Allied Strategy: Europe First 723Africa. After the fall of France, the Nazis had set up a
puppet regime in those parts of France not occupied by
their troops, with headquarters at Vichy in central
France. This collaborationist Vichy government con-
trolled French North Africa. But the North African
commandant, Admiral Jean Darlan, agreed to switch
sides when Eisenhower’s forces landed. After a brief
show of resistance, the French surrendered.
Eisenhower now pressed forward quickly against
the Germans in North Africa. In February 1943 at
Kasserine Pass in the desert south of Tunis, American
tanks met Rommel’s Afrika Korps. The battle ended
in a standoff, but with British troops closing in from
their Egyptian bases to the East, the Germans were
soon trapped and crushed. In May, after Rommel had
been recalled to Germany, his army surrendered.
In July 1943, while air attacks on Germany contin-
ued and the Russians slowly pushed the Germans back
from the gates of Stalingrad, the Allies invaded Sicily
from Africa. In September they advanced to the Italian
mainland. Mussolini had already fallen from power and
his successor, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, surrendered.
However, the German troops in Italy threw up an
almost impregnable defense across the rugged Italian
peninsula. The Anglo American army inched forward,
paying heavily for every advance. Monte Cassino,
halfway between Naples and Rome, did not fall until
May 1944, the capital itself not until June; months of
hard fighting remained before the country was cleared
of Germans. The Italian campaign was an Allied disap-
pointment even though it weakened the enemy.
SeetheMapWorld War II in Europeatwww.myhistorylab.comYUGOSLAVIASLOVAKIAGREAT DENMARK
BRITAINBELGIUMSWITZ.NETHERLANDSIRELANDFRANCESPAIN ITALYMOROCCOALGERIALIBYAEGYPTTRANSJORDANPALESTINELEBANONSYRIA
IRAQTURKEYPORTUGALGERMANYPOLANDFINLAND
SWEDENNORWAYHUNGARYLATVIA
LITHUANIAESTONIABULGARIAGREECECreteSicilyROMANIASOVIET
UNION
(USSR)Axis powers
Extent of Axis control
early Nov. 1942
Allied powers
Neutral
Allied forces
Major Allied victoriesD-Day
June 6,1944
Battle of the Bulge
Dec.,1944 – Jan.,1945Stalingrad
Aug.,1942– Jan.,1943
PragueIstanbulYaltaBudapestRomeAthensAmsterdam Berlin
WarsawGdanskMunichLondonParisMadridCasablanca OranTripoliBelgrade
BucharestAnkaraMoscowATLANTIC Kiev
OCEANBaltic
SeaNorth
SeaMediterranean SeaBay of
BiscayBlack SeaThe Liberation of EuropeAfter November, 1942, Allied armies pushed the German-Italian armies back on three fronts: the Soviets, from the
East; and American-British armies from North Africa and then, after the Normandy invasion, from France.