U5L11 Winning a Deadly War Flashcards
How did the beginning of he war look like for the Allies?
In early 1942, the situation looked bleak for the Allies. German armies occupied most of Europe and much of North Africa. The German war machine seemed unbeatable. German submarines were sinking ships faster than the Allies could replace them. Most of Europe was in Axis hands. Meanwhile, Japan was sweeping across Asia and the Pacific. American forces were divided between two fronts.
In the Soviet Union, German armies were closing in on Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad during the summer of 1941. How did the Russian climate affect the war between Germanand Russian forces?
(1941)
The Soviets resisted heroically. They burned crops and destroyed farm equipment so that the Germans could not use them. The harsh Russian winter that followed also greatly hindered the German advance. Still, the German attack caused terrible hardships. During the 900-day siege of Leningrad that began in the fall of 1941, more than one million Russian men, women, and children died, mostly of starvation.
After Japan bombed Pearl harbor, what did they begin doing?
Japanese forces were on the move in the Pacific.
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After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, they seized Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Japanese focres we’re on the move in the pacific. What did the U.S. do about this? What was the flaw?
General Douglas MacArthur commanded United States forces in the Southwest Pacific. With few troops, MacArthur had to defend a huge area.
Where did General Douglas MacArthur troops fight?
He directed American and Filipino troops in the defense of the Philippines and the island of Bataan. They fought bravely against enormous odds.
What was the outcome of the battle against Japanese forces and MacArthur’s troops?
In the end, MacArthur was forced to withdraw. However, about 75,000 American and Filipino troops left to defend Bataan were captured. Nonetheless, MacArthur announced from the safety of Australia: “I shall return.”
What did the allies have to do before continuing their fight with the axis powers?
They had to agree on a plan
What was the new strategy the the Allies agreed upon?
Even before Pearl Harbor, American and British leaders had decided that the Allies must defeat Germany and Italy first. Then, they would send their combined forces to fight Japan.
Adopting a “beat Hitler first” strategy did not mean abandoning the war in the Pacific. Who was the commander of Allied forces in the Pacific?
Chester Nimitz
Chester Nimitz sent a naval task force into the Coral Sea near Java in May 1942. Why was this? Describe the Battle of Midway?
The task force, strengthened by aircraft carriers that had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, met a Japanese fleet there. After a three-day battle, the Japanese fleet turned back. It was the first naval battle in history in which the ships never engaged one another directly. All the damage was done by airplanes from the carriers.
Who won the Battle of Midway? What was the significance of winning this battle?
One month later, the United States Navy won a stunning victory at the Battle of Midway. American planes sank four Japanese aircraft carriers. The battle severely hampered the Japanese offensive. It also kept Japan from attacking Hawaii again.
Describe the allied forces efforts to keep Germany from coming into Africa?
Allied forces began to push back the Germans in North Africa. In October 1942, the British won an important victory at El Alamein in Egypt.
German forces under General Erwin Rommel were driven west into Tunisia.
Meanwhile, American troops under the command of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George S. Patton landed in Morocco and Algeria. They then pushed east. Allied armies trapped Rommel’s forces in Tunisia. In May 1943, his army had to surrender.
How did the Allies invade Italy?
They used paratroopers and soldiers brought by sea to capture the island of Sicily. In early September 1943, the Allies crossed from Sicily to the mainland of Italy.
The Allies invaded Italy, but what was the situation once they got in Italy? How occupied much of Italy?
By then, Mussolini had been overthrown as leader of Italy. The Germans, however, still occupied much of Italy.
What type of battles were in Italy?
In a series of bloody battles, the Allies slowly fought their way up the peninsula. On June 4, 1944, Allied troops marched into Rome.
What was the first European capital to be freed from Nazi control?
It was the first European capital to be freed from Nazi control.
Why did Germany surrender to Eastern Europe?
The Soviet army repelled the Germans from Leningrad (in Russia) in 1943. At Stalingrad (in Russia), after months of fierce house-to-house fighting, Soviet soldiers forced the invading German army to surrender. Slowly, the Soviet army pushed the remaining German forces westward through Eastern Europe. Fighting in Russia and Eastern Europe was fierce.
For years, Stalin had urged Britain and the United States to send armies across the English Channel into France. Why was Britain scared for such an attack?
Such an attack would create a second front in Western Europe and ease pressure in the East.
What was Operation Overlord?
The code name for the invasion of Europe.
Who was the commander of Allied forces in Europe?
General Eisenhower
What was General Eisenhower’s task as general?
He faced an enormous task. He had to organize a huge army, ferry it across the English Channel, and provide it with ammunition, food, and other supplies. By June 1944, almost 3 million troops were ready for the invasion.
The Germans knew that an attack was coming, but not when or where. To guard against the Allied invasion, what did the Germans do?
They had mined beaches and strung barbed wire along the entire French coastline. Machine guns and concrete antitank walls stood ready to stop an advance.
What happened on D-Day?
In the early morning of June 6, 1944—D-Day as it was known—a fleet of 4,000 Allied ships carried the invasion force to France. Allied airplanes dropped thousands of paratroopers into occupied France. Gliders landed in the French fields to deliver yet more troops and supplies. Allied warships shelled German defenses in preparation for the attack. But most of the invasion came from troop landings on five different beaches along Normandy. Allied troops scrambled ashore, with particularly tough resistance at a location codenamed Omaha Beach. Before the attack was over, 2,400 American casualties resulted at “Bloody Omaha.” Eventually Allied forces captured all five beaches.
Describe D-day and France’s freedom from Germany?
Despite intense German gunfire and heavy losses, Allied forces surged on to capture more territory along the coast of France. Every day, more soldiers landed at Normandy to reinforce the advance. However, fighting after D-Day was extremely slow and dangerous due to French farm fields that provided thick cover for the enemy. But the Allied ground troops fought stubbornly and pushed German forces back.
The Allied liberation of France continued with the capture of Cherbourg, an important French port, by the end of June. Then the Allies swept east and, on August 25, 1944, they entered Paris. After four years under Nazi rule, the Parisians greeted their liberators with joy. Within a month, all of France was free.
