The Allies Turn the Tide

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The Allies Turn the Tide
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• At the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, British
  General Bernard Montgomery stopped Rommels
  advance and drove Germans back.
• In Morocco and Algeria, American General Dwight
  Eisenhower advanced from the west and combined
  with British forces to trap Rommels army.
• Rommel surrendered.
• After the victory in N. Africa, the Allies leaped
  across the Med. Sea to Italy.
• Most Italians were fed up with Mussolini and they
  overthrew the Duce.
• The new Italian govt. signed the armistice but
  the fighting did not end because of Hitler.

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• Hitler sent troops to rescue Mussolini and
  stiffen the will of Italians in the north.
• The Allies pushed north very slowly for 18
  months, suffering heavy losses.
• The Italian invasion was important because it
  weakened Hitler by forcing him to fight on
  another front.
• While stalled at Moscow and Leningrad, Hitler
  launched a new offensive aimed at the rich oil
  fields of the south.
• On the way south, Germans met resistance at
  Stalingrad.
• The Germans surrounded the city, then the
  Russians encircled their attackers.

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• Winter came and the Germans were trapped. Big
  loss for the Germans and the Soviets turned the
  tide after that.
• The Red Army went on to lift the siege of
  Leningrad and drove the Germans out of the Soviet
  Union.
• Red Army advanced into Eastern Europe.
• By 1944, the Allies were ready to open up the
  long-awaited Western Front.
• Gen. Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander.
• The Allies invaded France on June 6, 1944 (D-Day).

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• 176,000 troops were ferried across the English
  Channel. One of the most famous battles was on
  the beaches of Normandy.
• Allies broke through German defenses and advanced
  toward Paris. Other Allied forces sailed from
  Italy to land in S. France.
• (Aug. 25) French resistance forces rose up
  against the Germans and Allies took Paris.
• The Allies advanced into Belgium. Hitler
  launched a counterattack at the Battle of the
  Bulge, slowing the Allies advance.
• The Germans drove the Allies back in several
  places but were unable to break through.
• The Allies had been bombing major German cities
  such as Dresden and Hamburg for two years
  (saturation bombing).

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• By 1945, Germany could no longer defend itself in
  the air.
• The Allies advanced across the Rhine R. in
  Germany from the west as Soviets came from the
  east.
• American and Russian soldiers met and shook hands
  at the Elbe R. which signified Germany had been
  taken.
• Axis armies began to surrender. In Italy,
  guerillas captured and executed Mussolini.
• In Berlin, Hitler knew the end was near. He
  committed suicide in his underground bunker.
• (May 7) Germany surrendered. V-E day, victory in
  Europe came the next day.

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• Allies then poured their resources into defeating
  Japan.
• General Douglas MacArthur executed his
  island-hopping campaign in the pacific.
• The Japanese had shown they would fight to the
  death rather than surrender, showcased by the
  battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
• Kamikaze pilots undertook suicide missions,
  crashing their planes loaded with explosives into
  American warships.
• Invasion of Japan was figured to cost 1 million
  Allied casualties.
• The new American President, Harry Truman decided
  to drop the atomic bomb on Aug. 6 1945 on the
  city of Hiroshima.

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• (Aug. 8) Soviets declared war on Japan and
  invaded Manchuria.
• (Aug. 9) After another warning, the U.S. dropped
  a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
• Some leaders of the Japanese cabinet wanted to
  fight on. Others disagreed. Emperor Hirohito
  intervenedan action unheard of for an
  emperorforcing the govt. to surrender.
• (Sept 2, 1945) The formal peace treaty was signed
  aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo
  Bay.