1. 1. American’s Join the war
a. The Atlantic - Sonar, convoys & long range sub-hinting aircraft weaken German U-boats
b. N. Africa
- British & allied troops squeeze Italian/Germ troops north out of Africa.
- U.S. troops led by Gen. Eisenhower
Erwin Rommel
(Desert Fox)
Bernard Montgomery
The first thing that had to be done was to take the Atlantic Ocean. They American had to control the Atlantic trade routes that were vital to British survival. Britain needed food & supplies.
b. In August of ’41 the british had successfully battled Italian troops in Egypt and Eastern Libya. In response, Hitler sends reinforcements led by General Erwin Rommel and push the British back to Egypt. British General Bernard Montgomery pushes back and win a battle El Alamein in 1942.
-- From there U.S. Allied troops land in West African and together Allied troops squeeze the Axis sandwich the Axis powers back up into Italy.
--Churchill and Roosevelt meet again in ’43 at Casablanca, Morocco. At the Casablanca Conference, they mapped out a strategy for the rest of the war-- that is concentrate on Europe first, then the Pacific - and accept only an unconditional surrender of Italy, Germany & Japan.

2. b. 2 yr battle of Stalingrad ends - Germ. lost 330,000 troops
2. War in U.S.S.R.
a. Germ. invades June ’41
b. 2 yr battle of Stalingrad ends
- Germ. lost 330,000 troops
In June of 1941, Hitler breaks his non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and attacks million German and other Axis troops. They were actually greeted with enthusiasm by some Ukrainians and Lithuanians because they saw the German forces as liberators from Stalin’s control. They soon realized they were wrong as Hitler’s troops created forced labor camps and began executing civilians.
-- It isn’t long before German troops are close to the capital of the Soviet Union and have Stalingrad surrounded. Stalin pushes Roosevelt and Churchill to attack from the West to divide Germany into a two front war. This is when Church convinces Roosevelt to attack what he called the “soft underbelly” of Europe coming from Italy - rather than a risky war from the West.
-- On jan. 31, 1943, more than 90,000 surviving Germans surrendered. In all, Germany lost some 330,000 troops at Stalingrad. soviet estimates range as high as 1.1 million.
-----Stalin was not the only one pushing for a Western Attack. the top American general and FDR’s Chief of Staff, George Marshall has been pushing of a western attack at every allied meeting.
- The Allies begin a massive military buildup in Southern England. Polish, dutch, Belgian, French, American, British & Canadian forces ready for invasion.
Germany adds machine-gun nests, barbed wire fences, land and water mines and underwater obstructions. They knew an invasion was coming, but they did not know where or when. That invasion would be called D-Day. (Click for D-Day Video)
NEXT SLIDE - Battle of Bulge - The Nazis are fighting desparately to defend their territory. Hitler reinforces his armies with additional draftees, some as young as 15 years old. In one last ditch effort, Hitler’s troops smash into the U.S. First Army and pushed them back. Many smaller units were cut off and divided from the American army. Eisenhower, from Washington ordered more reinforcements, Patton moved his U.S. Third Army north to help and in weeks the Americans knocked the Germans back, and restarted their drive towards Berlin Some 600,000 American G.I.s were involved - 80,000 killed or wounded.
------Americans continue to march west, while American bombers bomb Germany.
---At the same time - from ‘41-’45, the Soviets were moving in from the East, slowly city by city. Stalin’s goal was to take Berlin - It was a matter of honor and the costs were deadly. Some 11 million Soviet and 3 million German soldiers died accounting for 2/3 of the soldiers killed in all WWII. Estimates have put total Soviet deaths at 18 million.
3. Operation Overlord - D-Day
- June 6, allied invasion of Western Europe- Normandy, France
- France Liberated- Aug.’44
4. Battle of the Bulge
- largest battle in W.Europe
- Nazis realize end is near