The European Theatre of Operations in WWII

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Battle of Britain
North Africa
Operation Barbarossa
Sicily
Stalingrad
D-Day
Battle of the Bulge
References

Introduction

Second European War began when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and divided countries into Allied and Axis powers. The Eastern front fought against the Western front, demonstrating various air and land campaigns. In this paper, special attention will be paid to seven remarkable operations:

Battle of Britain.
North Africa.
Operation Barbarossa.
Sicily.
Stalingrad.
D-Day.
Battle of the Bulge.

Battle of Britain

When the French army left Britain exposed to the Nazis, it was important to begin new protective tactics. A new Prime Minister Winston Churchill motivated people and used new ideas not to lose leading positions. The radar to detect incoming German attacks was used by the commander Hugh Dowding as the eyes and ears of the RAF. Keith Park was one of the brightest representatives of the British RAF with good tactical and leading skills. He personalized Hurricane, while other soldiers used Spitfires in the battle. Hitler wanted to assault Britain frontally, but Göring recommended using air attacks alone demonstrating the power of light bombers and fighters of the Luftwaffe (Barley 2004). The regular bombing of London reduced the resources of the Nazis and destroyed many local buildings. Still, the British held out, and Germany lost the battle.

Battle of Britain: Impact

The Battle of Britain was one of the turning points in WWII because of several reasons. The battle proved air superiority of the RAF over the German Luftwaffe. The technological progress in Britain was properly used by its commanders to predict the Nazis’ attacks (Barley 2004). Communication during the battles was an effective tool to control the events and predict mistakes. Within the frames of the battle, Britain demonstrated good technological and strategic concepts to be implemented during the way. The possibility to predict Nazi’s attacks and not to land on their territory made the British able to prove their superiority. The defeat in the battle was the first Hitler’s mistake that challenged the Luftwaffe and recognized its technological weaknesses.

North Africa

The North African campaign was one of the longest operations on the lands of Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Algeria characterized by colonial interests. The goal of Germany and Italy was to exclude the Allies from the Mediterranean (Paxton and Hessler 2012). Mussolini and Graziani invaded Egypt and established the line in Sidi Barrani that was soon destroyed by the British troops led by Wavell. To support Italy, Hitler sent Erwin Rommel to reinforce the situation in Libya. Cooperation among Britain (Montgomery, Alexander, and Auchinleck) and the US (Eisenhower and Clark) strengthened the position of the Allies. No evident technological advances were observed during that campaign. Both parties had a number of tanks and fast planes for attacks. The batteries of the Axis and anti-tank guns with hydroplanes of the Allies made them equal with the only difference – the Allies had better human resources.

North Africa: Impact

The North African campaigns played an important role because of certain geographical and political benefits. The major benefit was the possibility to have the Suez Canal for the Allies’ purposes. Despite the intentions of the Nazi and Italian troops to gain control over the Eastern front, they were pulled away from that territory, providing the Allies with a possibility to invade Italy and use Africa as their allies as well. New political changes motivated the African population and made them choose their definite positions in the war. Finally, the participation of the United States in the war was officially initiated, bringing positive results in WWII.

Operation Barbarossa

On June, 22, 1941, the German troops under the command of Adolf Hitler took the first steps to invade the Soviet Union. The plan was developed by Hitler along with Walther von Brauchitsch to hit the USSR from three major sides: north to reach Leningrad, center to conquer Moscow, and south to control Ukraine. Joseph Stalin was not prepared for the war, and Marshall Georgi Zhukov underlined that Stalin expected to lose the battle (Paxton and Hessler 2012). Both parties used tanks and airplanes in the battle, but Russian weather was the strongest weapon against the Nazis who were not prepared for such cold weather.

Operation Barbarossa: Impact

The code name “Operation Barbarossa” was known as the first attempt of Germany to invade the Soviet Union. Hitler and his supporters sent more than 3 million people to attack the USSR from the three different locations, making the Eastern front unprotected (Barley 2004). As soon as the Soviet Union officially joined WWII, it demonstrated its strengths and human resources to resist German troops. Hitler did not receive a fast invasion of the land for living and resourcing, but the bloodiest fight with millions of losses from both sides.

Sicily

Operation on Sicily (Husky) included the participation of five countries: Britain, the US, and Canada on the one side and Germany with Italy on the opposite side. It was characterized by several naval and air attacks where the Allies tried to defeat the Nazi, destroying its only ally, Italy (Paxton and Hessler 2012). Technological advances were observed from both sides: the support of the US military forces and the achievements of German scientists were used. Instead of inventing new airplanes, tanks, and warships, upgrades of old vehicles were promoted to strengthen the participants. The DUKW offered by the US was a successful tool to transport new vehicles in a short period.

Sicily: Impact

The possibility to remove the German troops from the land of Sicily made Italy re-evaluate its positions in the war. Germany lost its partner, and the Allies began pushing the Nazis back to their initial positions (Paxton and Hessler 2012). It was hard for Hitler to accept the defeat, but the offered technological advances helped to save the majority of vehicles. The use of DUKW offered by the US helped to change the location of tanks and aircraft. New perspectives were opened, and the Allies got a chance to defeat the Axis soon.

Stalingrad

To get access to the USSR oil fields and resources, Hitler ordered Paulus to take Stalingrad. It was a decisive battle for both the Society Union and Germany. The Luftwaffe used its aircraft to bomb the city, and Stalin ordered to protect the city at all possible costs even if the army was not prepared (Glantz 2008). After being 90% captured by the Nazis, the Soviet army took a chance to defeat Paulus and remover other German forces from Stalingrad.

Stalingrad: Impact

The significance of the Stalingrad battle lies in the possibility to demonstrate that a number of losses should not de-motivate soldiers but make them act. Being one of the bloodiest single battles in history, Stalingrad turned out to be a serious lesson for the Soviet Union and its enemies. Almost the whole city was in the hands of the Nazis, and Hitler was the author of the campaign. Stalin did not allow to defeat but use all possible costs not to allow the Nazis taking the city (Glantz 2008). Stalingrad was protected, and it was a high price for Germany to pay in the war. The Axis was never able to recover fully.

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, about 150,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers landed several beaches of the Normandy region to liberate France from Germany. Generals Eisenhower and Montgomery, as well as lieutenant Bradley, developed the plan to invade the land from five different points, using their new technologies like DD tanks and tide-prediction machines. False signals were used to confuse the enemy and made 450,000 vehicles and 4 million tons of suppliers to work that day (Paxton and Hessler 2012). Although in some parts German powers like jagged edges and rocket launchers were effectively used to stop the Allies, their defeat was hard to avoid. Within one day, all five landings were successfully complete.

D-Day: Impact

By the end of the D-Day, more than 130,000 soldiers landed France and provoked the beginning of the end of the war. Germany was not ready to fight at several fronts simultaneously, and the Allies could capture the French port and invaded the land (Paxton and Hessler 2012). It was the beginning of the German retreatment when false tactics of the US, Britain, and Canada combined technologies and logic to win the battle.

Battle of the Bulge

The battle of the Bulge, also known as the Battle of the Ardennes was the last attempt of Hitler to strengthen the Western front and find new allies in the war against the Soviet Union on the east. The German aggression mood was firstly recognized in the middle of the summer in 1944 (Liedtke 2008). The plan included an attack in Belgium forests to find out new suppliers and negotiate a peace treaty. Bad weather prevented the Allies from using their superiority in the air, and attention was paid to tank-related technologies, including anti-tank vehicles (Paxton and Hessler 2012). Montgomery organized an attack and pushed the Germans back, making them unable to take a new step in the battle.

Battle of the Bulge: Impact

One should say that the Battle of the Bulge was unnecessary because the situation was already clear. Still, it was the last attempt for the Germans and Hitler, in particular, to change the war outcome. Economic changes were obvious either for Germany or other participants in the struggle (Robinson 1945). However, the level of damage was impressive: the Western front was under the Allies’ control, all the resources were lost, and not motivation could be found. The end of the Third Reich was the question of time.

References

Barley, M. P. 2004. “Contributing to its Own Defeat: The Luftwaffe and the Battle of Britain”. Defense Studies 4 (3): 387-411.

Glantz, David M. 2008. “The Struggle for Stalingrad City: Opposing Orders of Battle, Combat Orders and Reports, and Operational Maps Part 1: The Fights for Stalingrad’s Suburbs, Center City, and Factory Villages. 3 September – 13 October 1942.” Journal of Slavic Military Studies 12: 146-238. Web.

Liedtke, Gregory. 2008. “Furor Teutonicus: German Offensives and Counter-Attacks on the Eastern Front, August 1943 to March 1945.” Journal of Slavic Military Studies 21: 563-587. Web.

Paxton, Robert O., and Julie Hessler. 2012. Europe in the Twentieth Century. 5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth.

Robinson, Nehemiah. 1945. “Problems of European Reconstruction.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 60 (1): 1-55. Web.

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