North Africa

Chapter 26-27 American History Text

War in North Africa

Purpose- access to oil fields and control of the Suez Canal which linked the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea 1942- Germanys Afrika Korps had pushed the British army to El Alamein, Egypt

German tank unit commanded by Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox)

British were able to hold their defense at El Alamein and prepared for a counteroffensive

War in North Africa

November 1942- British tank commander Bernard Montgomery counterattacked the German army and began to push them back across North Africa November 1942- US and British forces land in Morocco and Algeria

December 1942- German army is trapped in Tunisia (North Africa) by Allied forces from the west and east

Area controlled by Vichy France Fell to the Allies very quickly

German Defeat in North Africa

January

to March 1943- German army flew their top troops out of Tunisia March 1943- Rommel was recalled to Germany May 1943- General Hans-Jurgen von Arnim surrendered the remainder of the German troops in Tunisia

Casablanca Conference1943

When- January 14 24, 1943 Location- Casablanca, Morocco Attendees- FDR, Churchill, DeGaulle

Stalin was invited but did not attend due to the difficult campaign in Stalingrad US pushed for an attack on France Britain wanted to continue in the Mediterranean and take Italy first

Topic of Discussion- Allied Strategy in Europe

Casablanca Conference, 1943

Outcome

Sicily and Italy Campaign strategy was established No cross-channel invasion of France was definite in 1943 Both agreed to begin an offensive in the Pacific against Japan

Allied Invasion of Sicily, 1943

Allied forces landed on the island of Sicily and began the invasion of Italy

German and Italian forces escaped the island and prepared for the defense of Italy

Mussolini called for a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council End Result- the Council voted to confer emergency powers on King Victor Emmanuel, arrested Il Duce, and dissolved the Fascist party

Germany Rescues Il Duce

German

paratroopers parachuted in and rescued Mussolini from jail Mussolini was then installed as head of a new Italian Socialist Republic in the city of Salo (Northern Italy) Meanwhile the Italian government tried to create an armistice with the Allies September 1943- Italy signs an armistice with the Allies and quits the war

Italy

June 1944- Allied troops capture Rome and embark on a difficult attempt at entering Germanys backdoor The Anglo-American campaign in Northern Italy squandered lives and supplies in a costly advance up the peninsula The offensive took almost two years and turned into a serious strategic blunder and eventual failure on the part of the Western Allies