Germany Downfall At The Battle Of The Bulge Analysis
Arcesio Medina
Cpl Jonathan Marks
G2 MIC Analytical Paper
10 August 2016
Germany’s Downfall at the Battle of the Bulge Germany’s lack of preparation
The third reason the offensive failed was for lack of supplies. Fuel was especially the resource the offensive (any offensive) depended on, and as soon as the weather improved (a couple of weeks into the offensive) Allied planes struck German supply depots and storage facilities, convoys and trains at will. Without that fuel, German panzers were sitting ducks for airstrikes. By mid-September, American troops had reached the Siegfried Line, a series of defensive fortifications stretching along Germany's western border. By now, Hitler had lost over 500,000 soldiers in the West. By now, Hitler …show more content…
had lost over 500,000 soldiers in the West. It seemed the Western Allies were unstoppable and German commanders braced themselves for the inevitable invasion of the Fatherland. However, they were astounded when the entire Allied advance unexpectedly slowed down and then halted completely. At this point, rather than sit back and allow the Western Allies to regroup, Hitler decided to act. Hitler ordered a stunning new offensive reminiscent of the brilliant Blitzkrieg assault four years earlier that had overwhelmed the French Army. His idea was to take advantage of the foggy weather, typical for mid-December, to plunge a force of 250,000 men through the lightly defended Ardennes Forest, cross the Meuse River, and then push northward to Antwerp, capturing it within a week. To fill out the ranks, Hitler would need to draw thousands of men from the Russian Front where some 300 Soviet divisions were presently massing for their own invasion of Germany. Nevertheless, to Hitler it was worth the risk. It offered a chance to split apart the all-powerful American 1st and 3rd Armies, and in the accompanying confusion, crush British and Canadian positions along the Belgian-Dutch border. The political fallout of this shocking victory, Hitler calculated, would be a rift between the British and Americans, thereby collapsing the Western Alliance, thus allowing him to transfer all of his forces to the Russian Front in time to thwart the Soviet invasion. The two men chosen to command the offensive, Field Marshals Model and Rundstedt, listened in disbelief to the fantastical plan, knowing they had insufficient manpower and equipment to pull it off.
The element of surprise was needed. To keep the Allies from detecting their plans the Germans used a clever variety of deceptive tactics including a flurry of fake radio messages sent to non-existing frontline command posts, false rumors spread in public places for anyone to overhear, and relied primarily on secretive face-to-face conversations to relay the actual battle plans. At the same time, three whole armies, including twelve Panzer tank divisions, were quietly rolled into position for the offensive using a fragmentary approach to avoid detection. Along with the element of surprise, the Germans needed to sow confusion to succeed. Here one of the more interesting exploits of the war unfolded, the brain child of Hitler himself. A special "School for Americans" was set up by SS spy master Otto Skorzeny to train 2,000 German commandos to speak and behave like American soldiers. Using captured uniforms and Jeeps, the commandos intended to confuse U.S. troops in the zone of attack by giving bad directions, mixing up road signs, killing dispatch riders, cutting phone wires, and would try to generate panic by depicting a hopeless situation to anyone who would listen. The offensive began December 16, …show more content…
1944. The attack erupted with an hour-long artillery barrage along an eighty-five mile front in the Ardennes which was thinly defended by six American divisions.
Three of the divisions were new and had no battle experience while the remainders were experienced but tired-out men sent to recuperate in what had been the quietest sector of the Western Front. The German success continued unhindered for five foggy days, creating a 50-mile westward bulge in the lines, which gave the Ardennes Offensive its popular name Battle of the Bulge. To counter the German surprise attack, General Omar Bradley, Commander of U.S. troops in Europe, immediately sent reinforcements and slowed the German advance which resulted in uneven progress along the front. On December 21, 1944, the 101st Airborne Division had rushed in and formed defensive lines around the key city of Bastogne in Belgium. This kept German forces at bay despite the barrage of artillery fire. Weather conditions improved as the fog lifted on the morning of December 22 and Allied aircraft were able to be deployed onto the battlefield dropping supplies into Bastogne and providing the defense with air support to counter the German offensive. The German’s
original plan was for a northward movement across the Meuse River onto Antwerp to force an allied surrender within a week. It was necessary for them to capture
On December 16, 1944, Adolf Hitler launched an audacious counterattack against Allied forces in the freezing Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium and Luxembourg60-mile “bulge” the German blitzkrieg left in the Allied lines American defenders were caught off guard as more than 250,000 German troops and hundreds of tanks descended on their positions The Nazis held off on their offensive until dense fog and snow arrived and grounded the Allies’ superior air support, leaving both sides to grapple with near-Arctic conditions. Frost covered much of the soldiers’ equipment, and tanks had to be chiseled out of ice after they froze to the ground overnight.
The Nazis set aside nearly 5 million gallons for the Battle of the Bulge, yet once combat operations began, poor road conditions and logistical missteps ensured that much of the fuel never reached those who needed it the Nazi high command built their battle plans around capturing American fuel depots during their advance With no way to continue the advance across the Meuse River, the counterattack soon crumbled
Sources http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/defeat/battle-bulge.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1753.html http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/battle-of-the-bulge.asp
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_25.htm
Cpl Jonathan Marks
G2 MIC Analytical Paper
10 August 2016
Germany’s Downfall at the Battle of the Bulge Germany’s lack of preparation
The third reason the offensive failed was for lack of supplies. Fuel was especially the resource the offensive (any offensive) depended on, and as soon as the weather improved (a couple of weeks into the offensive) Allied planes struck German supply depots and storage facilities, convoys and trains at will. Without that fuel, German panzers were sitting ducks for airstrikes. By mid-September, American troops had reached the Siegfried Line, a series of defensive fortifications stretching along Germany's western border. By now, Hitler had lost over 500,000 soldiers in the West. By now, Hitler …show more content…
had lost over 500,000 soldiers in the West. It seemed the Western Allies were unstoppable and German commanders braced themselves for the inevitable invasion of the Fatherland. However, they were astounded when the entire Allied advance unexpectedly slowed down and then halted completely. At this point, rather than sit back and allow the Western Allies to regroup, Hitler decided to act. Hitler ordered a stunning new offensive reminiscent of the brilliant Blitzkrieg assault four years earlier that had overwhelmed the French Army. His idea was to take advantage of the foggy weather, typical for mid-December, to plunge a force of 250,000 men through the lightly defended Ardennes Forest, cross the Meuse River, and then push northward to Antwerp, capturing it within a week. To fill out the ranks, Hitler would need to draw thousands of men from the Russian Front where some 300 Soviet divisions were presently massing for their own invasion of Germany. Nevertheless, to Hitler it was worth the risk. It offered a chance to split apart the all-powerful American 1st and 3rd Armies, and in the accompanying confusion, crush British and Canadian positions along the Belgian-Dutch border. The political fallout of this shocking victory, Hitler calculated, would be a rift between the British and Americans, thereby collapsing the Western Alliance, thus allowing him to transfer all of his forces to the Russian Front in time to thwart the Soviet invasion. The two men chosen to command the offensive, Field Marshals Model and Rundstedt, listened in disbelief to the fantastical plan, knowing they had insufficient manpower and equipment to pull it off.
The element of surprise was needed. To keep the Allies from detecting their plans the Germans used a clever variety of deceptive tactics including a flurry of fake radio messages sent to non-existing frontline command posts, false rumors spread in public places for anyone to overhear, and relied primarily on secretive face-to-face conversations to relay the actual battle plans. At the same time, three whole armies, including twelve Panzer tank divisions, were quietly rolled into position for the offensive using a fragmentary approach to avoid detection. Along with the element of surprise, the Germans needed to sow confusion to succeed. Here one of the more interesting exploits of the war unfolded, the brain child of Hitler himself. A special "School for Americans" was set up by SS spy master Otto Skorzeny to train 2,000 German commandos to speak and behave like American soldiers. Using captured uniforms and Jeeps, the commandos intended to confuse U.S. troops in the zone of attack by giving bad directions, mixing up road signs, killing dispatch riders, cutting phone wires, and would try to generate panic by depicting a hopeless situation to anyone who would listen. The offensive began December 16, …show more content…
1944. The attack erupted with an hour-long artillery barrage along an eighty-five mile front in the Ardennes which was thinly defended by six American divisions.
Three of the divisions were new and had no battle experience while the remainders were experienced but tired-out men sent to recuperate in what had been the quietest sector of the Western Front. The German success continued unhindered for five foggy days, creating a 50-mile westward bulge in the lines, which gave the Ardennes Offensive its popular name Battle of the Bulge. To counter the German surprise attack, General Omar Bradley, Commander of U.S. troops in Europe, immediately sent reinforcements and slowed the German advance which resulted in uneven progress along the front. On December 21, 1944, the 101st Airborne Division had rushed in and formed defensive lines around the key city of Bastogne in Belgium. This kept German forces at bay despite the barrage of artillery fire. Weather conditions improved as the fog lifted on the morning of December 22 and Allied aircraft were able to be deployed onto the battlefield dropping supplies into Bastogne and providing the defense with air support to counter the German offensive. The German’s
original plan was for a northward movement across the Meuse River onto Antwerp to force an allied surrender within a week. It was necessary for them to capture
On December 16, 1944, Adolf Hitler launched an audacious counterattack against Allied forces in the freezing Ardennes Forest in southern Belgium and Luxembourg60-mile “bulge” the German blitzkrieg left in the Allied lines American defenders were caught off guard as more than 250,000 German troops and hundreds of tanks descended on their positions The Nazis held off on their offensive until dense fog and snow arrived and grounded the Allies’ superior air support, leaving both sides to grapple with near-Arctic conditions. Frost covered much of the soldiers’ equipment, and tanks had to be chiseled out of ice after they froze to the ground overnight.
The Nazis set aside nearly 5 million gallons for the Battle of the Bulge, yet once combat operations began, poor road conditions and logistical missteps ensured that much of the fuel never reached those who needed it the Nazi high command built their battle plans around capturing American fuel depots during their advance With no way to continue the advance across the Meuse River, the counterattack soon crumbled
Sources http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-the-bulge http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/defeat/battle-bulge.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1753.html http://www.secondworldwarhistory.com/battle-of-the-bulge.asp
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_25.htm