America Vs The Soviets Who Really

America Vs. The Soviets: Who Really Won The War Essay, Research Paper

World War two officially started in September 3 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. The Western Democracies of Britain and France allied and declared war on Germany when Poland was attacked. This was the immediate cause of the war. Britain and France formed an appeasement policy with Hitler not to take over any more land after the Nazi’s annexed the Sudatenland. When Hitler broke his promise Britain and France realized that the Nazis could be a threat to all of Europe. Other direct causes were aggressive nationalism and imperialism on the part of Germany, Japan and Italy and the failure of the United States to actively enter into European affairs in the 1920’s and 1930’s to stop aggression in Europe1 . During the initial battles it looked very bleak for the allied forces to be victorious over the German forces. Many people argue that the turning point of the war was December 7 1941. This was the date that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and America officially entered the war.

Britain and France were the original countries involved in fighting the Germans Italian and the Russians. With the formation of the Nazi-Soviet pact this meant that two of the most powerful armies in the world would be allied. This treaty was used to guarantee Hitler protection of his eastern front. The Nazi

forces advanced with tremendous speed through Europe. They conquered every country they came across. Poland was their first target; it was taken within a month. After Poland the Nazis invaded and occupied Denmark, Norway, Holland and Belgium. France fell on June 1940 after the German armies took Paris. It was in France that the German armies had their best chance to defeat the allied forces. The British and French were on the run. The Germans had the allied forces surrounded at Dunkirk where the allies were evacuated with great speed back to Britain. After France fell it was divided. The Germans owned Two thirds of France and two former French leaders who agreed to work with the Germans ruled one third.

Later that year the Germans decided on a new strategy to knock the British out of the war. The Germans decided to bomb the British out of the war. That year the Battle of Britain began. The Germans began to bomb all of the major British cities. Their primary target was London. In a valiant effort to save the citizens of London, Winston Churchill moved all of the residence of London into the Subway system underground for shelter. The courage of the R.A.F. managed to hold off the attacking Germans.

After the failure of trying to bomb Britain out of the war, the Nazis focused their attention on taking over the Balkans. After Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary joined Hitler, the German armies invaded and occupied Greece and Yugoslavia. The next target of the German armies was the largest country in Europe, Russia. The goal of this invasion was to obtain the grain from the Ukraine, the coal of the Donetz Basin and the oil of the Caucasus. German forces managed to push their way through an unprepared Russian army. Nazi forces pushed through to Stalingrad in the North, Moscow in central Russia and the Caucasus Mountains in the South. At this point it looked as if the Germans had Europe in the palm of their hand. Germany and the world were convinced the war would be over soon. A turning point in the war came; the date was December 7 1941. This was the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This exact day the Americans declared war on the Japanese who were allied with the Germans. Germany then declared war on Americans who in turn declared war on the Germans. Americans represented more troops, more resources and a larger military power. Americans raised the hopes of British forces in being able to defeat the opposing German forces.

It seemed that after the Americans entered the war everything went downhill for the German forces. The American armed forces were a great contributor to the overthrow of the German-Italian forces in North Africa. The American forces took over Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. With the help of the Americans the allies were able to take over the Mediterranean which paved the way for invasion of Europe. With Americans help in the overthrow of the opposing forces in Africa, invasion of Southern Italy was made possible.

In June of 1943 allied forces began the attack on Italy. Sicily was the first to fall to the attacking allies. Mussolini was defeated and overthrown in 1944 after months of bombing by the British. The Italian forces retreated to the North allowing the British and Americans to land on Italy’s Southern shores. The importance of the American campaign in Italy was that it meant that German troops would be too tied up for Hitler to use the else where in Europe. Allied forces headed by the Americans swept through Western Europe slicing through the German defenses. Access to Western Europe was opened on June 6 1944 also known as D-Day. On this day the American forces under the command of General Eisenhower attacked the Western front. Crossing the English under the protection of thousands of airplanes, American forces poured out onto the beaches of Normandy. Even though the Americans suffered heavy losses, they managed to secure beaches in France, paving the way for allied invasion of the Western front. They swiftly re-conquered France and the proceeded to force