another name for the 2 fronts
theaters
the first theater of the the 2 fronts
european theater
the second theater of the 2 fronts
pacific theater
the two theater's of the 2 fronts
european and pacific theater
the commander of US forces in europe; he was in charge of all decisions made about the war in europe
dwight d eisenhower
our closest ally in the past 125 years and who we continued to work with throughout the war
british troops
the second major decision on how to fight this war; this meant they could not have any conditions for their surrender
only accept unconditional surrender
the two countries that stalled hitler's push into russia
leningrad and moscow
this prevented the germans from living off the land so the german army was exhausted, freezing, and lacking supplies
scorched earth policy
the day that 91,000 cold and exhausted german soldiers surrendered and were captured
january 31st, 1943
the number of cold and exhausted german soldiers that surrendered and were captured on january 31st, 1943
91,000
the number of original german soldiers that were part of the stalingrad invasion
500,000
the day that mussolini was captured on by an underground resistance that had been fighting against him
april 28th, 1945
where mussolini's body was hung to prove that he was dead; the crowd her frenzied his body and tore it to pieces
milan square
he was captured on april 28, 1945 by an underground resistance that had been fighting against him and his body was hung in milan square
mussolini
how was mussolini killed : he was ______
shot
they had to control the air before an attack could be mounted to attack france
the allies
they bombed germany by day
the americans
they bombed germany by night
the british
the americans bombed germany by _____ and the british bombed them by _______
day, night
the air superiority ratio that the allies had over germany
30 to 1
what does d-day stand for
designation day
the day that the invasion of france was supposed to take place but was postponed because of the weather
june 5th, 1944
the invasion of france took place on this day; also known as invasion of france, d-day, invasion of normandy, & operation overlord
june 6th, 1944
the four names that june 6th, 1944 is referred to
invasion of france, d-day, invasion of normandy, and operation overlord
occurred on june 6th, 1944; the largest land and sea invasion in history
invasion of france
the number of troops at the invasion of france
176,000
the number of landing craft at the invasion of france
4,000
the number of warships at the invasion of france
600
the number of planes at the invasion of france
11,000
the number of troops on high ground that the germans had
250,000
the number of troops the allies landed within in a month
1 million
the 4 countries that had been liberated from german control in september 1944
france, belgium, luxembourg, and the netherlands
this was in southeast belgium and was an important transportation center; there were many sharp battles as the germans retreated but this was the last offensive attack by the germans
bastogne
the germans launched their last _________ attack of the war at bastogne
offensive
the battle that got its name from this situation : the inexperienced american soldiers were caught off guard and getting beat badly at first, but relief came to help them win this battle. because the germans broke through the american defenses, a bulge was created in the area that had been controlled by the americans.
battle of the bulge
when the americans came to this river, the russians were on the other side
elbe river
hitler's long time mistress who he eventually married before she killed herself with cyanide so she couldn't be captured
eva braun
the day that hitler shot himself
april 30th, 1945
the kind of poison eva braun drank to kill herself
cyanide
how did eva braun kill herself
drank poison
the day that eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of germany
may 7th, 1945
this day was known as v-e day (victory in europe)
may 8th
the first major decision on how to fight the war
we would defeat germany first
why was the first decision made? we didn't want ________ to take over any of our allies in europe and once germany was defeated we could go after ______ with our allies
germany, japan
the germans launched one last offensive attack on what was then called ____________; this name eventually got changed to volgograd
stalingrad
the name stalingrad got changed to in 1961
volgograd
the stalingrad attack looked as though it was going to be successful for the germans, but the ________ were told there would be no retreat or they would be ________. this caused them to fight harder and eventually win this battle
russians, killed
during the stalingrad battle, the winter was extremely cold. _______ would not start, ______ would not fire, and food was frozen solid because of the ____ below zero temperatures
tanks, guns, 44
the number of soldiers russia lost at the battle at stalingrad; from this point, the russians were able to control the eastern front and begin pushing west
1,250,000
the allies then began to move on _______ _______ as well. mussolini needed help and hitler sent one of his best generals to help keep control of _______ ________
north africa
the name of the group that erwin rommel was general of and fought and won many battles even when it seemed as though it was not possible for them to win
african korps
the general of the africa korps who fought and won many battles even when it seemed as though it was not possible for them to win; had the nickname desert fox
erwin rommel
general erwin rommel's nickname
desert fox
the day erwin rommel was defeated and the africa korps surrendered
may 12th, 1943
by this time, the allies had air superiority ratio of 30 to 1 over the german air force
june of 1944
the german troops had 250,000 troops (on high ground), ___________ mines at the beach, tank _, and large guns mounted in ____ forts
underwater, traps, concrete
the next step after the americans came to the elbe river was to go here
berlin
following hitler's instructions, their bodies were taken to a garden above the bunker, doused with __________ and burned. because their bodies were never identified, there were always rumors hitler was still _. the russians have had what they believe to be hitler's _ on display at a museum for years.
gasoline, alive, skull
what does v-e day stand for; it marked the official end of the first part of the war
victory in europe