Impacts Of D-Day
The Effects of the Invasion of Normandy The date: June 6, 1944. The location: Normandy, France. The event: the largest seaborne invasion in the history of warfare, otherwise known as D-Day. The impacts of this invasion completely changed the entirety of World War II and lead to the Allied Victory over the Axis armies in Western Europe. To begin with, D-Day lead to the Nazi army having to fight against the Allies on two fronts, making it much more difficult for them to defend their conquests throughout Europe. Before D-Day, the majority of Allied attacks against the Nazis in Europe had been by the Russians in the east. Russia had been able to push the Germans closer into the mainland of Europe at battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk, but
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As the Nazis began their retreat back to their homeland, many of the countries they had taken over were abandoned and were able to be freed by Allied troops who passed through them on their way to Berlin. One of the most famous of these was the liberation of Paris. When Germany had taken over the French city in the May of 1940, it had left France unable to help the Allies in their fight. It seemed it would remain that way until August 28, 1944 when Allied troops broke through the German lines that surrounded the city, causing the Germans to fall further back into Europe (Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, 2015). After the German retreat, the Allies continued to move towards Berlin through Paris and were met with great appreciation from the people. As Ernie Pyle, an American journalist who followed the American forces during the war, wrote: “The streets were lined as by Fourth of July parade crowds at home, only this crowd was almost hysterical… As our jeep eased through the crowds, thousands of people crowded up, leaving only a narrow corridor, and frantic men, women and children grabbed us and kissed us and shook our hands and beat on our shoulders and slapped our backs and shouted their joy as we passed.” (Indiana University School of Journalism, 2017). After this liberation, France was finally able to amass the forces they needed to help continue the fight against the Axis powers. Without D-Day, the Parisian people would have stayed under the control of the Nazis and possibly never have been able to help the
As the Nazis began their retreat back to their homeland, many of the countries they had taken over were abandoned and were able to be freed by Allied troops who passed through them on their way to Berlin. One of the most famous of these was the liberation of Paris. When Germany had taken over the French city in the May of 1940, it had left France unable to help the Allies in their fight. It seemed it would remain that way until August 28, 1944 when Allied troops broke through the German lines that surrounded the city, causing the Germans to fall further back into Europe (Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, 2015). After the German retreat, the Allies continued to move towards Berlin through Paris and were met with great appreciation from the people. As Ernie Pyle, an American journalist who followed the American forces during the war, wrote: “The streets were lined as by Fourth of July parade crowds at home, only this crowd was almost hysterical… As our jeep eased through the crowds, thousands of people crowded up, leaving only a narrow corridor, and frantic men, women and children grabbed us and kissed us and shook our hands and beat on our shoulders and slapped our backs and shouted their joy as we passed.” (Indiana University School of Journalism, 2017). After this liberation, France was finally able to amass the forces they needed to help continue the fight against the Axis powers. Without D-Day, the Parisian people would have stayed under the control of the Nazis and possibly never have been able to help the