The purpose of this speech for the class is to gain better knowledge of one of the most tragic and devastating battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. To Better understand The Battle of the Bulge I will explain to you the cause of the battle, location of the battle, when it took place, who was the battle fought between, the number of soldiers involved, and the number of casualties. The prelude to the Battle of the Bulge began on a winter day in mid-December of 1944. Three powerful German divisions, were the last German offensives in the west at that time during World War II. They began after the Normandy invasion in June 1944. Allied had forces swept rapidly through France but became stalled along the German border earlier that year in September. On December 16, 1944 taking advantage of the weather, which kept the Allied aircraft on the ground, the Germans launched a counteroffensive through the semi-mountainous and heavily-forested Ardennes region in Germany, and advanced 31 miles into Belgium and northern Luxembourg near the Meuse River. Their goal was to trap four allied armies, divide the Americans and the British to force negotiated peace along the western front, and retake the vital seaport of Antwerp in Belgium.
Thinking the Ardennes was the least likely spot for a German offensive, American staff commander chose to keep the thin line, so that manpower might concentrate on offensives north and south of the Ardennes known as the bulge in the Allied lines. These American lines were thinly held by three divisions in the Allied Army and part of a forth division, while fifth division was making a local attack and the sixth division was in reserve. Division sectors were more than double the width of normal defensive fronts, therefore there were more men scattered along a larger area. The German advance was halted near the Meuse River in late December. Even though the German Offensive achieved total surprise, nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight. Within three days, the determined American stand and the arrival of powerful reinforcements insured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond reach. In snow and sub-freezing temperatures the Germans fell short of their interim objective- to reach the rambling Meuse River on the edge of the Ardennes.
The Essay on Impact Of World War 1 On Germans And African Americans
In the year 1790, the United Sates Census counted approximately 375 thousand people of the German origin. The number of the Germans immigration later increased after the year 1815. The occurrence of World War 1 during this period led to the increase in anti-German sentiments causing the German community to become invisible (Fiebig-von 33). The Germans were often met with accusations of being ...
But they managed to avoid being cut off by an Allied Pincer movement. The Germans withdrew to their own lines in January, but heavy losses, including near 220,000 casualties. After grim fighting and with heavy losses on both the American and German sides, the Bulge ceased to exist, on the following in January of 1945. All the Germans accomplished was to create a Bulge in the American line. In the process they expended irreplaceable men, tanks and material. The Battle of the Bulge, which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945, was the largest land battle of World War II.
More than a million men participated in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The German military force consisted of two Armies with ten cores (equal to 29 divisions).
While the American military force consisted of a total of three armies with six cores (equal to 31 divisions).
At the end of the battle the casualties were as follows: 81,000 U.S. with 19,000 killed, 1400 British with 200 killed, and 100,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured. You should now be able to understand why in its entirety, the Battle of the Bulge, was one of the worst battles-in terms of losses- to the American Forces in World War II..
