War for Europe and North Africa-Part II

6. What was D-Day?

D-Day was the day when the allied troops began the huge planned invasion to overcome the Germans. First they entered in northern France, they tricked the Germans by saying they would land in a place 150 miles from the actual place and they had a secret army (of about one million plus more) that would carry out this day. The allied forces did end up overcoming the nazis and taking France back from Germany. After this day they began to push onward to Germany.

7. What happened at the Battle of the Bulge?

One battle fought after D-Day while pressing forth into Germany was the Battle of the Bulge. What happened was there was an eighty mile long front of allied forces, and earlier had captured their first city in Germany Aachen. However, Hitler didn't want to go down quite yet; he thought that he could take control back if he demoralized the allied forces and seized some of their land back. Although this didn't work, they did make it pretty far into the allied forces eighty mile line, but lost. Six hundred tanks and over a thousand troops and air planes were destroyed and killed. Hitler's troops attacked just one part of the line and made a 'bulge' in the line, hence Battle of the Bulge. One sad part of the battle is that over a hundred allied troops were taken prisoner and were masacred by machine guns and pistols, an attempt at demoralizing the allies.

8. What did Allied troops find in Germany?

Allied troops found concentration camps in Germany that were far worse than what they expected. They found naked and burnt bodies, and all of them emaciated. They said that their bones were sticking out through their skin. The Germans attempted to burn all the crimes and documents but failed to. Also, German troops in Berlin panacked and tried running away, however they were shot and hanged with an emblem on their chests saying that they betrayed Hitler. The concentration camps were the biggest shock to the allied troops because it was far worse than what they expected.

9. What happened to Hitler? What happened to F.D. Roosevelt? Who became U.S. President?

Hitler ended up marrying his long time companion, Eva Braun, however they killed themselves before they could be captured or anything (he shot himself and she poisoned herself). Before Hitler killed himself he blamed everything bad that had happened, the losing of land that he had seized and etc, on the Jewish people. He said that it was the Jewish people that had caused him to lose control of what he had. FDR again became president for a fourth term but less than a month before V-E-Day he died of a stroke. Then Harry S. Truman became President of the United States as the thirty-third president.

War for Europe & North Africa

1. To what did Roosevelt and Churchill agree early in the war?

Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to first attack in Europe, believing the axis powers in Europe were more of a threat than the Japanese. Later in the war they agreed that for surrender the axis powers had to surrender fully, they would have to agree with any war 'penalties' the allies would put on them.

2. Why was winning the Battle of the Atlantic so crucial to the fortunes of the Allies?

Winning the Battle of the Atlantic was so crucial for the Allies because it was the only way Britain could get war supplies, and Hitler knew that if he cut off their supplies Britain would fall and then basically he'd win the war (America would be by itself). HItler tried cutting off their supplies by attacking American ships with his U-boats, however radar, sonar, and being 'escorted' to Britain helped to destroy U-boats and bring supplies to Britain.

3. Why was the Battle of Stalingrad so important?

The Battle of Stalingrad was so important because it was the turning point in the war for the allies (mostly the Soviet Union). Hitler and part of his army had tried to capture Stalingrad, however two times winter had stopped them from doing so. They only could attack during the summer. The second time Hitler's army had actually captured nine tenths of the city, but Soviet Union troops had moved their tanks and army around the city completely trapping the nazis from their supplies. Eventually the nazis surrendered; this increased the soldiers pride and hope a lot. They began to believe more and more that they could win the war. This victory was a turning point in the war and was so important because it greatly increased pride and hope in men that they could win the war.

4. What happened in the war in North Africa?

In the war in North Africa allie troops came in Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers in North Africa sweeping the Afrika Korps (a German unit) out of Africa. Then the allie troops went into Italy to sweep out the axis powers. All in all, the allies gained control of North Africa which helped to sweep out the nazis in Italy and get to Germany.

5. What happened after the Allies invaded Italy?

After the Allies invaded Italy the Italians kicked Mussolini out of office and was replaced by King Emmanuel III. However, one of the hardest battles was fought in Italy, fairly close to Rome, Hitler was not letting Italy surrender without a fight. He sent troops and fought against the Allies in Anzio, 30,000 of Hitlers troops died and 25,000 Allie troops died, but it was an Allie victory.