Bell Quiz: Pages 576 – 577

1. Bell Quiz: Pages576 – 577 1. Hitler used 8 Panzer tank divisions in the Battle of the Bulge. There were 75 tanks per division. How many tanks were used in all? 2. What did the Germans do to the 120 captured American soldiers at Malmedy? 3. How did Hitler’s life end on April 30, 1945? 4. What country captured Berlin in April 1945? 5. Why was FDR not able to see the end of WWII?

2. Answers 1. 600 2. Massacred the captured GI’s. 3. Hitler shot himself in the head. 4. Soviet Union 5. FDR died of a stroke on April 12, 1945 during his 4th term in office.

3. Objectives: • Identify the events in the war in Europe that led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

4. The Allies Gain Ground • Seven days after D-day the allies held an 80-mile strip of France. • Within a month 1,000,000 allied troops had landed in France. • On July 25, 1944, General Omar Bradley launched a massive air and land bombardment against the Germans. • Bradley’s attack provided a gap in the German line of defense.

5. General George Patton • General George Patton and the Third Army took advantage of his gap. • On August 23, Patton and the Third Army reached the Seine River south of Paris. • August 25, Patton liberated Paris. • Paris had been under German occupation for four years.

6. The Allies • By September 1944, the allies had also freed Belgium and Luxembourg. • This news led to the election FDR for a fourth term.

7. The Battle of the Bulge NO YES

8. The Battle of the Bulge: 12/44-1/45 • In October 1944 Hitler launched an offensive in a desperate attempt to recapture the Belgian port of Antwerp. • Hitler ordered his troops to break through Allied lines and take Antwerp. • Hitler hoped this move would disrupt the enemy’s supply lines and demoralize the Allies. • December 16, 8 German tank divisions broke through American defenses. • This assault created an 80 mile long 60 mile deep “bulge” into allied territory. • This last-ditch offensive was named the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Offensive). • German SS troops captured and killed 120 American soldiers (Malmedy Massacre) .

9. Results of The Battle • The Sixth Panzer Army, was to lead the attack and to capture Antwerp. • The Fifth Panzer Army was to attack the centre of the American forces, capture the  strategic road and rail centre of St Vith and then drive on to Brussels. • The Seventh Army was to attack in the southern flank, as designated by Hitler, and  to create a buffer zone to prevent American reinforcements from attacking the Fifth Panzer Army. • The Fifteenth Army was to be held in reserve to counter any Allied attack when they took place.

10. The Battle of the Bulge The Allies were surprised by the attack. They had received little intelligence that such an attack would take place. Before the attack started, English speaking German soldiers dressed in American uniforms went behind the lines of the Allies and caused havoc by spreading misinformation, changing road signs and cutting telephone lines. Those who were caught were shot after a court martial. The weather was also in Hitler’s favor. Low cloud and fog meant that the superior air force of the Allies could not be used – especially the tank-busting Typhoons of the RAF or Mustang fighters from the USAAF which would have been used against the German tanks. Though the weather was typical for the Ardennes in winter, the ground was hard enough for military vehicles to cross and this suited the armored attack Hitler envisaged.

11. The Battle of the Bulge The U.S. was outnumbered 10 to 1 but after a month of fighting the Germans had been pushed back. The Germans lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks, 1,600 planes in the Battle of the Bulge. The German offensive had failed: the German Air Force had been destroyed; and the German Army in the West was being pushed back. The Americans lost 81,000 men of the 600,000 used in the battle.

12. Video Clip “The War” By Ken Burns 8:50-24:30 and 35:22-42:00

13. Liberation of Concentration Camps • As the Allied troops pressed eastward, the Soviet army pushed westward across Poland. • Soviet troops were the first to come across the Nazi death camps. • July 1944, the Soviets liberated a camp near Majdanek Poland. • Within the camp, the Soviets found thousands of starving prisoners and the world’s largest crematorium, where SS troops were attempting to burn all the evidence of their crimes. • American soldiers later liberated more Nazi death camps in Germany.

14. Unconditional Surrender • April 25, 1945, the Soviet army captured Berlin. • April 30, 1945 Hitler, in his underground headquarters, shot himself while his wife Eva Braun swallowed poison. • May 7, 1945 General Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. • May 8 1945, the Allies celebrated V-E Day (Victory in Europe).

15. Roosevelt’s Death • President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. • April 12, 1945 Roosevelt had a stroke and died. • Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nations 33rd president.