Turning points in Europe

Question and Answer 2

How did Americans contribute to the Allied war effort in Europe? The United States shipped vast amounts of weaponry and supplies to Britain and the Soviet Union. Millions of US service personnel fought in Europe. 180,000 Americans lost their lives. American bombers destroyed German cities. Dwight D. Eisenhower commanded Allied forces on the western and Mediterranean fronts.

Transcripts

TEACHER: Welcome, class, let's begin today's lesson. American soldiers played a key role in the campaign to liberate Europe from Nazi control. One of the most important battles came on June 6, 1944, when Allied troops landed at Normandy on the French Coast. This lesson will focus on the important battles and developments that turned the tide of World War Ii. First, we'll learn about the situation 00:00:25 on the Eastern Front. Section 2 00:00:00 The Eastern Front was where Nazi Germany deployed more than half of its total ground forces. After breaking the 1939 Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact, German armies advanced hundreds of miles into Russia, threatening to knock the Soviets out of the war. In the summer of 1942, a large German force drove towards Stalingrad, a large industrial city that produced armaments for the Red Army. 00:00:24 Brutal fighting continued throughout the harsh winter. Both armies endured astounding casualty rates in the desperate fight for the city. Section 5 00:00:00 By the end of this lesson, you should be able to trace the course of the Allied victory in Europe, including turning points such as Stalingrad, the Normandy Invasion, and the Battle of the Bulge; explain American contributions to the war in Europe, including those by generals Patton and Omar Bradley. Section 1 00:00:01 TEACHER: Throughout this lesson, we'll be focusing on this question. What were the turning points in Europe in World War II? In the warm up, you learned that German and Soviet forces endured massive casualties while fighting each other on the eastern front. In this first segment, we will learn about the first major turning points in the European theater in World War II. 00:00:22 Those occurred in the south and east at Sicily, Italy, and Stalingrad. Section 2 00:00:00 Hitler had turned occupied Europe into a fortress. German armies controlled much of Europe in 1942. Anticipating an invasion from British and American forces, the Germans built fortifications along France's Atlantic coast. As a result, Allied leaders planned first to invade the continent from the South. Winston Churchill was a leading proponent of this, 00:00:23 calling the area "the soft underbelly of Europe." The Allies began the project of liberating Europe with their invasion and conquest of North Africa. Next step was an invasion of Sicily. The goal was to knock Italy out of the war. American and British forces landed on Sicily July 10, 1943. Bernard Montgomery led British forces. 00:00:46 George Patton and Omar Bradley led US troops. As Allied forces advanced across the island, Benito Mussolini was removed from power in Italy. Allied armies controlled the entire island by mid-August. It took little more than a month to conquer Sicily. Allied forces were then free to move into the Italian Peninsula. General George Patton gained fame during World War II as 00:01:11 Eisenhower's most effective and controversial battlefield commander. He commanded the US Seventh Army during the liberation of Sicily. . That campaign followed Patton's success in leading American troops in North Africa. In Sicily, however, Patton was criticized for slapping one of his own soldiers, who had been hospitalized for shell shock. 00:01:34 A year later, Patton led the US Third Army in a rapid drive across France and Germany that hastened the collapse of the Third Reich. Section 4 00:00:00 We learned in the warm-up, the Battle of Stalingrad was a major engagement on the Eastern front. German and Soviet soldiers fought over the city for nearly eight months. Following a major drive in the summer of 1942, German soldiers had captured most of Stalingrad by October. Soviet troops then launched a counteroffensive in the North and South, surrounding a pocket of Germans in the city 00:00:26 of Stalingrad. By February 1943, German forces at Stalingrad had to surrender. More than 800,000 casualties were suffered by the Germans during this battle. The battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point in World War II, and it turned the tide on the Eastern front. The Allied victories in North Africa and Sicily and the 00:00:51 Soviet victory in Stalingrad turned the tide of the war against the Axis forces in 1943. The Soviet army was moving west towards Germany. In September of 1943, American and British armies invaded the Italian mainland. Italy immediately surrendered to the Allies, leaving German troops to defend the Italian peninsula without any help from their former allies. 00:01:16 Meanwhile, Eisenhower built up his forces in England, preparing for a cross channel invasion. By the end of 1943, the Allies held the clear upper hand in Europe. Section 6 00:00:00 Review the lesson question-- what were the turning points in Europe in World War II? The tide of war had changed in Europe in 1942 and 1943. You just learned how the Allies gained the upper hand against the Axis powers on the Mediterranean and Eastern Fronts. You will learn next about the role American forces played in assaulting the Nazis in Europe. 00:00:22 Before they could invade, they needed to secure air and sea superiority. Section 7 00:00:00 The Allies in 1943 were also fighting the ongoing battle of the Atlantic. American factories produced staggering numbers of aircraft, ships, and other war materials. But these war materials had to be shipped across the ocean. German U-boats prowled the Atlantic, preying on Allied ships. In 1942 alone, German submarines sank over 6 million 00:00:23 tons of shipping. The Allies implemented improved antisubmarine tactics and technology to reduce ship losses. By 1944, Allied naval forces controlled the Atlantic. Winning the battle of the Atlantic allowed plans for the invasion of France to go forward. The air war was another major struggle in World War II. British and American aerial forces launched bombing raids 00:00:50 against German cities, factories, and other military targets. British and American leaders intensified their campaign to appease Stalin, who was still impatient for a second front. Allied bombers dropped more than 2.7 million tons of explosives on access targets in Europe. The Allies lost more than 160,000 aviators to German fighters and anti-aircraft fire. 00:01:16 Eventually, however, the Allies did gain in air superiority. By the final months of the war, most German factories and cities had been reduced to rubble. Section 9 00:00:00 Summer of 1944. The Allies were ready to launch their long awaited invasion of France, code named Operation Overlord. The long awaited attack on Europe was launched June 6, 1944, the date known as D-Day. Allied planners chose the beaches of Normandy as the location for the invasion. The invasion force included 3,000 ships, 3,000 landing 00:00:25 craft, and more than 13,000 planes. The Normandy landings were the largest amphibious attack in history. Allied forces gained the element of surprise. Germany was expecting the attack at the Pas-de-Calais and had positioned strong forces to defend there. The Allies convinced the Germans of this with deceptive radio transmissions and placing General George Patton 00:00:50 in charge of a dummy army. This was sufficient to trick the Nazi generals into thinking that the Normandy site was not the invasion site. After landing in France, Allied troops fought to secure a foothold in Normandy. The invasion force landed at five different beaches at Normandy. 00:01:10 Allied soldiers quickly captured Sword, Gold, Juno, and Utah beaches. American landings at Omaha beach faced heavy resistance from German machine gunners. The allies eventually secured all five beaches, and five days later, had managed to land more than 325,000 troops and more than 54,000 vehicles. However, the casualty rates were high. 00:01:36 About 12,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded on D-Day, including about 2,500 Americans who died. The soldiers who jumped with parachutes behind enemy lines had the highest casualty rates. More than 10% of US paratroopers were killed or injured during this assault. Within one month of D-Day, 1 million Allied soldiers had landed at Normandy for the campaign to secure northern 00:02:04 France, which listed over a month. It is difficult to know how many soldiers were killed or wounded, but historians estimate that during the Normandy campaign, the Germans suffered more than 320,000 casualties. While the Allied casualty number is around 220,000. 9,300 Americans are buried in European cemeteries as a result of the Battle of Normandy. 00:02:28 General Omar Bradley was one of Eisenhower's most effective commanders during World War II. As a commander of the US First Army, Bradley helped plan and execute the Normandy invasions. Earlier in the war, he had commanded the US Second Corps during the final stages of the campaign in Tunisia and during the operations to capture Sicily. In 1944, Bradley led the 12th Army Group during its drive 00:02:55 across France and into Germany. The 1.3 million men in Bradley's Army Group comprised the largest force ever commanded by a single US general. Section 11 00:00:02 TEACHER: Americans played a major role in turning the tide of the war in the European theater. You just learned about the Allied victories in the Atlantic, in the air war, and at Normandy. These turning points turned the tide of the war in the favor of the Allies. Next, you will learn how US forces contributed to the final assault to defeat Germany in World War II. Section 12 00:00:00 --1944, the world was witnessing the last days of Nazi Germany. American and British forces moved into Germany from the west. Meanwhile, Allied forces continued their slow advance up the Italian Peninsula. And a massive Soviet army rolled towards Germany from the East. 00:00:20 Despite enduring many setbacks in 1944, Germany was not yet defeated. As Allied forces moved eastward towards Germany, German commanders launched a massive counter-offensive, December 1944. They attacked Allied forces in the Ardennes Forest, hoping to drive a wedge in the Allied assault. They successfully advanced 65 miles. 00:00:45 Allied forces under British General Montgomery and US General George Patton struck back at the Germans from the north and the south. British and US troops forced the Germans to retreat with heavy losses. This became known as the Battle of the Bulge. This battle helped end Hitler's hope of avoiding losing the war. 00:01:07 Casualties were very heavy. American forces suffered about 90,000 casualties with 19,000 Americans killed. The Battle of the Bulge was the final turning point in the war. At the start of 1945, victory in Europe was close at hand. In January, the Soviet army launched a massive offensive on the eastern front. 00:01:30 Soviet troops and tanks advanced westward through Poland and into Germany. The Red Army captured the German capital of Berlin on May 2. With defeat inevitable, Hitler committed suicide. By May 8, 1945, all German units had surrendered. The war in Europe was over. Germany's surrender ended the most destructive war in 00:01:54 European history. The death toll of World War II reached unprecedented numbers. The war claimed the lives of at least 30 million Europeans. The Soviet Union alone lost 18 million soldiers and civilians, more than 10% of their population. 180,000 of the more than 400,000 Americans killed in the war died in the European theater. World War II also left Europe's cities and 00:02:22 farmlands in ruins. Destroyed cities and deportations resulted in 21 million refugees after the war. The monetary cost alone approached $1 trillion.

Question and Answer

The Soviets lost more than twice as many soldiers at Stalingrad than the Americans lost during the entire war. Why do you think Stalin wanted the British and Americans to invade France as soon as possible? The Soviet army was suffering terrible losses on the eastern front. An invasion of France would draw German troops away from the eastern front. A cross-channel invasion would force the Germans to fight on two major fronts.

Question and Answer 3

Which event was the most important turning point in the European theater of World War II in 1943? the Battle of Stalingrad What were the results of the air war and the Battle of the Atlantic? Allied leaders could go forward with their plans to invade France. American troops and supplies reached Europe. By 1945, Allied bombers had reduced Germany's capability to produce war materials. what factors did planners have to consider before the invasion of Normandy? mines shore batteries weather