Turning Points

Academic World History II

• In early 1942, things were going badly for the Allies.– Japan gained control of the Pacific Ocean.– The Axis, led by Rommel, controlled most of North

Africa.– German forces held the upper hand in the USSR.

Sea and Air Battles• German U-boats made it difficult for the U.S. to get

food and supplies to Great Britain.– By 1939, they had already sunk 114 ships.

• The Allies sunk the German battleship Bismarck, leading to the end of German efforts to try to win the battle of the Atlantic using surface ships.– The Germans used U-boats to try and control the

Atlantic.– The Allies also launched an air offensive, with the RAF

bombing Berlin for the first time.– For the next 5 years, the Allies continued bombing

Germany.• Railways, Oil refineries, factories, and cities were destroyed.

Soviet Offensive• By July 1942, the Soviets were in full retreat and the

Germans approached Stalingrad.– Stalin tried to get the Allies to open a second front, but

they refused.– On August 22, the Germans attacked Stalingrad.• Named after Stalin, it would be a major blow to Soviet morale

if it fell.• Hitler was determined to take it as much as the Soviets were to

protect it.– In September, the Soviets launched a counterattack.• They surrounded the Germans and cut off supply lines.• Hitler refused to allow his troops to retreat.

Soviet Offensive, cont.– When Germany finally surrendered, they had already

lost their best troops.• 100,000 Germans killed, another 80,000 captured.

– The Soviets seized large quantities of German equipment, breaking the back of the Nazi military machine.

War in the desert• The Axis forces, led by Erwin Rommel, controlled

North Africa in early 1942.– In October, the British launched a counterattack that

forced the Germans into Libya and captured Tripoli.– As the British advanced west, the Allies landed in

Morocco in an attempt to “pinch” Rommel.• They encountered heavy resistance from Vichy France.

• To end the fighting, Dwight D. Eisenhower struck a deal with Vichy officials.– The Allies supported Vichy claims to French North Africa

in exchange for an armistice.

War in the desert, cont.• After the Armistice, the free French, under Charles

de Gaulle, joined the Allies in Africa.– The Allies continued their offensive.– When Rommel told Hitler the situation in Africa was

hopeless, Hitler barred him from returning there.– General von Arnim, the new commander of the German

forces in Tunisia surrendered in May, 1943.• The Allies now controlled North Africa.

Invasion of Italy• In early 1943, the Allies decided to invade Sicily.– Under Eisenhower’s command, the Allies began a land

and sea attack on Sicily in July, 1943.– Early in the invasion there was little resistance, but the

Germans put up a strong fight to cover their retreat near the Strait of Messina.• Over 100,000 German and Italian troops escaped to Italy.

– The conquest of Sicily led to Mussolini’s downfall.• Italian King Victor Emmanuel III fired Mussolini and had him

arrested.• The Fascist Party was dissolved and Italy secretly surrendered.

Invasion of Italy, cont.• The Italian surrender surprised the Germans, who

recovered to occupy Rome two days later.– The new Italian leaders were forced to flee to the south.– Germany rescued Mussolini and put him in control of a

puppet government in Northern Italy.• For the next several months, the Allies fought their

way up the Italian peninsula.– The Germans held them off at Monte Cassino, a 6th

century monastery located on a mountaintop that dominated the road to Rome.• It took a five month air bombing to dislodge the Germans.• On June 4, 1944 Allied forces entered Rome.

War in the Pacific• In the months that followed Pearl Harbor, the

Japanese enjoyed great success in the Pacific.– The Japanese continued to gain territory, mainly from

European countries.– The Allies did make some gains, including a victory in the

Battle of the Coral Sea.• In June 1942, an American victory at Midway ended

Japanese domination of the Pacific.– The Americans followed this with an attack at

Guadalcanal. • The six-month land, sea, and air battle ended with the Allies

taking control of the island.

War in the Pacific, cont.• The Americans leapfrogged their way north to Japan.– The strategy was to capture some islands and bypass

others.• Those bypassed would be cut off from supplies.

– After Guadalcanal, the U.S. paused to build up their forces.

• The U.S. offensive resumed in November, 1943.– Japanese leaders called upon suicide pilots, known as

kamikazes, to die for their homeland by crashing aircraft into Allied bases and ships.

– The Japanese were far from ready to give up.