A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

1086 Ch. 26 • World War II

The bomb exploded, wounding Hitler slightly. Those implicated in the plot
were quickly arrested and slowly strangled by nooses of piano wire as they
writhed on meat hooks. Movie cameras recorded their agonizing death for
the later amusement of Hitler, his mistress, and friends. Hitler also ordered
the execution of about 5,000 other Germans in positions of authority whose
loyalty seemed suspect, including family members of conspirators. Thou­
sands of Germans poured into the streets in major cities to celebrate their
Fiihrer’s escape from death.

The Tide Turns

By the end of 1942, the Germans were on the defensive on the high seas,

in the Soviet Union, and in North Africa, where Italian forces were routed

and German forces pushed back (see Map 26.6). The entry of the United

States into the war in December 1941 helped turn the tide against Ger­

many. American war supplies and then armed forces strengthened the Allied

cause as they had in World War I. The German war machine was chaoti­

cally managed and German resources increasingly inadequate to fighting

a war on so many fronts.

Hitler’s invasion of Russia turned into a full-fledged military disaster,

culminating in the crushing defeat and surrender of German forces at Sta­

lingrad in February 1943. As Hitler’s Balkan allies one by one pulled out of

the war, the Allies launched an invasion of Italy from North Africa, forcing

the king of Italy to agree to a secret armistice and pushing German troops

to retreat to the north. On June 6, 1944, Western Allied forces launched a

massive invasion of France, landing on the beaches of Normandy, and forc­

ing the German army to pull back, fighting all the way. The Allies first

reached the Rhine River in March 1945.

Now confident of victory over Hitler, the Big Three (Churchill, Roosevelt,

and Stalin) began to plan for the end of the war. As the Soviet army began to

push the Germans back across a broad front in July 1943, it became clear

that when the war ended, the Red Army could control large parts of Eastern

and Central Europe. This probability brought dissension to the Big Three,

particularly as Churchill feared that the Red Army might never leave the

Eastern European nations it liberated from German occupation.

Germany on the Defensive

With the majority of German men between the ages of eighteen and fifty in

the army, Germany’s war machine required more workers. By late 1941,

there were already 4 million foreigners working in Germany, including pris­

oners of war (in violation of international agreements), and in May 1944,

almost twice that number, the majority of whom were Soviet citizens. More

German women now worked in the factories.