26-5 NOTES
Victory and Consequences
p. 825-826
I. Germany Surrenders
• After D-Day, the
Allies continued to
fight their way
across France
toward Germany
(General George
Patton & General
Omar Bradley
• Soviets were also
closing in on
Germany from the
East
• August, 1944: Paris is
liberated
• Hitler refuses to
surrender and plans
one last attack
The Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 1944 Jan. 1945)
• Hitler wanted to drive
through a weak spot in
the Allied lines near
Belgium - attacked
through the Ardennes
Forest
• Germans quickly pushed
the Allied back about 65
miles, creating a bulge in
the Allied lines
• Allied forces recovered
and stopped the
German advance w/
the help of Allied
planes bombing
• Nazi losses were so
great that they could
no longer wage war retreated toward
Germany
• In early 1945, Allied bombing runs devastated
German cities: Hamburg, Berlin
• Infamous case: Bombing of Dresden
Use of incendiary bombs created a firestorm killing over 35, 000 civilians
• As the Allies closed in
on Berlin, Hitler
retreated to his
underground bunker:
committed suicide on
April 30, 1945
• Germany surrenders;
war in Europe ends
on V-E Day - May 8,
1945
• FDR has a stroke and dies on April 12, 1945
• Harry S Truman becomes president of the US, and
must end the war in the Pacific!