Battle+of+the+Bulge

Battle of the Bulge
**Who was involved? ** Germany General George S. Patton VS. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel Great Britian America VS. Germany

**Where/When did it take place? **  The Battle  of the Bulge took place on the western front of Germany in The Ardennes Forest. **What happened? ** ====In a prelude to the last major fight of WWII, Hitler was faced with a difficult decision. Germany was surrounded on both sides by the allied forces, and Germany had suffered a string of defeats. Hitler thought that one strong attack on one of the fronts would result in a victory, which would discourage the allied forces and allow Germany to some to to recover and plan another offensive. So, on December 16th, 1944, Hitler rerouted all of his forces to an American line in the Ardennes forest, launching an attack that was 75 miles long. The plan was to go straight through the center of the line and then circle around the remains, caging them in. The German forces pushed on for days while the allied forces dug in their heels and stood their ground. However, despite all of the efforts by the Allied forces, Germany succeed in pushing back the line significantly, creating a "bulge," which gives this battle it's name. Germany almost won, but was stooped by one crucial fact: much of the attack depended on the raw power of the first line of tanks that Germany sent through, which they lacked the fuel to sustain. After a few days, Germany's originally harrowing onslaught of raw power in the form of towering machines literally stooped as they ran out of fuel. Soldiers were forced to abandon their vehicles in order to continue moving forward, and once they left, they were quickly shot down by the American and British troops, which were much better prepared for a man-to-man battle than the Germans. Eventually, the German forces were forced to fall back, resulting in a loss that spelled DOOM for Germany's already abysmal possibility for victory in WWII. ==== **Significance / Impact on WWII ** This was the largest battle fought by the Americans in WWII, and the last major fight of the war. While the plan was to win and lower the morale of the Allied forces, the victory served the opposite purpose, and inspired the Allied forces to continue their assault on Germany, who lost 100,000 men to Americas 81,000. After this, Germany lost all sort of lead they had and quickly fell. **Sources Used? ** picture http://www.defense.gov/home/Specials/bulge/images/indexb_10a.jpg info book []