What was the Battle of the Bulge?
“It was, without any doubt, the greatest American battle of the Second World War and it will, I believe, always be considered as a great American victory.” –Sir Winston Churchill The Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944 dealt a psychological blow to the German army and became the turning point of World War II. The Allies’ breakthrough of the German lines resulted in the liberation of Paris in August, and the Belgian town of Bastogne, and the Ardennes in September. Units of the First Army even crossed into Germany, but were stopped by the Germans at what would be known as the Siegfried Line. Germany was losing the war. The Russian Red Army was closing in on the Eastern front while German cities were being devastated by American bombing. Hitler knew the end was near unless he devised a plan to slow the Allied advance. His plan was to be known as the Ardennes Offensive. The strategy was to drive on Antwerp toward the sea and trap the Allied armies west of the Meuse River . The sem
The “Battle of the Bulge” is the popular name for the Ardennes Offensive during World War II. German forces began the attack through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium en route to a planned siege of Antwerp. The German plan was code-named “Wacht am Rhein” or “Watch on the Rhine” as a means of deceiving the Allies into thinking that it would be defensive in nature. Later, the offensive was renamed to “Autumn Mist”. The forest is mountainous and dense and due to poor weather, the German advance in the early stages of the battle was swift. The advance began on 16 December 1944, and after about a week, they had made good progress to Bastogne. General Anthony McAuliffe was given an offer to surrender by the Germans to which he gave a simple reply: “NUTS!”. By Christmas, the German advance was beginning to lose steam due to fuel and ammunition shortages. The weather began to improve which gave the Allies better opportunities to attack with aircraft. The tide began to turn, and by 13 January, Ger
The Battle of the Bulge refers to the December 16, 1944, German confrontation with American forces during World War II (1939–45) in the Ardennes Forest, a heavily wooded plateau range that extends from northern France into Belgium and Luxembourg. The Ardennes had been the site of previous battles, in World War II, as well as in World War I (1914–18). Although Germany appeared to be beaten at this late stage of the war, German führer (leader) Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) rallied his remaining troops, launching a surprise assault on American soldiers in Belgium and Luxembourg. Germany could not sustain its battle lines, however, and within two weeks the Americans had halted the German advance near the Meuse River south of Brussels, Belgium. The offensive became known as the Battle of the Bulge because of the protruding shape of the battle line on a map. Further Information:…
The Battle of the Bulge was one of Germany’s last offensives. Hitler wanted to try and reignite Germany’s Blitzkriegs. So the German Army went on an offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. The German Army then surrounded the city of Bastogne which was being held by US Gen. Omar Bradley and his troops. After a few grewling days, US reinforcements arrived and pushed the bulge back into previous German Territory.
