Chapter 25 Section 2
Retaking Europe
Atlantic Charter

An agreement signed by President
Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston
Churchill in 1941

Outlines the nation’s war aims

Sought no territory

No territorial changes without
permission of the people

People have a right to choose their
own government

Nazis must be destroyed
Why was the Atlantic Charter significant?

It contained terms agreed to by
Great Britain and the U.S. to govern
war behavior and define their aims
General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Commander of the Allied
forces in World War II

American

Future President

1953-1961
What obstacles did Allied forces face while
fighting in Italy?

Mountainous terrain

Destroyed bridges

Blocked roads

Elaborate German Army defenses
In June of 1941, the Nazis invade the Soviet Union. How
successful was the invasion of the Soviet Union in the first few
months?

Very successful

German air forces gained near total
control of the air

Germans took hundreds of
thousands of Russian prisoners

Moved deep into Russian territory
Why did the German invasion of the Soviet
Union succeed at first?

The intensity and speed of the
attack took the Soviets by surprise
Describe the events of the Battle of Stalingrad?

Important rail and industrial center

Germans firebombed and shot
artillery at the city for 2 months

House to house combat

Soviets make their stand

Winter sets in

90,000 Nazis eventually surrender
What factors helped the Soviet army defeat the
Germans?

While the Soviets were retreating,
they burned anything the Nazis
could use

The cold and harsh weather

The size of the Soviet Union
How did the Allied decision to delay an invasion of
Western Europe and fight instead in North Africa
and Italy affect the Soviet Union?

The Soviet Union bore the heaviest
cost of fighting Germany

26 million dead in the Soviet Union
alone

This made the Soviets suspicious of
the West
Carpet Bombing

Planes scattered large numbers of
bombs over a wide area

German cities suffered heavy
damage as a result
What advantage did carpet bombing have over a
conventional attack on Germany?

Carpet bombing, along with more
precise American bombing, enabled
the Allies to strike all over Germany
with lower risk for allied casualties
D-Day

June 6, 1944

Allied invasion of France

Beginning of the invasion of Hitler’s
Europe

130,000 Allies land on the first day

Largest invasion in history

In a little over 2 months, France is
liberated
Explain the significance of the D-day invasion?

It represented the opening of the
Allied invasion of Western Europe
Battle of the Bulge

Americans were on the verge of
entering Germany

December 1944-Germans attack
American lines in Belgium

Created a bulge in the middle of
American lines

Last ditch offensive for the Nazis
Explain why Stalingrad and the Battle of the Bulge market
two different turning points for Germany during the War.

Stalingrad

Battle of the Bulge

Turning point of the war in the east

Resulted in great German losses

German surrender and loss showed
that Germany’s seemingly
unstoppable offensive was over

Nazis lose the last of their armored
reserves

Nazi leaders recognize that the war
is lost
Germany Surrenders

The Soviets invade Berlin in April
1945

Hitler commits suicide April 30, 1945

May 8, 1945- Germany surrenders