World War II, Part 5:
War in the European
Theater
Goal 10
Essential Idea
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The Battle of El Alamein, Stalingrad, and DDay were turning points in World War II.
The Two Theaters and Two Sides
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For the United States, _______ was
fought in ______ theaters:
_____________ and the _____________.
Who: Axis Powers
Members: Germany, Italy, and Japan
Who: Allied Powers
Members: United States, Britain, and the
Soviet Union
Fighting in North Africa
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1. Where: North Africa
American Leader:
General George Patton
German Leader:
General Erwin Rommel
(aka the “desert fox”)
The Suez Canal
2. Hitler’s
Strategy:
 Take the Suez
Canal
 Like the Panama
Canal, the Suez
Canal shortened
travel distance
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The Suez Canal
Hitler wanted the
canal so he could
have access to oil
in the Middle East
Why?
Battle of El Alamein
3. The Turning Point in North Africa:
Battle of El Alamein
American and British troops defeated General Rommel and took control of the Suez Canal
Battle of El Alamein
Hitler’s Strategy
Against Stalin
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4. Where: Eastern
Europe
5. Hitler’s Strategy:
Devastate the
Soviet Union’s
economy by
cutting off its
resources
Strategy: Take
Stalingrad
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One major trade
route for the
Soviet Union was
the Volga River
Hitler wanted to
capture
Stalingrad, the
city that
controlled the
Volga River
Fighting in the Streets
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6. The Turning Point in Eastern Europe
Battle of Stalingrad
Fighting took place during winter in the streets and
homes of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
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The Soviet were able to withstand the cold better
and defeated the Germans
Battle of Stalingrad
The Allies Go on the Offensive
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1. The Meeting:
Casablanca
Conference
Churchill and FDR
decided to take
down Germany by
attacking from the
South
Attacking through Italy

They decided to strike the “soft underbelly” of
Europe: Italy
Tehran Conference
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2. The Meeting: Tehran Conference
Stalin agreed to attack Germany from the East, then help fight Japan
The United States would attack Germany from the West
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3. Striking the “Soft Underbelly”
The Allies, led by General
Patton, first attack Sicily, an
island south of Italy, and
won easily
Italians panicked, arrested
Mussolini, and executed
him
Italy began to negotiate
surrender to the Allies
Defeating Italy
Dwight D. Eisenhower
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4. Operation Overlord
and D-Day:
FDR chose Dwight D.
Eisenhower to lead
Operation Overlord, an
invasion that would start
on D-Day
D-Day
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On June 6th, 1944, over
________________
soldiers headed for the
coast of
__________________. At
some beaches, the
___________ saw little
_______________.
At Omaha Beach, the
___________ were met
with _________________
German fire that almost
________________ the
assault.
D-Day
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100,000 troops landed on the northern coast of France
(Normandy), where they fought through intense German fire
Paris Freed
The invasion was
successful, and the
troops headed for Paris to
liberate France
D-Day and the Liberation
of France
(Show opening scene of
Saving Private Ryan)
5. Battle of the Bulge
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After liberating
France, troops
headed for the
German border
Hitler, now losing
the war, launched a
final surprise attack
Battle of the Bulge
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The Allies were
surrounded and winter
had set in
General Patton rushed
to the rescue from the
South, slamming into
German lines, giving
victory to the U.S.
6. V-E Day
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Allied troops closed in on the German capital, Berlin
Seeing that the war was lost, Hitler committed suicide
The End of Hitler
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V-E Day….but the War is not Over
Liberating the
Jews
The Allies
achieved victory
in Europe and
then turned
attention back
to Japan