world war 2 battles in europe – Flashcards
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who was winning the and who was losing in the beginning of the war?
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-allied powers were losing -axis powers winning by a lot on Europe and pacific (from taking land)
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who were the axis powers
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Japan, Italy, and Germany
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who were the allied powers
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United States, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and the Free region of France
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what was the goal of the allied powers
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Churchill, FDR, and Stalin considered Germany the biggest threat and wanted to defeat them first -WORKED TOGETHER -they did not want to split up their army and resources to fight against Germany in Europe and Japan in pacific because it was guaranteed they would lose reasons for biggest threat: -if Germany took over great Britain, it would mean that the US would be the only allied powers in the war
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Europe first strategy
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the pacific fighting against Japan would be a secondary priority after Germany was defeated -Australian forces would fight off Japanese until the US and GB would begin to fight against them
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arsenal of democracy
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-first blow to axis powers was that that the United States was becoming an "arsenal of democracy"' -means that democracy is their weapon -US is going to outproduce weapons to have an advantage over Axis powers -Germany could not produce as much as US -war production ends great depression
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what turns the tides of war in Europe?
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by 1943, allies begin to win the war in North America against wolf packs
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wolf packs
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group of German U-Boats that patrolled Atlantic and Caribbean, sinking more than 3,500 merchant ships and killing thousands of allied seamen
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what were the goals of the axis powers?
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DID NOT WORK TOGETHER, no coordinated strategy -Italy, Japan, and Germany shared common enemies but had individual dreams Germany:eliminate inferior people, dominate Europe Italy: more land, own an empire from the Adriatic to eastern africa Japan: weaken america to take over western pacific to asia
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Dwight Eisenhower
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commanded the allied side of the invasion of Africa
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Erwin Rommel
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German general who led his troops (Afrika korps) against Americans at Tunisia -known as desert fox
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Unconditional Surrender
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giving up completely without any concessions
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George S Patton
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appointed by Eisenhower, to led american forces in North Africa -known as blood and guts
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Saturation Bombing
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tactic of dropping massive amounts of bombs in order to inflict maximum damage
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Strategic Bombing
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tactics of dropping bombs on key political and industrial targets
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Harry S Truman
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the next president after FDR, helping and seeing the nations final victory against Japan
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how did the tides of ww2 change in 1942 to 1943?
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-up to 1942, axis powers were winning (esp Germany) and took over -1943 and on, allies were winning
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what battle was the turning point of the war
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battle of Stalingrad -ended Hitlers future realistic plans of control all of Europe -Nazi's first loss
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what were the opposing sides in the Battle of Stalingrad
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Germany vs Russia
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what was the reason the battle of Stalingrad started?
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Hitler wanted the resources of the oil, and wanted to have control of the Caucasus oil fields for his benefit. In order for him to do this, he would have to take over the city of Stalingrad -has his troops attack Russia
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what was the course of events throughout the battle of Stalingrad?
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1941: Germany attacks Russia 1942: hither sends his troops to southern Russia -soviets counteract -fought very slowly due to the weather conditions (Germany was not prepared for the cold, Russians were)
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what was the impact/ outcome of the battle of Stalingrad?
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outcome: Germany surrenders from hardships in war such as sickness, freezing weather, and starvation -they retreat Impact: -soviet union is now on offensive of war -this was the first Nazi defeat that ended Hitlers realistic plans to control all of Europe
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what was the name of the Invasion of Africa?
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operation torch
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who were the two sides in the invasion of Africa?
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Germany and Italy vs Great Britain and United States
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what was the reason the invasion of Africa started?
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Great Britain and the United Stated wanted to force Germany out of Africa, and then make a path way to Italy to enter (to invade)
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what was the course of events in the invasion of Africa?
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-1940: British vs. Italians ' -1942: British win at El Alamein -1943: Germans attempt to attack United States supply base -May 1943: German , Italian forces surrender
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what was the outcome/ impact of the invasion of Africa?
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outcome: United States and Great Britain defeat Italian and German troops, making 240,000 troops surrender Impact: the allies can now make a pathway to Italy to invade
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what were the opposing sides in the invasion of Italy?
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United States, Great Britain, Canada vs. Italy, Germany
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what was the reason the invasion of Italy started?
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allied powers wanted to weaken and defeat Italy
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what was the course of events in the Invasion of Italy?
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-southern Italy -Salerno landing was the attack area -allies attack Italy -Germany counterattacks -allied powers were too strong -allies gain control of Mediterranean (can control trade)
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what was the outcome/ impact of the invasion of Italy?
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outcome: Italy surrenders impact: weakened the axis powers
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what were the opposing sides in the bombing of Germany?
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United States vs Germany
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what was the reason the bombing of Germany started?
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US wanted to bomb Germany so that they could no longer produce weapons -wanted to destroy their capacity to make war
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what were the course of events in the bombing of Germany?
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-strategic bombing -saturation bombing -Tuskegee airmen- African american pilots that played a key role in the campaign, escorting the bombers and protecting them from enemy pilots
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what was the outcome/ impact of the bombing of Germany?
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outcome: United states won impact: paved the way for an all out allied offensive
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why did Hitler break the non aggression pact with the soviet union
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-the pact was never meant to be permanent, it was only made so that they would not have to fight a two front war -he wanted control of all of Europe (land) -wanted resources (oil fields)
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why was Stalingrad a turning point of the war
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-Nazis first loss -ended Hitlers realistic plans to rule all of Europe
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why did the allied choose the invade north africa first rather than France?
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it was an easier invasion, then if they can take over North Africa, it would be easier to make a pathway to head to Italy
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where did allies go after north africa and why?
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they went to Sicily Italy because they wanted to defeat the Italians -Sicily was the easiest way to get into core of italy
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by 1943, how has the allies turned the tide against Hitler, where will they turn their attention to next?
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-allies got the Germans to retreat and surrender -japan in the pacific
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over what issue did Churchill and FDR disagree with Stalin?
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-Stalin wanted to open a second front to relieve the pressure on soviet soldiers -Churchill strongly disagrees because in ww1 great Britain and France took this action and got defeated (destroyed many were killed) -he also believed it wouldn't work because there is too many U-boats in the English channel (take english channel to get to France) -if they launched this invasion it would set them up for defeat -FDR agrees with Churchill
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at what conference did Churchill, FDR, and Stalin discuss their reservations?
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the teheran conference
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what happens at the Teherance conference?
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-Churchill voiced his reservations about a cross channel invasion -FDR agrees with Stalin but sides with FDR so that the have a unified goal -wanted public to see them as being on the same page, because if they weren't, it would give Germany confidence
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what was outcome of the teherance conference?
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after 6 months the second front became a reality -which was called the invasion of Normandy
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what was the operation name for the invasion of Normandy?
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operation overlord
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what were the members apart of the invasion of Normandy?
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-Dwight Eisenhower (supreme overseeing commander, American) -general Bernard Montgomery (commander of ground forces, Great Britain) -general Omar Bradley (commander of the US army, american) the commander of the US First American Army
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what would happen to Eisenhower if the invasion of Normandy failed?
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he would resign from his position
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what was the FUSAG?
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First United States Army Group -led by George S patton
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where did the Germans think that the invasion of Normandy would happen?
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Pa de Calais
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how did the allies fool the Germans into thinking the invasion of Normandy was in Pa de Calais
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1. German double agents that were controlled by allies relayed the message to German 2. radio transmissions from network of stations 3.deployment of dummy camps, landing crafts, planes, gliders, etc
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how long did it take Hitler to realize the Normandy landing was a real thing
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7 weeks after
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why was d-day the greatest and most successful combined operation of its type in military history?
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the preparation behind the invasion, and the allied strategy to trick the germans from going to a different place
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what were the forces that stormed the beaches?
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great britain, canada, and United states
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what was the most heavily german fortified beach
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omaha beach
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what was the outcome of d-day?
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the allied forces are able to get onto the beach and are able to work their way into France
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describe the military situation by summer of 1944
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Germans were losing the war -they were fighting the war in 2 fronts (Russia and in France) -Germans were becoming hopeless being squeezed on both sides from east (Russia) to west (GB and US)
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what happened on august 1944
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-Us and great Britain liberated Paris of German control
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why was the war basically over for Germany after the liberation of France?
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they are losing their allies to the axis powers (Italy, France, and Paris is now freed)
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why did Rommel and other generals plan to overthrow Hitler?
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he still wanted to keep fighting even though Germany had no chance of winning
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what was the plan to kill Hitler?
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planting a bomb in his headquarters -does not kill Hitler -Rommel kills himself to avoid prison -Hitler continues to fight in war
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what was the last counter attack of germany
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battle of the bulge
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battle of the bulge
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Germans caught allies by surprise, created a bulge in the american line -weather prevented Americans from using their air powers -plan: cause havoc for allies coming in
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battle of Bastogne (in Belgium)
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american forces held -skies clear enough and bombers were able to attack the German positions -this pushed Germans out of France -last German counterattck
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who is it a race between to get to the capital?
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-jan 1945: soviet troops are outside of Berlin -race between america and soviet union to get to the capital -whoever gets there first is in control
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who commits suicide at the end of the war
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Hitler -kills himself because hes struggling with issues and the dream of winning the war keeps him alive
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what happens on may 7th 1945
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Germany surrenders
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what is VE day
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victory in Europe day -everyone celebrates that Germany was defeated
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what does the US do after they defeat Germany in Europe?
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they turn their attention to Japan in the Pacific
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how are the allied powers able to achieve victory in Europe?
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-all leaders had one goal to defeat the allies -sent supplies into Europe first, then to pacific (good strategy) -work production changes to war production on the home front -if the home front never did that, US could've never won the war
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what was the chronological order of the battles
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stalingrad/bombing of germany, invasion of africa, convoys fighting against the wolf packs in north atlantic, invasion of italy, d-day, battle of bulge, battle of bostogne
