Battle of the Bulge


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The Battle of the Bulge

The Nazi's last major offensive against the Allies

 

-Is accurately called the Ardennes Offensive, but became known as the Battle of the Bulge because the initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line

 

-Started on December 15, 1944 when Hitler ordered a massive attack against primarily American forces and ended in January of 1945 when Germany finally ran out of fuel

-He hoped that the alliance between France, Europe, and America was weak and that a major defeat would break the alliance

-The plan was:

    -The Sixth Panzer Army was to lead the attack and to capture Antwerp

    -The Fifth Panzer Army was to attack the center of the American forces, capture the road and rail center at St. Vith, and then move on to Brussels

    -The Seventh Army was to attack the southern flank and create a buffer zone to prevent American reinforcements from attacking the Fifth Panzer Amry

    -The Fifteenth Army was to be held in reserve to counter any Allied attack when they took place

-Even on paper this plan was considered absurd because Germany had been in retreat since D-Day and the military had few supplies left

-The Germans experienced great success in the beginning - Why?

    -The Allies were surprised by the attack

    -English speaking German soldiers went behind lines before the battle began and spread misinformation, changed road signs, and cut telephone lines causing great confusion

    -It was very foggy so the superior air force of the Allies could not be used

-But this success lasted only 2 days

    -The Germans didn't have the fuel to maintain their initial success

    -The weather started to clear, allowing the Allies to counter-attack using their superior air force

-The Germans had advanced 60 miles in 2 days, but from December 18th on there was a stalemate with ferious fighting

-This battle was the largest battle fought by the Americans in WWII with 600,000 American troops involved

-The Americans lost 81,000 while the Germans lost 100,000

                                                                                   

 

This is a map of Hilter's plan. You can                                                           This is a mural of the Battle of the Bulge. It was painted

see that it is very complicated and                                                                in 2004 and is located in the Legion of Valor Museum

it is not realistic because it

could never have worked