Battle Of The Bulge: Beneficial Or D-Day Invasion

The Allies endeavoured to damage German morale enough so that the troops did not want to fight against the Allies, and a future possible uprising against the Nazi Party. But to a large extent, this did not occur. This point deserves greater emphasis because it would beneficially alter the future for Germany and as Stalin said, ‘the only way to break German morale is by bombing.’ One main aspect of harm caused to morale is due to a distraught civilian population. In March alone 1942, there were 305,000 deaths, 1.8million homes destroyed and 20 million deprived of basic utilities from raids at Nuremberg, Lubeck, Augsburg and Munich. February 1943 saw the damaging bombing of Dresden whereby buildings were obliterated and over 150,000 civilians were killed. Likewise, on the 27th July 1943, Hamburg was bombed killing women, children and leaving 30,000 people for dead. People’s lives were forever changed, 5 million people were evacuated in 1942, water supplies were ruined when the allies dropped ‘dam-busters’ and many restaurants and services were closed. Despite greatly impacting the population, people continued to fight the war and get revenge on the Allies for what they caused which shows that the aim of disillusioning people from fighting for Germany. The mentality of the generals changed when 23% of the Luftwaffe

The Germans defeated the Polish and almost all of Western Europe. Although the British had no help when it came to Hitler and his army, the remains of Europe had been overturned already. The Battle of the Bulge also called Battle of the Ardennes as well, which began Dec. 16, 1944 and ended Jan. 16, 1945. This was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. It was an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory . Winston Churchill made a promise that he would fight as long as it would take to overcome Hitler. The name Battle of the Bulge was appropriated from Winston Churchill he referred to “the bulge” as the wedge that the Germans drove into the Allied lines.

The Battle of the Bulge also known as “Ardennes Offensive”, started on December 16, 1944. The Battle of the bulge, is significantly known as what ruined the German army and brought about the end of the war. The battle got its name from poorly protected stretch of hilly, woody forest “bulge” that Germans made between its allies. Hitler used this area of 80-mile dense forest, believing that his forces would be able to surround and cut off

     The Battle of the bulge took place on December sixteenth 1944. More than a million men participated in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British which made it

“The battle [is also] known by different names. The Germans [called it] ‘Operation Watch on the Rhine’, while the French [called] it ‘Battle of the Ardennes’. [American and Britain] called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive.” The main goal for the Germans for this offensive was to split the British and American forces in half and capture the port city of Antwerp. This would “cause an encirclement of four allied armies and [force] a peace negotiation” (Cirillo). The Germans almost had complete surprise when the offensive was launched on “December 16th, 1944, at 05:30” and the offensive start with “an artillery barrage of over 1,600 artillery pieces.” The assault took place across an “80 mile front [that] the 6th Panzer Army had to cover” (Quarrie 1). “The attack was led by one of the best equipped German divisions on the western front, the 1st SS Panzer Division.” This was the lead unit for the 6th Panzer Army and was the lead division for the assault. The 26th Infantry was covering the part of the front where the push started. They were caught completely by surprise. “Equipped with only 32 M4 tanks, 57 anti-tank guns and thousands of battle-weary men” (MacDonald 1). The initial assault went well for the Germans and they break through the thinly defended American lines. Just “20 hours in [from the start of the assault] German forces are just 55 miles out from their objective”. By this time the casualty rate is below from what the

Throughout all of history the United States have always found themselves in the midst of a conflict between other nations. One of the more significant conflicts that the U.S. intervened in is World War II. “World War II was the largest armed conflict in human history. Ranging over six continents and all the world's oceans, the war caused an estimated 50 million military and civilian deaths, including those of 6 million Jews” (World War II 1). World War II officially began when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Poland was a country that was guaranteed military assistance from France and Great Britain if Germany were to attack. If Hitler were to invade Poland he would not only have to fight against the British and French, but he would also have to fight against the Soviets. Therefore, in order for Hitler to prevent fighting a two front war he needed to create an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union. This agreement was called the Nonaggression Pact, which was agreed on August 23, 1939. This agreement stated that in the future neither country would declare war on each other. As a result of this Pact, Hitler was free to invade Poland without worrying about the Soviet Union. Subsequently, on September 3, 1939, France and Britain declared war on the Germans. This marked the beginning of World War II. However, the United States will not decide to enter into the war until December 7, 1941 when the United States is bombed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by the

Other than causing the liberation of France and the establishment of a new battlefront, the invasion also relieved the Soviet Union’s pressure. Before the Invasion, Germany had over two million troops fighting against the Red Army in the Eastern Front, and many of Soviet’s cities were captured. The Russians fought desperately to protect their cities. However, after the invasion, with the launch of a new major battlefront in the West, Hitler had to transport many of his forces to the West in order to defend his own country. Without as many troops to fight against, the Soviet army was able to push through Czechoslovakia, Poland and eventually penetrate into Germany; the Soviet Union’s progress greatly sped up the endof the war. (Naval History and Heritage- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6 - 25 June 1944)

On June 6th, 1944, the main Allied forces of World War 2 conducted Operation Overlord, now known as D-Day: the greatest invasion in military history. This was a major turning point in the war, however the win was surprising. Germanic and Nazi soldiers should have won the battles on and around the Normandy beaches that day for a multitude of reasons: firstly, they had the rest of France, meaning that Nazis could bring in materials safely, easily, and quickly, and as the Germans were there first, they had time to fortify the area with better defense such as anti-tank guns and minefields; secondly, they had better ground on many beaches, such as the cliffs on Omaha and the dunes on Juno; and finally, they had better equipment such as clothing designed to survive harsher weather conditions, and more rations to survive on. For these reasons, Nazi soldiers should have won the infamous 1944 invasion.

The post D-Day Allied assault that swept through France was halted by Hitler’s unexpected counter-attack through the Ardennes, resulting in a confrontation named the Battle of the Bulge.

Many historical Battles shaped, contributed, and evolved U.S. Military Operations within the Field Artillery Branch, The Battle of the Bulge held one of the most significant roles. During World War II (December 16, 1944-January 25, 1945), The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the 80 mile Western Front stretching along Luxembourg, Eastern Belgium and the Ardennes. Germany and Adolf Hitler’s goal was to cut the Allied forces in half and utilize a divide and conquer method because he felt like this was their most optimal chance to win the war. There were many key factors and issues for Allied Forces during the Battle that were unaccounted for which consisted of; torturous weather, terrain, intelligence, communications, resources and a desperate German forces.

The Battle of the Bulge is considered the United State Army’s greatest victory as American soldiers withstood the full force of the German War Machine. Allied Forces faced freezing temperatures, fog, threats of espionage and battle tested German units. This victory was not without shortcomings, most notably in intelligence and subpar battlefield performances.

The battle of the bulge is an military battle that took place in northern France over the course of December 16, 1944 to January 18, 1945. The beggining of the battle on December 16 the U.S. Army VIII Corps including the 106th Infantry Division. The 28th Infantry Division and also the reduced 9th Armored Division. The 4th Infantry Division set up from north to south. The VIII Corps headquarters was located in Bastogne. The VIII Corps were holding the southern edge of the U.S. First Army front lines adjacent to the U.S. Third Army. By 12:00pm on the first day of the attack, December 16, there were twice as many German divisions, including two panzer divisions, identified in the sector moving against VIII Corps. By December 18 there were two

The Battle of the Bulge was the largest battle on the Western Front of World War Two. At the largest point of the battle it involved over 1.1 million men. The battle was started when the Germans launched Operation Watch on the Rhine. The main objective of this operation was to capture the American held harbor of Antwerp which is Belgium. Ever since the invasion of Normandy the allies had had problems bringing supplies up to the front. Every time the Germans left a city with a harbor in it they sabotaged it so that the allies were unable to use it. Because of this the only place that allies were able to take supplies to shore in bulk was in Normandy. This meant that they had to drive supplies all the way from Normandy into Belgium. The truck drivers were using more fuel than they delivered and it took days to reach the front they had to find a better way. When the allies captured the harbor at Antwerp they were able to deliver supplies by ship in a place that was close to the front. This ended the supply trouble, and so the Germans decided the best way to stop the allied advance was to retake Antwerp and thus stop the supplies from coming to the front. It was a risky operation, but if it was successful it could turn the tide of the war. The plan was for the operation to occur on December 16, 1944. The Germans would attack all along the front line, from Luxembourg to Belgium. It was needless to say a massive offensive, and would be the last of the war. Hitler planned this

After World War Two, we, the Soviet Union, lost the most out of the war due to the deaths of 20 million military and civilians, but we came out stronger than ever. We were left alone to fight the Nazis after their betrayal, but that could've been avoided if the allies conducted the D-day invasion, first. Instead, the allies chose to liberate Northern Africa and Italy while we were losing 1 in 4 Soviets. The allies accuse us of spreading communism and not allowing free elections in the areas we liberated. But what the allies do not mention, is that we liberated those countries and along with them the holocaust victims. Not only that but we were attacked by Germany twice in both world wars. We saved lives and had to fight for ours alone due to

By the very end of the battle the allies supplied 3 million men, 16 tons of weapons, ammunition and supplies located in Britain, which have ordinarily been a lot of manpower and supplies. The deliberate grindstone of Normandy was critical for the western allied forces to effectuate the enduring war to the western of Germany. If the invasion of D-Day had not occurred, there could potentially have been a complete ownership of northern and western Europe by the Soviet forces, (u-s-history.com, n.d).