D-Day Role In Winning The World War II
On September 1, 1939, World War 2 began. On this day Germany had invaded Poland. Two days later, Great Britain and France responded by declaring war on Germany. On September 17, Poland was again invaded, but this time by Soviet troops. Hitler and Stalin had signed the German-Soviet Non Aggression pact. The pact meant the Germans wouldn’t face a war on two pacts once Poland was invaded. By early 1940, the Soviet and German troops had control of Poland. The two countries divided control of Poland. After Poland, Germany then invaded Norway and Denmark. Italy had formed an alliance with Germany and on June 10, they declared war on France and Britain. In September of 1940, German dropped planes on Britain in what was called Operation Sea Lion. This lasted until May of 1941. In the Battle of Britain, the German Air Force was defeated. This postponed Hitler’s plans to invade. After this, Britain’s resources were low, so the U.S. helped aid them under the Lend-Lease act. On June 22, 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. This invasion was codenamed Operation Barbarossa. The Germans were outnumbered by the Soviets’ tanks and aircraft, but their technology was outdated. The Germans used this with the element of surprise to push within 200 miles of Moscow. The next attack by the Germans wasn’t until October, but they were stalled by the Soviet Union and the harsh weather. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese aircrafts. After the attack that took more than 2,300 lives, the United States declared war on Japan. This led to Germany and the Axis Powers declaring war on the U.S. In 1942, the U.S. had won the Battle of Midway. The battle was won in June and had proved to be a turning point. In 1943, the U.S. used a strategy known as “island hopping” to try and invade Japan. This strategy worked and they continued to move closer. On June 6, 1944, the Allies began an invasion of Europe. This day is known as “D-Day”. D-Day played an important role in the overall victory of the Allies. In late 1944, the Battle of the Bulge, the Allied forces invaded Germany and in May the Germans surrendered. The war would later end in September of 1945, after the U.S. used atomic bombs on Japan, forcing them to surrender. Without D-Day, the war may have been different. It’s role in the war was important because it helped end the control the Germans had, it led to the Germans defeat, and with the Germans defeated, it helped end the war.
On June 6, 1944, D-Day happened. The code name for it was Operation Overlord. On this day, 156,000 American, British, and Canadien troops landed in Normandy. For the attack, the troops landed on five different islands. This was one of the largest assaults and required tons of planning. This attack was supposed to happen sooner, but bad weather pushed it back. With the victory, this ended the control that the Germans had. The Germans had conquered a few countries throughout World War 2. With the war going on for around three years, the Germans were still looking for more. The Germans had troops in South Africa along with Italian troops, but they were defeated by American troops. On the Eastern front, the Germans were fighting the Soviet Union. The battle that they had was known as the Battle of Stalingrad. When they decided to attack, the winter had come making the weather very harsh and hard to fight in. This combined with their food supplies dwindling made it hard for their soldiers to survive. These losses weakened the German army. Along with D-Day, these battles made the Germans lose the control that they had. “After D-Day, the days of the German resistance were numbered” (D-Day and the German Surrender).
D-Day also led to the Germans defeat. With the Germans losing control, it made it harder for them to win. In response to this, Hitler sent the remaining members of his army to Western Europe. This ensured that the Germans were defeated in the East. On the Eastern side, Soviet troops advanced. They went through Polan, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The last German attack was sent on the American, Britain, and Canadien troops that landed in Normandy. This battle was known as the Battle of the Bulge. This happened on December 16, 1944. The Allies invaded Germany and in May the Germans surrendered. The leader of Germany, Hitler, had committed suicide a week before. “D-Day forced the Germans to fight a two front war again just as they had in WWI. Yet again the Germans could not handle war on both sides” (The Effects of D-Day).
With the defeat of Germany, this helped lead to the end of the war. The Germans surrendered on May 8, 1945. This was four months before the war had completely ended. After the Germans had surrendered, they had the Potsdam Conference. Here, they discussed the ongoing war as well as what would happen with Germany. Germany was divided into four different zones where each country would have a zone. They were controlled by the Soviet Union, France, Britain, and the United States. The United States didn’t want to lose more troops, so they didn’t invade Japan. Instead, Harry Truman, the president at the time, decided to use a top secret project. It was called the Manhattan Project. In early August, two cities in Japan saw the effects of an atomic bomb. An atomic bomb was dropped both on the city of Hiroshima and the city of Nagasaki. The U.S. first dropped a bomb on Hiroshima. After seeing that the Japanese didn’t surrender, they dropped another one on Nagasaki. After these two bombs, the Japanese surrendered. “The two bombs combined killed more than 100,000 people and leveled the two Japanese cities to the ground” (Manhattan Project). The war came to an official end on September 2, 1945.Without D-Day, the war may have not come to an end as soon as it had.
