WWII's+European+Theater+1st+Period

=WWII's European Theater=

__Introduction__
America's involvement with the allies in Europe was very useful. There were three major generals in Europe. They were Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Patton. The three acted like it was a competition the whole time. But in the end they got the job done. Strategic Bombing was a new way of destroying the enemy's but they weren't the only victims of the bombings. On the other hand it was extremely effective against the German forces. Operation Overlord was a massive attack against the germans, an extremely bloody battle on both sides. The battle of the Bulge was Hitlers final attack to try and stop the allied forces from over running him. This battle is what put the Germans on the down fall. Neither the British or the Americans could have done this on there own.

__Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Patton__
> Montgomery was egotistical, prickly, brilliant and caustic. Eisenhower was like able, diplomatic, balanced and gregarious. Patton was a very serious man, he was very strict with his men, and he was an awkward public speaker. They smiled and shook hands for photos but behind the scene they hate each other. On the race to Berlin, they were both pushing there men recklessly forward! Complaining that their army was working harder then the others. Montgomery was pushing the main thrust, but Patton still thought that he was. Just from this one example you can see the tension between the men that were suppose to be allies. > Eisenhower was one of the most important commanders in world war two. He was assisted by Montgomery, which you can tell bugged Montgomery. Ike and Monty clashed one last time as the wars end came near. The fight was on how to defeat the Germans. Ike was the more experienced and higher rank; his plan was to focus on the heartland of Germany and leave Berlin to the Russians. Monty wanted to get to Berlin before the Russians. Ike knew better, he knew it would only create more casualties. He was right. Russia lost 100,000 men to take Berlin. > > ==__**Strategic Bombing against Germany during World War 2**__== At the beginning of World War 2, a new theory was formed. Strategic Bombing. Many military officials believed attacking Industrial, economic, and political targets was much more affective than targeting their military. but it did cost the lives of many civilians.
 * When analyzing these three men it seems to be that they fight more with each other then Hitler himself. Eisenhower and Montgomery disagreed. But the main fighting was with Montgomery and Patton.
 * __Introduction:__**

- The theory of strategic heavy bombing was developed at the end of the first World War. By the 1930s leaders of the the Luftwaffe and the Royal Air Force believed that mass long-range bombing raids had the potential to force the enemy to surrender. - However, at the beginning of the Second World War all air forces had a policy of attacking military targets only. This changed in September 1940, when the Luftwaffe began large-scale night raids on London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Plymouth, Bristol, Glasglow, Southampton, Coventry, Hull, Portsmouth, Manchester, Belfast, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham and Cardiff. Night-time raids dramatically reduced accuracy and it became impossible for pilots to concentrate on bombing military targets.

__Luftwaffe leaders:__
Kurt-Bertram von Doring, Joachim-Friedrich Huth, Hermann Wilhelm Göring, and many others. - Strategic bombing involves employing bombers to strike directly at key industrial, economic or political targets within an enemy's country which may affect its capacity to wage war, rather than attacking their armed forces. - First developed by the Germans during the First World War. - Throughout the twenty years prior to the start of the Second World War, many of the RAF's senior officers remained committed to the concept of strategic bombing and several believed it could win a war outright. - With the equipment then available, however, the smallest feasible targets were entire towns, and even these often proved difficult to locate. This resulted in the adoption of a policy known as "area bombing" in which whole towns were targeted. - These attacks were designed not only to destroy the German war economy but also to undermine civilian morale and, thus, the Nazi government. - The strategic bombing offensive cost the Allies approximately 100,000 aircrew and inflicted up to one million fatal casualties upon Germany.

Operation Overlord (D-Day) media type="youtube" key="uPU4p7UQOtU" height="390" width="480" align="center"



Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy. The Battle of Normandy was an attack launched on German occupied western Europe. On June 6th, 1944, the attack started with the Normandy landings, or commonly known as D-Day. On this day, 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel, and a 12,000 plane airborne attack assault. The airborne attack targeted main roads and bridges behind the beaches that the troops were landing on so they were able to start moving off the beaches. The Germans knew this was coming and started to deploy more troops to the beach areas. On the beaches, the Allies set up machine-gun nests, and seawalls to protect them from the German troops. In this battle that lasted just under three months, over 646,386 people died, 6,227 planes were destroyed, and 6,200 tanks were also destroyed. The Allies won. casualties during Operation Overlord

__**The Battle of the Bulge and the End of the War**__
The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler’s last attempt to break up the Ally powers in the war. He was convinced that they were weak enough that a strong attack would pull them apart. In order to keep any information of the attack from the Allies, German soldiers dressed in the American uniform and pulled some tricks. They changed road signs, spread misinformation, and cut telephone lines, going to all extremes to throw Americans off their trail. They were successful – the Allies were not suspicious in the least. Hitler initially attacked the front lines, creating a bulge in the army. The strength of his attack was “based on a massive armored onslaught”. For the first few days, success seemed imminent. However, he had not thoroughly thought through how much fuel they would need, and when they ran out they had no hope left. The weather had been in the favor of the Nazi’s, being stormy enough that the Allies had no air power. However, ironically enough, the weather cleared as the Germans lost their advantage. The Germans had jet bombers to fight against the air attack, but “any success in the air was meaningless”. They were soon forced into abandoning their vehicles and running back to Germany on foot. The victory was ours. In the end, Hitler’s intention to pull the Allies apart backfired on him – they were brought closer together. From there, the Germans suffered a general collapse until, at last, they lost the war.

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=__ Question: Was the U.S. military in Europe during World War II entirely effective in defeating Nazi Germany as quickly as possible? __= While the U.S. army was quickly trying to defeat the Germans and end the war, there were minor set backs that slowed them down. An example of this would be that the generals tended to spend more time arguing with each other rather than with the enemy, where the real focus should have been. However, aside from that, the war was finished as quickly as humanly possible (everyone needs a moment to be human and argue every now and then), as Hitler was both attacking the U.S. and his own people. We had a strong reason to go to war and fight for what was right. No one likes a war, and the U.S. would not have let it drag on for longer than was necessary.