The War Of World War II

The Battle of Stalingrad marked the end of Germany’s advances into Eastern Europe and Russia. After Germany's failure to take Stalingrad, their Eastern front army was practically destroyed and they were forced to flee outside of the Soviet Union. This became a turning point for World War Two as it put the Russians on the offensive. Consequently, this directly aided in the destruction and conquering of Germany by the Allied Forces throughout 1944 and 1945. Germany was, essentially, surrounded with the Americans and British in the West, and the Russians in the East.

SPRING 1944. Splendid news from the Russian Front. There could no longer be any doubt: Germany would be defeated. It was only a matter of time, months or weeks, perhaps.

<br>As the war progressed, Hitler became more risky in his decision making, and made the crucial error of invading Russia in June 1941. This opened Germany up to communist attack by breaking the Soviet-German non-agression pact of August 1939, and also a two front war, and Hitler was forced to divert forces to Russia, which could have been spent on defeating Britain. Hitler's aim of invading Russia had been postponed due to the distractions in both North Africa, and also south eastern Europe. Hitler felt an urgency to begin the move to the east, even though the British remained undefeated in the west. The invasion of Russia was the largest military campaign of the war.

One of Soviet Union’s biggest victories was on January 31, 1943 at Stalingrad, when over 90,000 German troops surrender (WorldWar2History.info). After this battle, the Soviet Union remained at Stalingrad and liberated most of Ukrainians, Eastern Belorussia, and themselves (ushmm.org). “In the summer of 1944, the Soviets launched another major offensive, which liberated the rest of Belorussia, and the Ukraine, most of the Baltic States, and eastern Poland from Nazi rule (ushmm.org).” During April 1945, the Soviet Union launched its final attack on the Nazi’s by taking over Vienna, Berlin and Prague, (ushmm.org).

World War II was full of conflicts between countries all over the world. Although most people only know things about the holocaust or Hitler 's affect on the World War II, there are other important events that have affected many countries. The Battle of Moscow was a major battle between the Soviet Union and Germany. Ironically, the Soviet Union and Germany previously had a secret agreement (the nonaggression pact) not to go to war on each other, but the promises turned to be broken when Germany 's plan to capture Moscow went into action. (German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, History Site)

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)

Hitler’s Watch on the Rheine offensive depended on his three armies, the Fifth Panzer Army in the north, the Sixth Panzer Army in the center and the 7th Army in the south. The German War Machine included 400,000 troops, 1,400 tanks, 2,600 artillery pieces and 1,000 aircraft in comparison to the thin American line consisting of four American Infantry Divisions and one Armored Division totally 83,000 men and 400 tanks (Farrell 37). Despite an overwhelming Wehrmacht (German Army) and their extensive knowledge of terrain and an elaborate plan to infiltrate Allied lines through the use of espionage,

Thereafter, as Eisenhower prepared for a general advance on Germany, the Germans launched a counterattack, ‘the Battle of the Bulge’, which significantly exhausted their own reserves. With even heightened advantage, the Allies moved through the Rhine River and onward, crushing German cities daily, to eventually meet Russian troops at the Elbe River. Within days, Hitler had committed suicide, and Germany had surrendered. The ‘war machine’ was successfully destroyed. Still, more work was to be done.

World War II was a period in history which contained a motley of quarrels and conflicts. General Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower played a significant role in the theatre of World War II. In the conflict, General Eisenhower served not only as a 5 star general in the the United States Army, but also served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. As a _____ leader, General Eisenhower coined the historical term “military-industrial complex”, and also led several pivotal conflicts(??) throughout the course of the war, some of which include the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch (1942-1943) and the invasion of France and Germany from the Western Front in Operation Overlord (AKA D-Day).

The battle of Stalingrad raged from August 1942 until the German surrender on 2 February 1943. Significantly, it was the first catastrophic defeat to befall the Wermacht Army who not only lost the battle but were severely humiliated. Indeed, the German Army never fully recovered from this blow to its morale. Upwards of 270,000 troops were killed and 91,000 prisoners were taken by the Red Army; included in this latter number were 23 German Generals. Conversely, morale in the Red Army soared as a consequence of Stalingrad giving the Russians increased strength and confidence. This battle represented a turning point in the Second World War.

The fact that the Wehrmacht had defeated France in under three months in early 1940 only solidified Hitler’s confidence in the superiority of Germany’s military. Hitler believed that a quick attack and swift capture of Moscow, before the Soviet Union could prepare for such a move, would ensure victory.

World War II officially began on September 1, 1939 the invasion of Poland. Adolf Hitler was wanting to conquer all of Europe and its living space. A military tactic used in World War II was “Blitzkrieg” a tactic designed to create disorganization among enemy forces through the use of mobile forces such as planes, artillery and tanks. Blitzkrieg meaning “lightning war” was first used in the invasion of Poland and later on officially established in the Invasion of France, Netherlands, and Belgium. Not only did the Germans use the tactic of blitzkrieg they also had a powerful army that consisted of four groups the: Luftwaffe(Air Force) ,Weimar(Regular Nazi Army) , SS (Special Forces), and the SA(Racially superior soldiers). Hitler almost conquered all of Europe, but there were some mistakes in this war that costed him the win such as: Dunkirk, The Invasion of Russia and the Allies victories.

After much strategy and months of preparation, Germany invaded Russia on June 22, 1941. Germany was well prepared with three separate army division in the North, South, and Central areas of Russia’s eastern border. Germany had about three

German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 marked a new level of brutality in warfare.

The German High Command had to wait for the orders from Hitler to launch the attack. Hitler was waiting for the arrival of the new Panther and Tiger tanks to reinforce the army. This wait was at a cost however, because the Soviets were able to capture a German soldier who told the Soviets that the German attack was to be launched on the morning of July 5. The Soviets bombarded the Germans all through the night of the 4th, until an abrupt end at about 4:30 am. Field Marshal Walter Model’s 9th Panzer Army in the North and General Hermann Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army in the south, with support from three armoured divisions of Army Detachment Kempf, launched their attacks into the Soviet defenses. General Model’s armoured divisions made slow progress from the North to the South.