The Battle And Liberation Of France From Nazi Germany

The decision to enter into war is usually a great struggle involving many factors. Some countries, however, such as France in 1940, do not have much choice in the matter. France’s leaders struggled with the feelings of autonomy and responsibility. France's struggle entering into World War II was in the difficulty in fulfilling its dual responsibility to the people of France and to the rest of the world whom both maintained conflicting beliefs about the approaching war. The French people desired peace, while the other countries required France to go to war to defend itself against

One of the more famous battles in the war was the Invasion of Normandy, France by the Allied forces, also known as “Operation Overlord”. The arriving troops came ashore to heavy gun fire that wiped out a good portion of the soldiers that

The Allies rallied an offensive for the liberation of France in late September 1915. This resulted in a stalemate between the powers, inflicting heavy casualties on the Allied and Central Powers. This fierce battling with no progression continued into late 1916, when the Germans became concerned at the amount of the allied forces on the western front and the invention of the tank - technology that Germany

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, also know as the 100 Days Offensive, was the part of the grand Allied offensive in 1918 at the end of WW1. This battle involved 1.2 million American soldiers. The American’s objective was to break through the Hindenburg Line, which covered the length of the entire western front. The offensive consisted of a three-sided attack on the German’s Western Front. The BEF and the French Army were to engage the German lines at Flanders, while the British forces would take on the German troops at Cambrai. The American Expeditionary Forces numdering 400,000 men under the command of Gen. John J. Pershing, and the French Fourth Army under General Henri Gouraud’s role was the eastern most pincer of the multinational endeavor, the Argonne forest. The forest presented Gen. Pershing and his men some difficult challenges they were forced to overcome.

At dawn of 19th August 1942, six thousand and one hundred Allied soldiers, of whom roughly

With a strong backup, the Allied troops were able to advance through the enemy-occupied countries with lightening speed. Therefore, the attack not only led to the French people’s freedom, but also to the quick downfall of Nazi Germany. (Naval History and Heritage- D-Day, the Normandy Invasion, 6 - 25 June 1944)

Although he helped American troops in North Africa, Eisenhower’s biggest feat was the invasion of Nazi-occupied Western Europe, better known as D-Day. As the Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Forces in World War II at the time, Eisenhower gave permission for a massive invasion called Operation Overlord. He only had a window of four days to launch the attack, but jumped at the opportunity (Koves). The 40 mile stretch of the beaches of Normandy, France was divided into five sections: Juno, Sword, Omaha, Gold, and Utah (Operation Overlord Animated Map). Late at night on June 6th, 1944, aerial troops secured both the eastern and western parts of the beach. In the morning, seaborne soldiers began to attack the coast (Operation Overlord Animated Map). By June 27th, the Germans had wrecked their ports, assuming this would slow down the Allies. Their attempt failed, and finally, on August 25th, the French army successfully liberated Paris (BBC News).

After the U.S. began to push out the Germans and enlarge the pathway to Bastogne at the end of December 1944, the U.S. troops and some British soldiers started a counterattack, to eliminate the bulge in the American line. This success was largely due to General Patton’s third army, that attacked from the North and the South. On January 8, 1945, the German forces began to pull out of the Bulge. As the Americans advanced, they continued to erase all German gains. By the end of January, 1945, all territory that was captured by the Germans was back under Allied control (“Battle of the Bulge”). The Battle of the bulge was one of the most difficult battles of the war for the United States. Along with having the most American casualties of any other battle, many of the soldiers suffered great emotional and physical trauma from the cold, and lack of medical supplies, and the horrors that many of them witnessed on the battlefield (Farmer). One battalion, the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion, is a notable example of the physical and emotional trauma of the Battle of the Bulge. At the start of the battle the battalion had 793 men. By the end, only 110 were left alive. The 551st was the worst casualties of any unit during the Battle of the Bulge (Orfalea). Nearing the end of the battle, the allied troops fought harder than ever, partly to ensure that all of the bloodshed and death was not in vain.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis that had taken it over in 1942 (Tucker). There were as many as ten thousand Allied troops involved in the operation (Tucker). The Germans expected an invasion, as a result, they protected places where the invasion would take place (Tucker). Hitler built defenses that included forts, tanks, guns, and barricades to keep the Allies from invading France (Tucker). This bloodbath war caused many men to be fatally injured, and many men lost their lives (Tucker). The D-day invasion from the Allies was a significant turning point of WWII because it caused Hitler’s defenses to fall and crumble.

Operation Overlord is one of the largest military operations of the war, employing "over 5,000 ships, 11,000 airplanes, and over 150,000 servicemen," leading to "nearly 10,000 casualties," and over 4,000 deaths ("World War II," 2013). The invasion of Normandy led to the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation. The victory of the allies against the Germans marked the beginning of the end for Hitler's

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which, “we will accept nothing less than full victory.” More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day’s end, the Allies gained a foothold in Continental Europe. The cost in lives on D-Day was high. More than 9,000 Allied Soldiers were killed or wounded, but their sacrifice allowed more than 100,000 Soldiers to begin the slow, hard slog across Europe, to defeat Adolf Hitler’s crack troops." (“D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944”). The Allied casualties were quite a lot. There were about nearly 83,050 that were part of the 21st Army group. There ere about 125,847 from ground forces from the US. An estimate of 200,000 German troops were killed, wounded, or missing in the Battle of

The first troops deployed into battle were paratroopers. Over thirteen thousand U.S. paratroopers were dropped by an armada of C-47s behind German lines before dawn. Their mission was to seize bridges, disrupt communications, and prevent German soldiers from reinforcing the Normandy beaches as the Allied assault hit the coastline (Alberecht). Heavy cloud coverage made for difficult navigation and forced many of the paratroopers to jump “blind”. This resulted in them being scattered over a 100-square mile radius. Thirty-five percent of these soldiers landed at their designated drop point, while many others died when they landed in fields flooded by the Germans. Despite all of this, the remaining troops were able to secure their intended positions (Dry).

Five years after the world war started, Operation Overlord occurred on June 6, 1944. The seaborne invasion was the biggest one in history, and was a defining moment in WWII. A tremendous military force came from the United Kingdom and made their way towards France, in an effort to overthrow Nazi Germany and its leader, Adolf Hitler, who had taken control over the majority of Europe. The intense planning and precision of the plan transferred the momentum to the Allies.

Prior to the invasion of France there had been 7 months of “Phoney war”; However the French had anticipated the attack and established “The Maginot line” which was a line of defence designed to hold the German army back. Despite this the Battle of France began on the 10th May 1940 when German Army group B subdued Holland and advanced rapidly westwards through

The French Resistance was a collection of resistance groups that fought against Nazi Germany and its puppet state of Vichy France. They were mainly comprised of men and women who fought the Nazis through sabotage, ambushes, and hit-and-run tactics; disrupting power grids, transport lines, and telecommunications. In addition to guerilla warfare, they also published underground newspapers, collected intelligence, and helped Allied soldiers trapped behind enemy lines to escape. Furthermore, they also played a large role in Operation Overlord (invasion of northern France) and Operation Dragoon (invasion of southern France) by providing the Allies with locations of Nazi fortifications and defenses. The French Resistance was extremely crucial to winning World War II and saving the lives of Allied soldiers.