War in Europe

and Africa

P. 770-775

The U.S. went to war in Europe first, vowing to help Britain and the Soviet Union defeat the Axis Powers (January 1, 1942)

The Allies attacked North Africa at El Alamein in Egypt and prevented Germany from capturing the Suez Canal (November 1942).

The Axis forces were under the command of Erwin Rommel known as the Desert Fox.

The allies, under the leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower, landed in Algeria and Morocco on November 8, 1942, but were soon defeated.

Later, American General George Patton closed in on Commander Rommel and drove the Germans out of North Africa (May 1943). Rommel and his troops retreated to Tunisia.

Operation Mincemeat

• Plan to invade Italy • Two British soldiers came up with the plan in

order to blindside the Germans and Italians that had overrun Italy

• The plan – share• The Germans “took the bait” and secured

Greece• The Allies were able to successfully invade

Italy through Sicily

Operation Mincemeat

• Operation Mincemeat – British perspective

The Allies invaded Italy in the summer of 1943. As the Allies advanced , the Italians overthrew Mussolini and surrendered. Rome was liberated in June 1944. Then the

allies moved in to help the Soviets.

Mussolini’s death• After Allied occupationOf southern Italy in 1943The King ordered MussoliniTo be arrrested in order toSign an armistice. MussoliniWas executed in 1945.He and his mistress ClarettaPetacci along with some of his highRanking soldiers were hung in the streets of of Milan

for public view.

The siege of Leningrad lasted nearly 900 days. Germany tried to capture Moscow, but many causalities and bad weather slowed them down. The Germans went after the city of Stalingrad – an area with oil rich lands. The Germans had to fight in the streets and won Stalingrad.

But then the Soviet forces surrounded the city and cut off supply lines. The defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad marked a major turning point of the war. (February 2, 1943.).

Just over a year since the United States joined World War Two.