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Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the war's longest continuous military campaign. One tactic the German's used to increase the U-boat effectiveness is known as a wolf pack, where U-boats hunted in groups and often attacked at night. In a few short months, 360 American ships were sunk cpmpared to just eight German U-boats. Despite early losses, America's entry into the war would help turn the tide in the Battle of the Atlantic. New allied aircraft protected convoys from the air. -
Battle of the Atlantic
The aircraft and escort ships used radar and other technologies to find and destroy more U-boats. A factor used in the Allied success was the breaking of Germany's code system, known as Enigma. after cracking Enigma in 1941, the Allies began to gain vital infromation about the locations and plans of U-boat formations. By war's end, some 70 percent of the Germans who had served on a submarine were dead. The Atlantic belonged to the Allies. -
Battle of Britain
The Allies and The Axis power battled for Britain. At the beginning of the battle, Herman Goring, who is the commander of the German Luftwaffe, believed Britain could be defeated with air power alone. At the starting point of the battle he had more than 2,000 aircraft in three air fleets or Luftflotten against atleast 700 aircrafts in the Royal Air Force that were divided across four fighter groups. -
Battle of El Alamein, Eygpt
In June, the British had succeeded in driving Rommel into a defensive position in Libya. This war was fought between the British Eighth army and the Axis Power. It resulted in a tactical stalemate but strategic Allied victory in that it stopped the final advance by the Axis powers into El Alamein, Egypt. This battle would set the stage for the second and more decisive Battle of El Alamein. Also, it was part of the Western Desert Campaign of World War 2. -
Battle of Stalingrad
In the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet forces surrounded and crushed an entire German army under General Friedrich Paulus. The invading Germans saw the conquest of Stalingrad as essential to their campaign in southern Russia, since from this strategic point on the Volga River they could launch further assaults in the Caucasus. The Russians were determined to defend the city as a vital industrial and transportation center. -
Battle of Stalingrad
Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler understood the symbolic importance of the only city to bear the Soviet dictator’s name. On February 2, 1943, General Paulus surrendered what remained of his army-some 91,000 men. About 150,000 Germans had died in the fighting. The Soviet Union recieved the victory of Stalingrad. -
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the name of the Allied invasion of northwest Africa in the hopes and goals of removing the Axis power on the continent. The plan called for American forces to invade the North African countries of Morocco and Algeria. Some 20,000 Americans were killed or wounded in the six months of North Africa fighting. But by May 1943, they had helped defeat Rommel's forces. While fighting still going on, Allied leaders focused on the war's next phases. -
Operation Torch
The plan that would later evolve into Operation Torch was to first make their way into North Africa and then later invade Sicily and move onto mainland Italy. Operation Torch was attempted mainly because Joseph Stalin was demanding that the allies open up another front against the Nazis. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
Roosevelt and Churchill issued a message to the Italian people asking them "whether they want to dies for Mussolini and Hitler or live for Itlaly and civilization." The Italian chose life. By the end of July, they had turned against te edictator Mussolini and forced him from power. The Allies took Sicily a few weeks later. They planned to occupy the Italian Peninsula, but Hitler was not going to lt the llies simply march through Italy and into Europe. German forces rushed to stop the Allies. -
Invasion of Sicily/Italy
As it became increasingly clear that resources were not available for a cross-Channel operation in 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt agreed to the invasion of Sicily. With operations in Sicily coming to close, the Allied leadership renewed discussions regarding an invasion of Italy. Though the Americans remained reluctant, Roosevelt understood the need to continue engaging the enemy to relieve Axis pressure on the Soviet Union until landings in northwest Europe could move forward. Allies won. -
Operation Overlord
The fighting in Italy was slow and difficult partyl because the Allies could not devote all their fighting resources to the battle. Many of these resources were being held for the planned invasion of France, this lan was known as Operation Overlord. To end the war as quickly as possible, the Allies wanted to launch a large invasion of mainland Europe. The Allies worked months after months to select a location for Operation Overlorde. They finally settled for Normandy in northern France. -
Operation Overlord
By early June, the Allied force of 3.5 million soldiers was ready for action. After a short day caused y bad weather, D-Day finally arrived on June 6, 1944. The success of Operation Overlord came down to the courage of the individual soldiers who would make the landing. The Germans were slow to respond to the invasion. By the time they realized their mistake, the Allies had established a beachhead. Though the costs were high, D-Day had been a success. By the end of August, Paris was freed. -
Battle of the Bulge
The Germans launched a surprise offensive of their own. The Battle of the Bulge referred to the bugle in Allied battle linesw created by the Germans advance. On December 26th, troops led by Patton arrived to provide relief for the American force. The victory at Bastogne helped blunt the German offensive. By the end of Jnuary 1945, the bulge created by the German offensive had been rolled back. Allies set their sights on Germany and the defeat of Hitler. Victory was close at hand. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself through the mouth with a pistol. Eva Braun swallowed a cyanide capsule, later after Hitler committed suicide, and died. The bodies of Hitler and Eva were cremated in the chancellery garden by the bunker survivors and reportedly later recovered in part by Russian troops. A German court finally officially declared Hitler dead, but not until 1956. -
VE Day
On Mar. 7, 1945, the Western Allies—whose chief commanders in the field were Omar N. Bradley and Bernard Law Montgomery—crossed the Rhine after having smashed through the strongly fortified Siegfried Line and overran West Germany. The unconditional surrender of Germany was signed at Rheims on May 7 and ratified at Berlin on May 8.
