Send+Troops+to+Normandy

__Send Troops to Normandy __

** Read the information below to see what __could have__ happened: **



 The German army sent spies to Allied Army Headquarters to crack the code about an attack coming their way. They came back with an answer. An attack would be held somewhere along the French coast (Ambrose 64). __Decision__  In late May 1944, after he was notified about an attack, HITLER was persuaded by his Field Marshal, ERWIN ROMMEL, to send troops to NORMANDY (Ambrose 64). HITLER sent his best divisions to the NORMANDY coast lines. Since they believed GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER had a lot more troops than he actually did, HITLER decided to send even more (Ambrose 64). This decision made HITLER take away troops from Norway even though they were still anticipating an attack (Ambrose 64). The German Army was heavily enforced with strong, motivated men, while the Allied Army was unprepared. The German troops outnumbered the United States two to one. __The Response of the Allies__ GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER found out about all of the German troops that Hitler had sent and decided to forgo the airdrops because there were no safe landing zones, and to approach NORMANDY only by sea (Ambrose 64). By having the Allied troops come in only by sea, gave the Germans a strong upper hand in the battle. GENERAL DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER was worried about the German troops so he quickly ordered "GARBO", the double secret agent to the Germans and Allies (who really worked for the Allies), to send a radio signal to HITLER. EISENHOWER told GARBO to send a message that the battle was on its way to Calais (Ambrose 64). __ Hitler's Response __   Since HITLER was notified about the attack at Calais, he quickly mobilized his troops to prepare them for a battle there and at Normandy, since he wasn’t quite sure where they would land. EISENHOWER's magnificent plan also contained dummy tanks, that continued to persuade Hitler about where the “real” battle was going to take place. Wherever the battle was, the Germans had their guns loaded and were on the look out for the Allies troops to come ashore.   __The Battle Begins__ <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; text-align: left;">At 6:30 AM on June 6th, EISENHOWER and the Allied troops landed on the coast of NORMANDY (Ambrose 64). Little did he know that they were outnumbered and that the Germans were ready for battle. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; text-align: left;"> The battle was a disaster for the Allies. The Germans had over six million explosive mines on the shores, and quickly destroyed many of the Allied troops (Stokesbury 3). The battled had only lasted a little over 24 hours. Soon, the Allies removed what was left of their troops from the shores. HITLER was very impressed with his Field Marshal, ROMMEL. Without his persuasion, the Germans would have lost a costly battle. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%; text-align: left;">__Significance of Decision__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; text-align: left;"> The battle was essential to the Germans because OPERATION OVERLORD was their last stand against the Allied Forces. The tide had turned to the Axis powers. After D-Day, Germany, along with it’s allies, Japan and Italy, continued to conquer massive amounts of land. They captured France, Belgium, Greece, and most of Europe. All of this German occupied land granted HITLER’s dream of having his Third Reich (Harris). The war ended when HITLER gained control of all the land he wanted in Europe. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; text-align: left;">The United States and its Allied powers surrendered leaving Germany to bask in all the winning glory. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; text-align: left;">Back in America, Anti-German prejudices grew rapidly out of fear. Many Germans were sent to internment camps. Others were ostracized by their fellow Americans and striped of their jobs and their pride. Many fled back to Germany to start new lives. The American government grew it’s armed forces in fear that HITLER would try to conquer North America next. The U.S. would never be the same.