4 The Allies Turn the lide Reading f:oclis Key Terms Tal<ing Nott~s • What defeats did the Allies Battle of Midway Copy this flowchart. As you read, fill in suffer during the bleak the boxes with events that led to the days of 1942? Operation Allied victory in Overlord • How did D-Day and the Europe. Add as opening of the "Second D-Day many boxes as you need. Front" help to turn the tide Battle of the Bulge of battle in Europe? • How did the war in Europe come to an end? Main Idea Despite some early defeats, a series of Allied _ military successes helped to turn the tide of battle in Europe. SeUing the Scene When Adolf Hitler learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was delighted. "Now it is impo sible for us to lose the war," he predicted. "We now have an ally who has never been vanquished in 3,000 years." Although Germany's alliance with Japan did not require it, Hitler promptly declared war on the United States. At first, Hitler's prediction looked as if it might come true. In 1942, German armies occupied most of Europe and much of N'Jrth Africa. Japan was sweeping across Asia and the Pacific. By 1944, however, the tide of battle had turned. B f~e!a!! ~ ( Day$;; fOll" t h e I;Un ~$ Draw Inferences How do you In early 1942, the situation looked bleak for the Allies. The German think an Ameri can soldier would war machine seemed unbeatable. German submarines were sinking have reacted to Hitl er's words? ships faster than the Allies could replace them. Most of Europe was in Axis hands. $ ovB e t: ~ tim:lI1!a' ~ iege In the Soviet Union, German armies were closing in on Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad. The Soviets resis­ ted heroically. They burned crops and destroyed farm equipment so that the Germans could not use them. Still, the German attack caused terrible hardships. During the 900-day siege of Leningrad, more than one million Russian meD, women, and children died, mostly of starvation. » O:)J~ll ;l1n"U~ § ((! l.\dv ~"!l m,:"~$ Meanwhile, Japanese forces were on il e move in the Pacific. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, they sei1.ed Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, and Singapore. (See the map on page 797.) General Douglas MacArthur commanded United States force ~; in the Pacific. With few troops, MacArthur had to defend a huge area. He directed American and Filipino troops in the defense of Lhe 790 * Chapter 27 The World War /I Era philippines and the island of Bataan. They fought bravely against enormous odds. A reporter described the final defeat at Bataan: " Besieged on land and blockaded by sea, cut off from all sources of help in the Philippines and in America, these intrepid fighters have done all that human endurance could bear .... Bataan has fallen, but the spirit that made it stand-a beacon to all liberty-loving peoples of the world-cannot fall! " -Norman Reyes, "Voice of Freedom" broadcast, 1942 In the end, MacArthur was forced to withdraw. "I shall return," he vowed. The Japanese pressed on. They captured Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies. They threatened India to the west and Australia Early in the war, the Axis and New Zealand to the south. powers gained control of much of Western Europe and North Africa. The tide later The Tide Turns began to turn in favor of To succeed against the Axis powers, the Allies had to agree on a the Allies. strategy. Even before Pearl Harbor, American and British leaders 1. lOI.:ation On the map, had decided that the Allies must defeat Germany and Italy first. locate (a) EI Alamein, (b) Stalingrad, (c) Sicily, Then, they would send their combined forces to fight Japan. (d) Normandy, (e) Berlin. Japanese Defeats Adopting a "beat Hitler first" strategy did not 2. M{)\I \) m(~nt In what year mean abandoning the war in the Pacific. With the aircraft carriers did Allied troops first enter that had survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, a naval task force met Italy? Germany? a Japanese fleet in the Coral Sea near Java in May 1942. After a 3. Critical Thinking three-day battle, the Japanese fleet turned back. It was the first Drawing Conclusions Why do you think the Allies did not attack France by way of the Spanish-French border? Greatest extent of D IR Axis control, 1942 D Neutral nations, 1942 o Allied territory, 1942 "'- Allied advances .. Major battles Azimuthal Projection o 250 500 Miles I ! r I i o 250 500 Kilometers IRAQ .\ l tI PALEST1 E ALGERIA .-- TAAI(S· -at-Alarneln ;;G.~ JORDAN SAUDI J~ \ Cnl~O ( " ARABIA Chapter 27 * 791 naval battle in history in which the ships never engaged one 011 1e1' fhe Allies Advance directly. All the damage was done by airplanes from the carriers. One month later, the United States avy won a tunning victoty at the Battle of Midway, American planes sank four Japanese air. craft carriers. The battle severely hampered the Japanese offensive It also kept Japan from attacking Hawaii again. Vile or~es ~n iN! .:!. rith • ih'ka Allied for ces began 0 push back the Germans in North Africa. In October 1942, the Briti h won an impOl" Battle of Midway, 1942 tant victory at El Alamein in Egypt. German force under General United States Navy sinks Erwin Rommel were driven west into Tunisia. four Japanese aircraft carriers and destroys Meanwhile, American troops under the command of Generals hundreds of airplanes. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George S. Patton landed Major Japanese offensive in Morocco and Algeria. They then push d ea t. Allie d armies is turned back. trapped Rommel's forces in Tunisia. In May 1943 his army h ad to surrender. S~H>ce 'l ... h1l IEI\.IJi!"(illP<e: From bases in North Africa, the Allies organ­ ized the invasion of Italy. They used paratroopers and soldiers brought by sea to capture Sicily. In early September 1943, the Allies Allied 1 crossed from Sicily to the mainland of Italy, beache: By then, Mussolini had been overthrown. The Germans, however, They go ~ from G, still occupied much of Italy. In a series of bloody battles, the AHies slowly fought their way up the peninsula. On June 4, 1944, A lied A brilliant general, George Patton troops marched into Rome. It was the first European capital to be was known as "Old Blood and freed from Nazi control. Guts" for his toughness and drive. The Soviet army repelled the Germans from Leningrad in 1943. "We'll win this war," he predicted, At Stalingrad, after months of fierce house-to-house fighting, SO'viet "by showing the Germans we've troops scrambled ashore at lli got more guts than they have," He soldiers forced the German army to surrender. Slowly, the Soviet landed in the first wave recall led American tanks to victory after army pushed the Germans westward through Eastern Europe. " It all seemed unreal, a sm victory in North Africa, Patton pushed his troops hard, men were screaming and dy. i ,f) but he was always ready to get Op,enh'~~g S(e,tond IFrroirnt honestly could have walked t down in the mud and blood with Fighting in Russia and Eastern Europe was fierce. The Soviet l JrJ on without touching the grounc them. Once, marching alongside his would eventually lose some 9 million soldiers, more than any oi:her strewn about. " men , he saw a soldier with a horri­ country. bly wounded leg . Patton gave the For years, Stalin had urged Britain and the United States to send soldier a dose of painkiller and Despite intense German gun stayed with the dying man until an armies across the English Channel into France. Such an attack would pushed on. Every day, more sol ambulance arrived. create a second front in Western Europe and ease pressure in the On August 25, 1944, the P Why do you think Patton was East. However, not until 1944 were Churchill and Roosevelt prepared under Nazi rule, the Parisial willing to walk alongside his to attempt an invasion of Western Europe, Within a month, all of France ' troops? Years of planning went into Operation Ov rlol'd, the code name for the invasion of Europe. General Eisenhower was appointed (,; OID­ mander of Allied forces in Europe. He faced an enormous tasl, , [-Ie Vi,ctOiry in Europe had to organize a huge army, ferry it across the English Channel, (Ind By September, the Allies w provide it with ammunition, food, and other supplies. By June 1( 44, However, a shortage of truck £1 almost 3 million troops were ready for the invasion. Adtl,andrng Toward Genna The Germans knew that an attack was coming, but not wheD of forces began a fierce counter, where . To guard against the Allied invasion, they had mined bea<;hes creating a bulge in the front Ii and strung barbed wire. Machine guns and concrete antitank w;,111s as it was later called, Audie M stood ready to stop an advance. l\merican hero of the war, At iO- ID<ai,Y mn\!l~ 'f,~!jJW1! On June 6, 1944-D-Day, as it was known-a Cleet bUrning tank. Alone and woun of 4,000 Allied ships carried the invasion force to France. AJlied to hold off enemy troops on thl 792 * Chapter 27 The World War /I Era rhe Allies Advance Battle of Stalingrad, 1942-1943 Germans try to take Stalingrad.