World War II in Africa and Europe

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World War II inAfrica and Europe
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America enters the war

• Millions of Americans (from all ethnic / racial
  groups) volunteered for duty following Pearl
  Harbor
• Selective Service Act in effect
• America wanted to invade France right away in
  1942 Stalin agreed
• Churchill thought Allies werent ready yet
• Is a different strategy possible??
• How do the Allies defeat the Axis Powers??

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Battles in Africa

• Britain and Germany fought for control of
  Northern Africa
• Egypt was important to British (Access to Suez
  Canal)
• U.S. landed in Africa in Nov. 1942
• May 1943 Allies with American forces defeat
  German forces led by Erwin Rommel in Tunisia
• Allies now able to spring into Italy
  overthrowing Mussolini in September 1943

U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
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More trouble for Germans

• The Battle of Stalingrad brutal defeat for
  Germans
• Germans trapped in city in winter, many froze
  to death
• Scorched-earth policy
• 2 million military and civilian deaths (199 day
  battle)

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Invasion of France (D-Day)

• June 6, 1944
• 5,000 ships 130,000 soldiers (American,
  British, Canadian)
• 10,000 Allies killed/wounded
• Result Successful in securing the beach

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Map of Normandy
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Allied Deception at D-Day
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Note found with Eisenhower (never used)

• Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn
  our troops. My decision to attack at this time
  and place was based on the best information
  available. The troops, the air and the Navy did
  all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault
  attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.
• -Gen. Dwight D.
  Eisenhower
• June 1944

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Allies fight into Europe

• Allies fight Germans into France
• Paris liberated in August 1944
• Germans final assault made at Battle of the Bulge
• Allies defeat Germans
• Heavy casualties

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War comes to a Close

• Stalin, Churchill, FDR meet at Yalta to discuss
  post-war situation
• FDR dies of stroke in April 1945
• Harry Truman now President
• Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker
  Allies overrun the Germans

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Horrors of the Holocaust

• 6 million Jews and millions of other people -
  killed by Nazis
• Sent to death centers called Concentration
  Camps
• Based on Hitlers racism
• Blamed Jews for Germanys problems

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Band of Brothers

• The Band of Brothers miniseries follows a
  company of American paratroopers in World War II
  E. Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne,
  known as Easy Company

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Episode Synopsis Day of Days

• In this episode, the focus is on the Normandy
  invasion and Easy Companys assignment to take
  out a German artillery installation firing on
  U.S. forces making the seaborne invasion. On
  June 5th and 6th, 1944, thousands of Allied
  paratroopers dropped from the sky to begin one of
  the most audacious military campaigns of the war

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Cast

• Major Richard Winters Easy Companys commanding
  officer
• Captain Lewis Nixon

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Questions to think about

• 1. Red light vs. Green light
• 2. What do the troops do when being dropped in
  the incorrect drop zones
• 3. What other challenges existed? How did they
  overcome these challenges?
• 4. What were the major themes of the episode?