Operation Torch Impact

Churchill expected major-general John Lucas, in charge of the campaign, to take advantage of the surprise factor and strike an attack that would cut off the supply route to Cassino. But the latter decided against it and followed US commanding officer Mark Clark’s advice to dig artillery positions to secure the bridgehead. This delay would allow the Germans to prepare an opposition force. Even though there had been some errors they only influenced single operations of the conflict and therefore, did not have as great an effect on the length of the campaign as the strength of German

Hitler had used propaganda and other tactics to make the German people eager for war. He used the treaty of Versailles as an example for the German people as their anger on the loss of World War one and their treatment under the treaty of Versailles to make them want to take revenge. Moreover, after a winter of waiting, Hitler resumed back to attack on April 9, 1940, nevertheless, as The Blitzkrieg tactic had succeeded on Poland, Hitler attacked Denmark and Norway and occupied them. One month later, Germany launched attacked on Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The main assault was through the Luxembourg and the Ardennes Forest.

The Schlieffen Plan, of the The First World War was an operational plan designed by the German army to wage a successful two front war against France on the west, and Russia on the East. Arguably this is one the most known battle plan throughout history as it played an enormous role in the outbreak of war in 1914. One of the reasons why the plan was devised was because of rapid rise of tension and instability in Europe, and with the formation of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entete, things only become worse. The plan eventually came into development as the German Military began to fear a possible combined attack from Russia, France and Britain which would obviously lead to the defeat of the German forces. Therefore, as a counter to the

Stalin’s death, the end of the Korean War, UK’s lukewarm support and France’s delays (as France was both occupied with decolonisation and was evermore begrudging towards German rearmament and towards having West Germany as an equal within the EDC) contributed to the EDC’s failure in August 1954. According to S.F. Goodman (1996), “the plan for a European Defence Community failed because the United Kingdom would not cooperate as a result of its commitment to the defence of its remaining empire.” Britain has often been criticized for not doing more for European unity and denying supranational authority to institutions such as the OEEC, the Council of Europe or the European Defence Community. “Bevin’s government was criticised for being anti-European; this was not the case – simply, his vision was more to foster intergovernmental cooperation more than integration via supranational bodies.”

Moreover, the German revolution caused endless chaos and tension in Germany, stealing away the soldiers’ focus on victory in WW1, therefore negatively affecting their performance & sparking their defeat in WW1. The figure above (Figure 2: German Revolution), shows one of the demonstrations in the German revolution. However, the German revolution stemmed many changes into the German authority, as the Kaiser was coerced to resign & Germany was announced a republic. (Figure 2: German Revolution) In conclusion, many different factors combined led to the German defeat in WW1, including the US entry into WW1, the naval factors, the authoritative factors, the blockades and the failure of the U-boat campaign as well as the Ludendorff offensive.

Later, the allies developed the “all-arms attack” plan, which caused Germany to find it hard to win. Allies cooperated and all worked together which caused them to be powerful. However compare the Allies to the Central Powers, the central powers were weaker as they didn’t work together. Nearly half of the troop strength for the Central Powers came from Germany in World War One. Austria and Germany together provided 80% of the troop strength.

Then, when Austria declared war on Serbia, Russia declared war on Austria as Russia had a contract with Serbia that they would

When Germany gained power again and resisted the obligations of Versailles, other European powers became alert and saw the need for new alliances. They all feared another war. Nationalist fascist leaders gained power in Germany, Italy, and Spain. These nations were very militaristic and probed for a new war, especially Germany. It wanted to get rid of its financial obligations and restrictions of the treaty of Versailles.

Looking back at the early 1930’s, there are many people today who would criticize the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain with his policy of appeasement towards the Natzi leader, Adolf Hitler. Appeasement is defined as “the policy of acceding to the demands of a potentially hostile nation in the hope of maintaining peace.” However, historians now know that peace was never an option for the German leader. His invasion of the Rhineland and Austria was only the beginning; Hitler had his eyes set on Poland, Russia and eventually the world. Chamberlain has been heavily criticized for simply handing over the Sudetenland because this action showed that Hitler had the upper hand.

The German economy was damaged, people lost their jobs, and the people were turned against their government. Life in Germany became miserable after the signing of what was called a peace treaty. Because of all this, the Germans desired a strong leader, someone who would once again help Germany rise to power. They wanted revenge, and after a short time, they were sure to get that. But without the peace treaty this anger and vengeance would not have existed in the first place.

There are many reasons why World War II started. To put into a big category, the main cause of the war is the first world war. The countries reluctantly signed the Treaty of Versailles, also known as the Peace of Paris, because it did not satisfy any country (History.com, 2009). After World War I, many countries were indebted and economically poor; this is known as the Great Depression.

The attacks on the railways and waterways, as mentioned above, not only affected the German economy but also the German army. The equipment that had been produced was difficult to move from the factory to the front line and there was also limited space on the trains to move the men themselves. Whilst not entirely as a result of Allied Strategic Bombing, 80% of the German army was horse-drawn. This lack of transportation hindered the army from reaching its full capabilities thereby limiting their performance in the war and as such it seems that allied strategic bombing of the transport infrastructure was highly successful in achieving its objective of impacting and hindering other areas of the German war effort. The bombing also delayed the use of Hitler’s Vergeltungswaffe rockets.

They suffered a disastrous defeat at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass in Feb. 1943. There was internal bickering between the United States and Britain. However, this was a turning point for the war. President Roosevelt put General Patton in charge.

D-Day was on June 6, 1944, and was to become a naval, land, and air attack on Nazi-controlled France. The attack was a team of the American, Canadian, and British armies, “D-Day required unprecedented cooperation between international armed forces.” (Jalter 1) The code name for the mission was “Overlord.” Ground troops landed at several beaches and captured them.

Europe was still very unstable because of the effects of World War I especially Germany. Their politics and economy were very unstable, so it was easy for a dictator to take the “throne”. Hitler and the Nazi party soonly took over. The Allied powers continually tried to get Hitler to stop expanding and conquering other lands. Hitler agreed, but continually disregarded them violating and denouncing the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. Germany signed treaties with Japan and Italy to help them take over the world.