Table of Contents
- 1 How did the German army get through the Ardennes?
- 2 How did the Germans break through the Ardennes?
- 3 How cold was the Battle of Bastogne?
- 4 How was Germany’s geographic location an advantage?
- 5 How did the German military overcome the Maginot Line?
- 6 When did the Germans get past the Maginot Line?
- 7 What was the age limit for the Battle of the Bulge?
- 8 Why was the Ardennes so impenetrable?
How did the German army get through the Ardennes?
The Germans crossed the rivers especially quickly by deploying pontoons strung along cables to transport their tanks over river crossings. They navigated quickly, with tanks that were able to handle rough terrain better than expected, and in four days had come out of the forest.
How did the Germans break through the Ardennes?
Through the Ardennes Preceded by bombardments from artillery and aircraft, German armies poured across their western borders. Rather than face the French in their concrete defenses of the Maginot Line, the advancing armies went through Holland and Belgium. Army Group A provided the southern advance.
How did Germany get through the Maginot Line?
However, the Maginot Line had two major failings – it was obviously not mobile and it assumed that the Ardennes was impenetrable. Any attack that could get around it would leave it floundering like a beached whale. Blitzkrieg was the means by which Germany simply went around the whole Line.
What was the German army’s goal at the Battle of the Bulge?
Germany’s goal was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, and then encircle and destroy four Allied armies. They hoped this would force the Allies to negotiate a peace treaty. Then Hitler could focus on the eastern front of the war. The attack was planned in secret.
How cold was the Battle of Bastogne?
It was waged in harsh, wintry conditions — about 8 inches of snow on the ground and an average temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit (about minus 7 C.) U.S. forces and their allies spent that Christmas fighting the Nazis during a battle that would last until mid-January.
How was Germany’s geographic location an advantage?
The Rhine, the Danube and the Elbe rivers, combined with Germany’s central location in Europe and its access to the North Sea, allowed the country to become a leading exporter and one of the most prosperous economies in Europe.
When did the Germans cross the Ardennes?
Battle of the Ardennes | |
---|---|
Date 21–23 August 1914 Location Ardennes region, Belgian–French frontier Coordinates: 50°15′N 5°40′E Result German victory | |
Belligerents | |
France | German Empire |
Commanders and leaders |
What did the French army do in ww2?
They fought battles all over the world from 1940 to 1945, and sometimes fighting against each other. These forces were composite, made of rebel factions and colonial troops; France controlled a large colonial empire, only third to the British empire.
How did the German military overcome the Maginot Line?
Thus the Germans were able to avoid a direct assault on the Maginot Line by violating the neutrality of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Attacking on 10 May, German forces were well into France within five days and they continued to advance until 24 May, when they stopped near Dunkirk.
When did the Germans get past the Maginot Line?
Unfortunately, the line covered the French–German frontier, but not the French–Belgian. Thus the Germans in May 1940 outflanked the line. They invaded Belgium on May 10, continued their march through Belgium, crossed the Somme River, and on May 12 struck at Sedan at the northern end of the Maginot Line.
Why did the Wehrmacht fight in the Ardennes Offensive?
Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive. The Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive were the product of a German recruitment effort targeting German males between the ages of 16 and 60, to replace troops lost during the past five months of fighting the Western Allies on the Western Front.
Where did the German invasion of Western Europe take place?
The main German attack however, went through the Ardennes Forest in southeastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. German tanks and infantry quickly broke through the French defensive lines and advanced to the coast. German Invasion of Western Europe, May 1940 – Photograph Belgium and the Netherlands surrendered in May.
What was the age limit for the Battle of the Bulge?
Battle of the Bulge The Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive were the product of a German recruitment effort targeting German males between the ages of 16 and 60, to replace troops lost during the past five months of fighting the Western Allies on the Western Front.
Why was the Ardennes so impenetrable?
The Ardennes was not impenetrable. There are roads and towns throughout the forest. It was thought (wrongly) by the French that large military formations could not travel quickly through the narrow roads, but they were wrong. This is the same forest where the Battle of the Bulge was fought four years later.