Major European Theater Battles

By Wyatt Greenacre

  • Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk

    Battle of France/Miracle of Dunkirk
    1. Largest battle since WWII started.
    2. This was Germans invasion of France and the Low Countries.
    3. Lasted six weeks.
    4. Italy joined and attempted to invade France.
    5. More than 330,000 soldiers were rescued. This battle was important because Germany cut off allies because they were advancing into Belgium.

  • Battle of Britain

    Battle of Britain
    1. Royal Air Force defended against Luftwaffe.
    2. The Germans had large-scale night attacks called the Blitz.
    3. The primary objective was to get Britain to sign a treaty.
    4. The Germans started terror bombing places of political importance.
    5. The British tried to counter the attack by sea. This battle was the first battle to be fought completely by air.

  • Battle of Leningrad

    Battle of Leningrad
    1.The siege began when the last road to the city was destroyed.
    2.Possibly the costliest battle in casualties suffered.
    3.The aim was to eventually isolate Leningrad.
    4.The Finnish broken Soviet codes which helped Hitler.
    5.Soviets fought to the death defending the city.
    This siege was symbolically important because the Germans maintained the siege with only one army.

  • Operation Torch

    Operation Torch
    1. Europe opened up a second front to reduce Soviet pressure. 2.The landing was postponed for the Americans to gather more manpower. 3.One of the two direct orders were to start on the earliest date as possible.
    2. The French were ordered to not fire unless fired upon. 5.President Roosevelt thought that the attack would only result in an invasion of Europe but agreed to help anyways. This battle was the first major operation in WWII for American troops.

  • Battle of Stalingrad

    Battle of Stalingrad
    1. This was the largest confrontation of WWII.
    2. Said to be the single largest and bloodiest battle in the history of warfare. 3.The Luftwaffe bombed the city until it was mostly rubble.
    3. Hitler decided to resupply the army by air.
    4. The Germans tried to break the encirclement from the outside. This was the first major loss for the Germans in WWII.

  • D-Day

    D-Day
    1. The battle was a liberation of the German controlled area of Europe.
    2. The Allies tried to mislead the Germans on the date and location of the attack. 3.The weather played a big part in the date of the attack.
    3. The Germans constructed the Atlantic Wall to defend.
    4. The many obstacles and high cliffs made the attack very difficult. This was the largest operation by sea in history.

  • Battle of the Bulge

    Battle of the Bulge
    1. The Allies were caught completely off guard by this surprise attack. 2.An intercepted German communication of offensive preparation was ignored by the Allies. 3.This resulted in the Germans achieving total surprise on the Allies.
    2. America suffered their highest casualties during this battle.
    3. The weather allowed the Allies to regroup and the German to fall behind schedule. This was the last major offensive of the Nazis in WWII.

  • Battle of Berlin

    Battle of Berlin
    1. The Germans set up defenses just outside the city.
    2. Before the battle the Soviets circled the city.
    3. The German forces were disorganized and the Red Army was able to gradually take over the city.
    4. Before the battle ended Hitler and his followers killed themselves.
    5. The rest of the German forces fought westward so that the could surrender to the Western Front and not to the Soviets. This was the last major battle of WWII and also ended Hitlers rule.