World War II in Africa and Europe

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World War II inAfrica and Europe
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America enters the war

• Millions volunteer for duty
• Selective Service Act in effect
• America wanted to invade France
• Churchill thought Allies werent ready yet
• Is a different strategy possible??
• How do the Allies defeat the Axis Powers??

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Battles in Africa

• Britain and Germany fought for control of
  Northern Africa
• Egypt was important to British (Access to Suez
  Canal)
• May 1943 Allies with American forces defeat
  Germans in Tunisia
• Allies now able to spring into Italy - Mussolini
  overthrown

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More trouble for Germans

• The Battle of Stalingrad brutal defeat for
  Germans
• Germans trapped in city in winter, many froze
  to death
• Scorched-earth policy
• 2 million military and civilian deaths (199 day
  battle)

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Invasion of France (D-Day)

• June 6, 1944
• 5,000 ships 130,000 soldiers (American,
  British, Canadian)
• 10,000 Allies killed/wounded
• Result Successful in securing the beach

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Map of Normandy
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Allied Deception at D-Day
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Note found with Eisenhower (never used)

• Our landings have failed and I have withdrawn
  our troops. My decision to attack at this time
  and place was based on the best information
  available. The troops, the air and the Navy did
  all that bravery could do. If any blame or fault
  attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.
• -Gen. Dwight D.
  Eisenhower
• June 1944

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Allies fight into Europe

• Allies fight Germans into France
• Paris liberated in August 1944
• Germans final assault made at Battle of the Bulge
• Allies defeat Germans
• Heavy casualties

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War comes to a Close

• Stalin, Churchill, FDR meet at Yalta to discuss
  post-war situation
• FDR dies of stroke (April 1945)
• Harry Truman now President
• Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker
  Allies overrun the Germans

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Horrors of the Holocaust

• 6 million Jews killed by Nazis
• Sent to death centers called Concentration
  Camps
• Based on Hitlers racism
• Blamed Jews for Germanys problems