WWII - Germany Makes Mistakes: The War turns for the Allies (Lesson)

What about the Nazi-Soviet Non-aggression pact? Hitler signed knowing he had no intention of upholding his end of the pact - he simply needed to bide his time and prevent fighting Russia when he took Poland. Stalin, on the other hand, had trusted the agreement and was in shock when notified of the German invasion. His shock kept him from acting immediately and thus the Germans were able to drive into Russia without opposition for the beginning stages of this battle.

Germany Makes Mistakes: The War turns for the Allies.

By May of 1943, the allies were able to use their ships without fear of German subs as they were losing more than they were able to build. The British were preparing for a landed invasion when Hitler changed the focus of his invasions. By the late summer of 1940, he was planning Operation Barbarosa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. In June of 1941, Hitler's armies invaded the Soviet Union with three lines advancing on Leningrad (north), Moscow (middle), and the Ukraine (south). The German army spent tremendous amounts of manpower and resources in the march through the Soviet Union (900 day siege of Leningrad and the German inability to take Moscow). In the spring of 1942, the Germans launched an offensive to take the oilfields in the Caucasus. They did not reach the oil fields as they were stalled at Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest battles of the war. There was no other way for this to end but in a standoff - the Germans had orders to accept no surrender, Hitler would accept nothing less then wiping the cities off the face of the map. The Russians were ordered to hold the cities at all costs, forcing them to remain in the cities and fight throughout bitter winters and famine. Many Russians had no choice but to eat bread made of sawdust as there was a period when no supplies could get into the city. 

By the end of 1943 the Soviets had counterattacked and reclaimed most of the territory that the Germans had won.

Photograph of the burning of Stalingrad

Photograph of Stalingrad burning.

 

In the Mediterranean, the British were successful in conquering Italian North African holdings. The German Afrika Korps commanded by Erwin Rommel (the Desert Fox) were dispatched to North Africa to save Italy from collapse. Rommel was unsuccessful against the primary British forces with US support (commanded by Bernard Montgomery) as Hitler was preoccupied with his Balkan campaign. By November 1942, the Allies had defeated the Axis forces in North Africa and cleared the way for an invasion of Italy.

The Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943 and proceeded up through Italy. With the Allied invasion of Italy, Italian partisans overthrew Mussolini and the new government surrendered to the Allies on September 3rd. The Germans rescued Mussolini and occupied the northern area of Italy. The Germans refused to accept the surrender as it had not been offered by a government they recognized. The new Italian government then declared war on Germany and joined the Allied side as it was the only way to get the Germans out of their nation. The Italian campaign was hard fought with Rome not falling to the Allies until June 1944, two days before the Invasion of Normandy. The tide had turned in the war by 1944 due largely to the high numbers of planes which were conducting daytime raids on German cities. This bombing damaged the German war effort to the point that allowed for a European invasion to reclaim Europe from the Axis Powers. At the time of the Invasion of Normandy, the Allied armies were moving north through the Italian Peninsula and the Russians were moving eastward from the Baltic States.

On June 6, 1944 (D-Day), American, British, and Canadian soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy. Paris was liberated in August with the Allied forces moving through the Low Countries, pushing east. The last big German counteroffensive of the European war (unsuccessful) was the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium (Ardennes Forest). From the Battle of the Bulge on the western front, the Allies pushed east while the Russians pushed west (liberating concentration and death camps in the eastern European countries such as Poland). By the end of April, the Axis troops in Italy had surrendered (Mussolini was captured by Italian patriots trying to flee and was killed). Hitler committed suicide on April 28th in his bunker in Berlin days before the Russians entered the city. German representatives surrendered, ending the war in Europe (VE-Day).

 

 

 

Watch John Green's Crash Course European History video over World War II. There is a wealth of information that will assist you in your notes. You can access the video from the link below; you will need access to Youtube to view.

Click here to watch Crash Course European History - World War II. Links to an external site.

 

 

 

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