Battle of the Bulge
The Ardennes offensive was a last ditch effort by the Germans to achieve an advantage in the war, but it turned out to be an acceleration of GermanyŐs ultimate demise. Previous to the offensive the Allies had managed to achieve a beach head and advance toward Germany from almost every direction. On the eastern front Russia was steadily advancing on Berlin. The western front was around the Belgium and German border. GermanyŐs fate seemed to be determined but Hitler would not let the thought of defeat enter his or his commandŐs mind. He started planning for a massive offensive against the Allies on the western front. He believed that the relationship of the Allies was very unstable and that if he could penetrate through the western front and reach the port of Antwerp that they would bicker among themselves and eventually fall apart. In the fall of 1944 as General Eisenhower had promised the Allied forces had successfully fought their way through Europe and established a front from the North Sea to Switzerland. The lines were stretched very thin. Only 65 divisions of infantry, armor, and airborne were available to hold the 500 mile long line. Having landed at Normandy in June of the same year Allies
The union of the Allies was an uncomfortable one but it was held together because of their determination to destroy the German regime. They were fighting a war of attrition. That is where you keep attacking the enemy over and over again slowly breaking down their structure until they finally fall. Conferences between the leaders of the major countries for the Allies had conferences starting the negotiations of what would be done with Germany and the other territories after the war in Europe was over. Even though the advance had been stopped there was a division that had been encircled by the GermanŐs at Bastogne. The 101st airborne had been rushed to the line to defend Bastogne even though they had just finished fighting another major battle. When the city was surrounded the Germans offered the commander an ultimatum to surrender or be destroyed. The commander of the Allied forces General McAuliffe replied with one word ŇNuts!Ó. For a week the 101st was left to fend for themselves again the Germans. The only way to get supplies to them was through air drops but due to the bad weather this could not be accomplished. There were multiple Armored divisions that surrounded Bastone. The 101st had scouts at the extremities of the city to warn the rest of an attack at different parts. Then all of the division would rush to that point to fight. When the action was calm they would return to the middle of the city This occurred at different points in the city and because the Germans only attacked with one group at a time they thought that there were many more Allied forces in the city then there actually were. Just go to Amazon.com and search for books about wwII and use them I donŐt want to get any messages saying, I am holding my position. Two attacking Panzer armies the 5th and 6th were commanded by Manteuffle and Dietrich, along with another eleven divisions were the first to advance through the Ardennes. They moved at an extreme pace through the Losheim Gap where the 4 Allied divisions were located. The 6th was to attack north and the 5th to the south. Eisenhower reacted to this advance by sending only one armored division to the north and one to the south to stop the offensive. He was very naive to the magnitude of the German attack. As far as he was aware Eisenhower was assured that the armored divisions would be able to flank the Germans and be able to hold the line. The whole puzzle was sitting in front of the Allies but for many reasons they did not realize what was going on. Confidence in GermanyŐs demise was to a point where some thought that it would be impossible for Hitler to group together for an effective of
Some common words found in the essay are:
Third Army, GermanŐs Bastogne, Decoded Allies, Confidence GermanyŐs, Belgium German, Battle Bulge, Losheim Gap, Infantry Division, Colonel Peiper, Bulge Ardennes, western front, allied forces, german army, allied air, armored division, allied divisions, bad weather, 7th armored division, advance germany, able hold, allies western, 106th infantry division, able hold line, western front reach, 4 allied divisions,
Approximate Word count = 1786
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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