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The Allied Sweep And The Defeat Of Germany: The Failure Of German Defense, The Triumph Of Allied Strategy

Graham Mattison
U.S. Military History
Term Paper
5/12/08
The Allied Sweep and the Defeat of Germany:
The Failure of German Defense, The Triumph of Allied Strategy

The intent of this paper will be to provide a purposeful explanation of the events leading up to the Allied invasion of “Fortress Europe.” It will also provide an analysis of Allied, as well as Axis strategy throughout the Allied invasion and sweep across northwest Europe that resulted in the eventual defeat of the Third Reich in Germany - at the hands of the Soviets.
American entry into the Second World War, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, marked an unofficial turning point for Allied forces in Europe. Although Allied forces would not begin to land in Nazi occupied North Africa until late 1942, the decision that American forces would first focus the majority of their attention on the war in Europe, rather than the Pacific, was a critical one. This decision, hinging on a somewhat shaky alliance between the Soviet Union, Great Britain and America, came about at roughly the same time as German armies, stalled out in their ill-fated attempt to invade the Soviet Union, were beginning
their long retreat.
By the time Allied forces began their invasion of Italy in 1943, plans were already under development for an unprecedented, combined air and amphibious assault on Hitler’s heavily fortified "Atlantic Wall." The Allies pinned the majority of their hopes for defeating Nazi Germany on this one, large-scale, military offensive. The incursion, better known today as the D-day invasion of Normandy, France, would effectually form the prelude to an Allied sweep straight through the heart of Nazi occupied Europe.
Following the Allied sweep across France and northwestern Europe, the Allies unexpectedly encountered fierce opposition. Hitler devised an enormous, last-ditch counteroffensive that if successful, would have effectively, “…cut the Allied lines in half.”...