-
From 1940 to 1943, the allies and axis battled in North Africa, with neither side gaining an advantage, until allied armies finally trapped Axis forces. about 240,000 Germans and Italians surrendered.
-
Britain and the United States struggled to control the Atlantic trade routes. German U boats sailed out of ports from France and destroyed the allies merchant ships.
-
In June 1941, more than 3 million Axis Troops crossed the soviet border. Stalin asked for and received American aid through the capital, Moscow, and the historic city of Leningrad ( or St. Peters-burg )
-
By October of 1941, the cold Russian winter put a stop to the German advance, which did not resume till the summer of 1942. The red Army made its stand at Stalingrad, a major rails and industrial center on the Volga River.
The Germans started a two month firebombing campaign.
The German Army was soon surrounded in the ruined city with no supplies and no hope of escape
On January 31, 1943, more than 90,000 surviving Germans surrendered.
Germany's offense was the turning point in the war in the E. -
In 1943, U.S. troops under George George S. Patton invaded the island of Sicily with British forces. Italians lost faith in Mussolini's leadership and was overthrown. Italy's new government surrendered to the Allies and declared war on Germany.
-
This year embarked the end of the North African War campaign.
-
On June 6, 1944, the invasion of Western Europe began. Heavy casualties were suffered, but by late July, nearly 2 million Allied troops were in France. On August 25, 1944, Paris was liberated from German Occupation.
-
In December 1944, Germany launched a counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg. They pushed back the U.S. First Army. forming a bulge in the Allied Line. The resulting clash came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.
-
Germans in northern Italy finally surrendered