Book contents
- The Cambridge History of The Second World War
- The Cambridge History of the Second World War
- The Cambridge History of The Second World War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- General introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I Grand Strategies
- Part II Campaigns
- Introduction to Part II
- 9 Campaigns in China, 1937–1945
- 10 The war in the West, 1939–1940
- 11 The war in the West, 1939–1940
- 12 Operations on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
- 13 The Mediterranean and North Africa, 1940–1944
- 14 The war in the West, 1943–1945
- 15 The war in the Pacific, 1941–1945
- 16 The Atlantic war, 1939–1945
- 17 Anglo-American strategic bombing, 1940–1945
- Part III Fighting Forces
- Bibliographical essays
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
14 - The war in the West, 1943–1945
from Part II - Campaigns
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2015
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of The Second World War
- The Cambridge History of the Second World War
- The Cambridge History of The Second World War
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Figures
- Maps
- Tables
- Contributors to Volume I
- General introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I Grand Strategies
- Part II Campaigns
- Introduction to Part II
- 9 Campaigns in China, 1937–1945
- 10 The war in the West, 1939–1940
- 11 The war in the West, 1939–1940
- 12 Operations on the Eastern Front, 1941–1945
- 13 The Mediterranean and North Africa, 1940–1944
- 14 The war in the West, 1943–1945
- 15 The war in the Pacific, 1941–1945
- 16 The Atlantic war, 1939–1945
- 17 Anglo-American strategic bombing, 1940–1945
- Part III Fighting Forces
- Bibliographical essays
- Index
- Plate Section (PDF Only)
Summary
In Europe, however, 1943 was the year of decision. By May, German and Italian troops in North Africa had surrendered in numbers greater than the total loss suffered at Stalingrad. The failure of the Western Allies to launch the cross-Channel assault in a timely fashion would lend credence to a possible post-war scenario that would favour the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union could also claim all of the credit for the defeat of Germany and be in a correspondingly strong position to determine the state of the post-war world. The Germans constantly constructed appreciations of Allied troop strength and of where they expected the assault to land, and adjusted their defences and troop deployments accordingly. On 16 April, the Soviets launched their final thrust against Berlin. They reached the suburbs less than a week later. American forces mopped up resistance in southern Germany and Austria, and they crossed the Brenner pass into northern Italy.
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- The Cambridge History of the Second World War , pp. 389 - 419Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015
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