U.S. History IIWorld War II (1941 to 1945)D2.His.14.9-12
The War in Europe and the Holocaust
The Allies fought in North Africa (1942), Sicily and Italy (1943), landed in Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and turned back Germany's last offensive at the Bulge; Germany surrendered on V-E Day (May 8, 1945); Allied soldiers liberated camps where Nazi Germany had murdered six million Jews and millions of others.
The Allies agreed to defeat Germany first, since it was the stronger enemy. The home front supplied the weapons; the Soviet Union, which Germany had invaded in June 1941, did most of the fighting on land and suffered the most deaths.
🔑 Key idea
The Allies fought in North Africa (1942), Sicily and Italy (1943), landed in Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and turned back Germany's last offensive at the Bulge. Germany surrendered on V-E Day (May 8, 1945). Allied soldiers liberated camps where Nazi Germany had murdered six million Jews and millions of others.
The war in Europe, from the U.S. point of view and the Eastern Front.
💡 Why it works
Why Africa and Italy before France? The British argued, and Roosevelt agreed, that the Allies were not yet ready to cross the English Channel; landing in North Africa in November 1942 (Operation Torch) got American troops into battle and drove the Germans and Italians out of Africa by May 1943. Sicily (July 1943) and the Italian mainland followed. Meanwhile the Soviets' victory at Stalingrad (ending February 1943) turned the tide in the East. Bombers struck German cities and factories. Then on June 6, 1944, under General Dwight Eisenhower, about 156,000 Allied soldiers landed on five beaches in Normandy. Paris was freed in August. In December 1944 Germany's surprise attack in the Ardennes made a "bulge" in the Allied line; American troops held, and the attack failed by late January.
As Allied armies advanced, they found the camps of the Holocaust. Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered about six million Jews, along with Roma, disabled people, Poles, Soviet prisoners and others. Americans liberated Buchenwald, Dachau and other camps in April 1945. Eisenhower ordered the camps filmed and photographed so no one could later deny what had happened. President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945; Hitler killed himself on April 30; Germany surrendered on May 8.
Work it through
✏️ Worked example: Ordering the fronts
Order these: Normandy landings; North Africa landings; Battle of the Bulge; invasion of Sicily.
North Africa: November 1942.
Sicily: July 1943.
Normandy (D-Day): June 1944.
The Bulge: December 1944 to January 1945.
Answer: North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, the Bulge.
⚠️ Common mistake
Many students think D-Day began the fighting in Europe. Americans had fought in North Africa and Italy since 1942 and 1943, and the Soviet Union had fought Germany in the East since 1941. D-Day opened the long-awaited second front in France.
Put the events in order, then Check.
Practice
Pass with 3 right answers, the last 2 in a row. Each right answer earns 2 XP.