The Ardennes Offensive: The Battle Of The Bulge

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 was Hitler's last chance to win the war or at least make the allies go for a treaty. He did this because his forces were being pushed back into Germany and soon they would run out of supplies and other resources for war. Hitler thought of this bold plan when he recalled how a German hero Frederick the great was facing defeat, Frederick went on a offensive attack at his foe who had superior numbers but the bold moved worked and Hitler thought he could do the same thing.

“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

In the late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces’ successful D-Day Invasion of Normandy, it seemed as if the Second World War was over. On December sixteenth, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler’s favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American Soldier was tested against

After Germany lost World War I, it was in a national state of humiliation. Their economy was in the drain, and they had their hands full paying for the reparations from the war. Then a man named Adolf Hitler rose to the position of Chancellor and realized his potential to inspire people to follow. Hitler promised the people of Germany a new age; an age of prosperity with the country back as a superpower in Europe. Hitler had a vision, and this vision was that not only the country be dominant in a political sense, but that his ‘perfect race’, the ‘Aryans,’ would be dominant in a cultural sense. His steps to achieving his goal came in the form of the Holocaust. The most well known victims of the Holocaust were of course, the Jews.

When Hitler was elected to be leader he seemed like the type to make everything fine, which everybody was looking for at the time, although within a couple months that all went downhill. As the days grew longer the Jews felt more and more apprehensive knowing something was going to happen but couldn't do anything about it. Hitler was the type of person who caused pain for pleasure. During the Holocaust, many countries enforced laws towards emigrating citizens out of Germany, like the Johnson Immigration Act, which limited many people to stay; the United States had room to take in all the people who needed help but chose not to help.

The new race that he wanted to make was blue eyes and blonde hair he wanted for them to be the main race in Germany. All Jews that were found were either killed or put into concentration camps.The Nazi's and Hitler did not care about the age alll Jews found were taken away. Over 1.5 million children were killed, you can think of it as racism because if you were considered an "undesirable" you were punished. Jews were basically stripped of their citezenship innocent people had to witness very gruesom activites. Thousands of peole were killed in gas chambers, when they got put into the chamberss they realized that they were going to die and they cried out maybe one last time and said there goodbyes. The Jews were tatooed so that they could be indentified because they got their hair cut very short . They were also seperated from their loved ones and were treated like animals. The quote "Names pile up like pebbles on tombstones, to forget you is to let you die twice." -Emily Borenstien this quote means that we will always remeber you and was meant for the innocent people that died. They did not deserve to be treated like this, no one does.

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.

One of Hitler’s many ambitions for Germany was to achieve total Aryan supremacy. Hitler wanted to make all Germans perfect physical specimens. All of them tall and strong with blue eyes and blond hair though he himself was short, with brown eyes and hair. Hitler claimed that the Germans were the purest Aryans and therefore superior to all other peoples. Hitler made sure that all Germans knew this, he told the German people what they wanted to hear, that they were in fact the master race and that they were superior to any other persons. Although many were opposed to Hitler’s idea of Aryan supremacy the German people supported him enthusiastically regardless.

Hitler, at first, didn’t surrender to the Allied forces which caused Operation Overload to occur. D-day led to freedom in France along with freedom for Jewish men, women, and children. The was also a mini battle called Battle of the Bulge, because the Europeans literally bulged the Allied forces. Bulged means to surround an area. So when the Europeans surrounded the Ardennes forest in going through the American defensive line, it was the largest war/invasion that was fought on the Western

December 16, 1944 marks the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge. This Battle took place on what is know as the Western Front. This battle will forever be known as one of the biggest battles to be fought during WWII. This battle would prove to be a costly battle for both sides. Both sides will see a tremendous loss of life and equipment.

The most powerful/ anything els) Allied commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower rushed strengthening items/rewards/supplies to hold the shoulders of the German penetration. Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was attacking (in response to an attack) against the German flank. But the story of the Battle of the Bulge is above all the story of American Soldiers. Often separated far from others and unaware of the overall picture, they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying (protected by metal or another covering) starts and leads with stubborn defenses of very important crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on not well known to stump possible Nazi

From 1933 through 1945 was a period of history called the Holocaust. During the Holocaust, people were being killed for their looks, race, and disability. About 11 million people were killed in brutal and tragic ways. Adolf Hitler, the leader, wanted to create a pure race. Racism helped Hitler organize the population into the way he wanted. He wanted people to support the cause of making a pure race. If people opposed, they would be persecuted. Racism allowed Hitler to influence the German people into following his leadership even if it meant genocide.

Nearing the end of World War II and after the successful D-Day invasion by Allied Forces, Adolf Hitler would personally plan a counteroffensive he believed would turn the tied of the war in his favor and prevent his unconditional surrender. Historically known as the Battle of the Bulge, the Ardennes Counteroffensive, from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, would showcase the power of a full-scale German offensive while highlighting the ingenuity and heart of the United States Army as they encountered a seemingly undefeatable foe.