

T HE S TRUGGLE FOR N ORTH A FRICA FDR decided to invade Morocco & Algeria for 2 reasons: 1 – to give the army some experience without requiring a lot of troops 2 – Once US troops were in North Africa, they would be able to help British troops fighting Germans in Egypt - Egypt was important because of the Suez Canal The German forces in the area were known as the “Afrika Korps”

E RWIN R OMMEL ' S (D ESERT F OX ) A FRIKA C ORPS

November 1942 US invasion of North Africa began under command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower – the US forces in Morocco were led by General George Patton

B ATTLE OF K ASSERINE P ASS The US headed east & the British headed west – planning to trap the Germans between them. When the US troops advanced into Tunisia, they had to fight the German army for the 1 st time at the Battle of Kasserine Pass – they did not do well – they were outmaneuvered & outfought – they suffered roughly 7,000 casualties & lost 200 tanks. Eisenhower fired the general who led the attack & put Patton in command

Together, the US & British forces finally pushed the Germans back – On May 13, 1943, the last German forces in North Africa surrendered Thousands of German prisoners of war arrived in Alabama. The 1 st and largest POW camp to house them was built in Aliceville, Alabama in Pickens County. It accepted its 1 st prisoners on June 2, 1943, and at its peak was home to some 6,000 German prisoners.

C AMP A LICEVILLE Aliceville - WWII German POW camp - capacity 15,000

German prisoners prepare to march from the Aliceville train depot to the POW

A row of barracks at Camp Aliceville.

Other Major POW camps were established at Opelika, Anniston, and Camp Rucker.

A total of 2,772 prisoners were interned at Camp Opelika by June 1, 1945.

The castle above was built by German prisoners about 1944.

T HE B ATTLE OF THE A TLANTIC As US & British troops fought the German army in North Africa, the war against German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean continued to intensify

After Germany declared war on the US, German submarines entered US coastal waters & found US cargo ships easy targets – especially at night when the glow from the cities in the night sky silhouetted the vessels

To protect the ships, cities on the East Coast dimmed their lights every evening – people put up special “blackout curtains” and drove with their headlights off.

B LACKOUT C URTAINS

The loss of so many ships convinced the US Navy to set up convoy systems – cargo ships traveled in groups and were escorted by navy warships making it harder for a submarine to torpedo a cargo ship & escape without being attacked

C ONVOYS

The spring of 1942 marked the high point of the German submarine campaign – in May & June alone over 1.2 million tons of shipping were sunk – yet in those same 2 months US & British shipyards built over 1.1 million tons of new shipping. From July onward US shipyards produced more ships than German submarines managed to sink At the same time US airplanes & warships began to use new technology: radar, sonar & depth charges to locate & attack submarines which began to take its toll & the Battle of the Atlantic slowly turned in favor of the Allies

B ATTLE OF S TALINGRAD In the spring of 1942 Hitler was ready to launch a new offensive to knock the Soviets out of the war – he was convinced the only way to defeat the Soviet Union was to destroy its economy. In May he ordered his army to capture strategic oil fields, industries, & farmlands in Southern Russia & Ukraine – the key was to attack the city of Stalingrad because it controlled the Volga River & was a major RR junction – if the Germans captured it, the Russians would be cut off from the resources needed to stay in the war

When the German troops entered Stalingrad in mid- September, Stalin ordered his troops to hold the city at all cost – Retreat was forbidden!

The Germans were forced to fight from house to house, loosing thousands of soldiers in the process

On November 23, Soviet reinforcements arrived & surrounded Stalingrad, trapping almost 250,000 German troops When the battle ended in February ,000 Germans had surrendered – although only 5,000 of them survived the Soviet prison camps to return home after the war The Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in the war – it put the Germans on the defensive

25-3 B OOK Q UESTIONS Pg 747 – Picturing History Question Pg 747 – 6 Pg 754 – Analyzing Political Cartoons Question