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Chapter 11���World War II

1941-1945

11.1 The Allies Turn the Tide

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1.  Axis and Allies Plan StrategyRoosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin considered Germany the most dangerous enemy. None felt Japan or Italy posed a serious long-term threat. Only Germany had the resources to bomb Britain, fight U.S. and British navies on the Atlantic, and invade the Soviet Union across a 1,200 mile front. Thus, although their ultimate goal was to fight and win a two-front war, the allies agreed to pursue a, “Europe First” strategy.

2. Turning the Tide in EuropeThe Atlantic-The US used convoys and new radars to get past dangerous Nazi, “wolf pack” U-Boats. The U-Boats cost the Allies about 3,500 ships and tens of thousands of men. Churchill said, “The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-Boat peril”.

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The Eastern Front- Hitler attacked Russia with hundreds of thousands of Nazi soldiers. Their goal was to capture the oil fields, then to use the oil to take Russia. Russian resistance and the brutal Russian winter defeated the Nazis. Only about 5,000 Nazis survived and returned to Germany.

http://www.history.com/shows/wwii-in-hd/videos/world-war-ii-battle-of-stalingrad - world-war-ii-battle-of-stalingrad

North Africa- Eisenhower and Patton vs. Rommel in a desert tank war. Patton said, “You usually will know where the front is by the sound of gunfire, and that’s the direction you should proceed. Now, suppose you loose a hand or an ear is shot off, or perhaps a piece of your nose, and you think you should walk back to get first aid. If I see you, it will be the last walk you ever take”. German and Italians surrender in May 1943.

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3.  Increasing the Pressure on Germany

American and British forces bombed Germany strategically and they also saturated the area with bombs. Flight crewmembers killed- 30,099Flight crewmembers wounded- 13,360Combat missions- 1,693,565Tons of bombs dropped- 1,554,463Planes lost in combat- 18,418Enemy aircraft destroyed- 29,916

4. Turning the Tide in the PacificJapan Attacked and won several British, Dutch, and American colonies in the Pacific after crippling the US naval fleet at Pearl Harbor (Philippines, Malaya, Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, Wake Island, Guam, Burma)

The Japanese sought to finish off the US fleet in the Pacific by attacking air craft carriers. If they could destroy the carriers at Midway they would control the Pacific up to the California coast. Midway was a new kind of naval battle. Instead of armed ships facing each other directly, the fighting was carried on by swift airplanes that took off from the decks of aircraft carriers to bomb vessels.

The US Navy smashed the Japanese navy so badly that Japan was forced to defend their own islands. American forces began their Island hopping strategy.

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