Turning the Tide in Europe
Overview
Operation Torch
From 1939 – 1942, an Axis victory in Europe seemed a very real possibility. Nazi Germany, bolstered by its ally Italy, as well as occupied nations in Europe, seemed destined to win the war. And yet, the Germans also seemed overextended. In fall 1942, the Germans were knocked out of their positions in North Africa during Operation Torch—led by the United States. The following summer, the Allies would claim Sicily and make their way into Europe through Italy. By winter of 1943, the Soviet Red Army forced the German army to retreat, slowly but surely, toward Berlin. And then in the summer of 1944, the Allies would make good on a promise to Stalin to open up a second front in Europe. When the invasion of Normandy occurred in June 1944, the German army was stretched as it fought a multifront war to the west, east, and south. By the summer of 1944, the war had turned in favor of the Allies, as Germany crumbled from within and without. Despite the advances made by the Allies, the last years of the war would prove hard fought for them as the fighting devolved into total war across the European continent.
Learning Objectives
- Examine why the Allies chose to invade North Africa and Sicily.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Operation Husky: the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 1943
Operation Torch: Allied invasion of North Africa in the fall of 1942
Tunisia: country in North Africa occupied by the Germans during World War II; location of much of the combat in North Africa
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War.
The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe and open a second front to reduce the pressure of German forces on the Soviet troops. The goal was to eliminate the Axis Powers in North Africa, improve naval control of the Mediterranean Sea, and prepare for an invasion of Southern Europe in 1943. U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943; however, he agreed to support British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Operation Torch launched on November 8, 1942 and was completed on November 11. To reduce German and Italian forces, Allied forces landed in North Africa, under the assumption that there would be little to no resistance. In fact, Vichy French forces, collaborators with the Germans, put up a strong and bloody resistance to the Allies. Soon though, the Allies had overwhelmed the Vichy French forces. The Allied landings prompted the Nazi occupation of Vichy France. Sensing that an Allied victory was imminent, the Vichy army in North Africa switched sides and joined the Allies in fighting against the Germans and Italians.
Tunisian Campaign
Following the Operation Torch landings, the Germans and Italians initiated a buildup of troops in Tunisia to fill the vacuum left by Vichy troops who had withdrawn. During this period of weakness, the Allies decided against a rapid advance into Tunisia while they wrestled with the Vichy authorities.
By the beginning of March, the British army reached the Tunisian border. The Germans discovered they were outflanked, outmanned, and outgunned. The British Eighth Army bypassed the Axis defense in late March. The British First Army in central Tunisia launched their main offensive in mid-April to squeeze the Axis forces until their resistance in Africa collapsed. The Axis forces surrendered on May 13, 1943, yielding over 275,000 prisoners of war. The last Axis force to surrender in North Africa was the 1st Italian Army. This huge loss of experienced troops greatly reduced the military capacity of the Axis powers, although the largest percentage of Axis troops escaped Tunisia. They would fight the Allies in Sicily and Italy the next year. This defeat in Africa led to all Italian colonies in Africa being captured.
Operation Husky
The Allied invasion of Sicily, code named Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, during which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large amphibious and airborne operation followed by a six-week land operation and began the Italian Campaign.
Background
After the defeat of the Axis Powers in North Africa in May 1943, there was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to invade Italy, which in November 1942 he called “the soft underbelly of the Axis.” Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and Churchill believed an invasion would remove Italy as an opponent, as well as the influence of Axis forces in the Mediterranean Sea, which would open the area to Allied traffic. This would reduce the shipping capacity needed to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East at a time when the disposal of Allied shipping capacity was in crisis, as well as increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, it would tie down German forces. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, had been pressing Churchill and Roosevelt to open a “second front” in Europe, which would lessen the German Army’s focus on the Eastern Front, where the bulk of Soviet forces were fighting in the largest armed conflict in history.
Operation Husky - An Allied Victory
A combined British-Canadian-Indian-American invasion of Sicily began on July 10, 1943, with both amphibious and airborne landings at the Gulf of Gela, under the command of American General Patton, as well as north of Syracuse under British General Montgomery. The original plan contemplated a strong advance by the British northwards along the east coast to Messina, with the Americans in a supporting role along Britain’s left flank. However, when the British Eighth Army was held up by stubborn defenses in the rugged hills south of Mount Etna, Patton amplified the American role by a wide advance northwest. This was followed by an eastward advance north of Etna towards Messina, supported by a series of amphibious landings on the north coast, which propelled Patton’s troops into Messina shortly before the first elements of Eighth Army. The defending German and Italian forces were unable to prevent the Allied capture of the island, but they had succeeded in evacuating most of their troops to the mainland by August 17, 1943. Through this offensive, Allied forces gained experience in opposed amphibious operations, coalition warfare, and mass airborne drops.
Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of Stalingrad in Southern Russia, located on the eastern boundary of Europe. It has been described as the biggest defeat in the history of the German Army and a decisive turning point in the downfall of Hitler in World War II. It was fought from August 1942 until February 1943.
Learning Objectives
Evaluate why the Battle of Stalingrad was a major turning point of World War II in favor of the Allies.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
The Battle of Stalingrad: a battle between the Russian Red Army and the Germans, as well as their allies, that occurred in the industrial city of Stalingrad, Ukraine from August 1942 until February 1943
Overview
For the first three years of World War II, Nazi Germany dominated Europe. An Axis victory seemed likely. By tooth and claw, the British and Soviets had held on, bolstered significantly by supplies delivered by the United States. Weather had slowed the German advance into the Soviet Union. Their men were unprepared for the severe cold of the Russian winters, as well as the horrible mud and biting pests that would occur when the snow melted and the Russian spring came. The pressure put on German supply lines was crippling. To continue their advance, the Germans knew they needed oil and gas resources. Moreover, they needed a crippling victory over the Soviets. With these thoughts in mind, the German army drove toward the industrial center of Stalingrad—“Stalin’s city,” which is present-day Volgograd, Russia.
From its outset, the Battle of Stalingrad was marked by constant close-quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids. The Red Army mounted a far fiercer defense of the city than the Germans and their Hungarian and Romanian allies accounted for. The attack was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing that reduced much of the city to rubble. The fighting degenerated into house-to-house fighting, as both sides poured reinforcements into the city. By mid-November 1942, the Germans pushed the Soviet defenders back at great cost into narrow zones along the west bank of the Volga River.
The Battle of Stalingrad is often regarded as one of the single largest and bloodiest battles in the history of warfare; nearly 2.2 million troops fought in the battle and 1.7 – 2 million were wounded, killed, or captured. The heavy losses inflicted on the German Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war and a turning point in the European theater of World War II. For this battle, German forces had withdrawn a vast military force from the West to replace their losses in the East, weakening their position on the Western Front, while never regaining the initiative on the Eastern Front.
Significance
The German public was not officially told of the impending disaster until the end of January 1943; positive media reports had ended in the weeks before the announcement of failure. And Stalingrad marked the first time that the Nazi government publicly acknowledged a failure in its war effort. The battle proved not only the first major setback for the German military but also a crushing, unprecedented defeat where German losses were almost equal to those of the Soviets. Prior losses of the Soviet Union were generally three times as high as the German ones. On January 31, regular programming on German state radio was replaced by a broadcast of the somber Adagio movement from Anton Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, followed by the announcement of the defeat at Stalingrad. But this did not lead the Germans to believe that they could not win the war, as on 18 February, Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels gave the famous Sportpalast speech in Berlin, encouraging the Germans to accept a total war that would claim all resources and efforts from the entire population.
Stalingrad has been described as not only the biggest defeat in the history of the German Army but also as the turning point on the Eastern Front, in the war against Germany overall, and the entire Second World War. Before Stalingrad, the German forces went from victory to victory on the Eastern Front, with only a limited setback in the winter of 1941 – 42. After Stalingrad, they won no decisive battles, even in summer. The Red Army had the initiative and the Wehrmacht was in retreat. A year of German gains had been wiped out. Germany’s Sixth Army had ceased to exist, and the forces of Germany’s European allies, except Finland, had been shattered. In a speech on November 9, 1944, Hitler himself blamed Stalingrad for Germany’s impending doom.
Impact
Today there are some historians who downplay the significance of the Battle of Stalingrad, those who claim either the Battle of Moscow or the Battle of Kursk was more strategically decisive. But there is no denying that the destruction of an entire army—1 million Axis soldiers—and the frustration of Germany’s grand strategy made Stalingrad a watershed moment, especially for German demoralization, and Allied hope.
Germany’s defeat shattered its reputation for invincibility and dealt a devastating blow to morale. On January 30, 1943, his 10th anniversary of coming to power, Hitler chose not to speak. Joseph Goebbels read the text of his speech for him on the radio. The speech contained an oblique reference to the battle which suggested that Germany was now in a defensive war. The public mood was sullen, depressed, fearful, and war-weary. Germany was looking in the face of defeat. However, on the Soviet side there was an overwhelming surge in confidence and belief in victory. A common saying was: “You cannot stop an army which has done Stalingrad.” Stalin was feted as the hero of the hour and made a Marshal of the Soviet Union.
D-Day
The Allies, primarily the British and Americans, launched the largest amphibious invasion in history when they assaulted the German forces at Normandy the northern coast of France—on June 6, 1944. They were able to establish a beachhead after a successful “D-Day,” which is what they called the first day of the invasion. The human cost for obtaining this critical part of the French coast was exorbitantly high. More than 200,000 British, American, French, and Canadian troops were casualties of the invasion. Over 300,000 Germans became casualties. Despite the brutality of the invasion, the success of the Allies led to the liberation of France and, ultimately, allowed the Allies to attack the Germans on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the immediate success of the Normandy invasions.
- Analyze how the Normandy invasion helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
D-Day: June 6, 1944, the first day of the Normandy invasion
Liberation of France: defeat of German occupiers in France by the Allies in 1944
Normandy: coastal area of Northern France
Omaha Beach: one of the five beaches Allied troops landed on that was infamous for the high casualties of American soldiers
Operation Overlord: the codename for the invasion of Normandy
Operation Bodyguard: codename for the Allies’ ruse to trick the Germans before the Allied invasion of Normandy
D-Day: The Normandy Landings
Planning for Operation Overlord began in 1943. From the onset of planning, the Allies realized there was a significant challenge—concealing the fact that they were planning the largest invasion in history from the Germans. Afterall, the Germans still occupied France, including the coast. The Germans had excellent intelligence, and they expected an invasion. Only the English Channel separated England, where Allied forces were massing, from Nazi-occupied France. The challenge for the Allies was to successfully conceal their massive invasion. As luck would have it, the Germans remained over-extended on all fronts and the Allies had a plan.
In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, code named Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. They leaked enormous amounts of false information to the Germans of the impending invasion. The Allies then took the deception one step further. They created a fake invasion force north of their actual location. Dummy aircraft and landing craft, as well as inflatable tanks were put on display so that the Allied ruse would be believed.
As luck would have it, the Germans did fall for the Allied ploy. They sent the bulk of their defensive forces to the area around Calais. Nevertheless, the entire French coast was still heavily defended. Rows of steel hedgehogs lined the edge of the beach, half-concealed by the tide. Behind this defensive measure were rows of barbed wire and mines, and, above the beach, there were rows of machine gunners and flamethrowers.
The amphibious landings at Normandy were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault with the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight.
The amphibious invasion of D-Day was to begin on June 6, 1944. The night before, Franklin Roosevelt bolstered the support of troops by declaring, “The Eyes of the World are upon you.” For Roosevelt, as well as the rest of the military commanders, knew that the invasion would be brutal and the human cost almost unfathomable.
On the morning of June 6, the young men (mostly under the age of 25) were given a hearty, full breakfast at five in the morning. Although well-intentioned, the troops did not understand that their breakfast would soon work against them. They shipped out not long after and discovered the English Channel was excessively choppy. Soon, the men who had enjoyed breakfast were seasick. Shouldering as much as eighty pounds of gear on their backs, the Allied troops were to charge the descent from their landing craft, charge through the water, and attack the German positions on five beaches: Utah, Gold, Sword, Juno, and Omaha.
Allied infantry and armored divisions landed on the coast of France at 6:30 am. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha Beach, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialized tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of their goals on the first day. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until June 12; however, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months.
The Normandy invasion was extremely hard-fought but ultimately successful. Strategically, the campaign led to the loss of the German position in most of France and the secure establishment of a new major front. In the larger context, the Normandy invasion helped the Soviets on the Eastern Front, who were facing the bulk of the German forces, and to a certain extent contributed to the shortening of the conflict there.
Despite initial heavy losses in the assault phase, Allied morale remained high. Casualty rates among all the armies were tremendous. However, the success of the invasion led to several key events: Allied territory in continental France that allowed for easier shipment of troops and goods; the liberation of France, and later Belgium, Holland, and other countries; and the weakening of the German army. All of these developments would contribute to an Allied victory in World War II.
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. It focused on naval blockades and counter-blockades to prevent wartime supplies from reaching Britain or Germany.
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate how the Battle of the Atlantic affected the overall course of World War II.
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Battle of the Atlantic: the Allied naval blockade of Germany, and Germany’s subsequent counter-blockade
Overview
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. At its core was the Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany’s subsequent counter-blockade.
As an island nation, the United Kingdom was dependent on imported goods. Britain required more than a million tons of imported material per week to be able to survive and fight. From 1942 on, the Germans sought to prevent the build-up of Allied supplies and equipment in the British Isles in preparation for the invasion of occupied Europe. Therefore, the defeat of the U-boat threat was a prerequisite for pushing back the Germans. Winston Churchill later remarked on the event,
The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome.
The name “Battle of the Atlantic” was coined by Winston Churchill in February 1941. It has been called the “longest, largest, and most complex” naval battle in history. It involved thousands of ships in more than 100 convoy battles and perhaps 1,000 single-ship encounters, in a theater covering thousands of square miles of ocean. The situation changed constantly, with one side or the other gaining advantage as participating countries surrendered, joined, and even changed sides, and as new weapons, tactics, countermeasures, and equipment were developed by both sides. The Allies gradually gained the upper hand, overcoming German surface raiders by the end of 1942 and defeating the U-boats by mid-1943, though losses due to U-boats continued until war’s end.
U-Boat Strategy
Early in the war, the Germans believed they could bring Britain to her knees because of her dependence on overseas commerce. They began practicing a naval technique known as the Rudeltaktik (the so-called “wolf pack”), in which U-boats would spread out in a long line across the projected course of a convoy. Upon sighting a target, they would come together to attack en masse and overwhelm any escorting warships. While escorts chased individual submarines, the rest of the “pack” would be able to attack the merchant ships.
Significance in the War
The Germans failed to stop the flow of strategic supplies to Britain, resulting in the build-up of troops and supplies needed for the D-Day landings. Victory at sea was achieved at a huge cost: between 1939 and 1945, 3,500 Allied merchant ships (totaling 14.5 million gross tons) and 175 Allied warships were sunk; additionally, some 72,200 Allied naval and merchant seamen lost their lives. The Germans lost 783 U-boats and approximately 30,000 sailors, which was three-quarters of Germany’s 40,000-man U-boat fleet. With the German fleet effectively weakened, the Allies could transfer goods and troops to France, across the Atlantic and the North Sea.
Attributions
All Images Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
History of Western Civilization, II
“The North African Front”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-north-african-front/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The Sicilian Campaign”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-sicilian-campaign/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
“Conflict in the Atlantic”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/conflict-in-the-atlantic/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
“The Allies Gain Ground”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-allies-gain-ground/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
“The End of the War”
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/the-end-of-the-war/