Western Front: The Ukraine

Location: USSR

Date: July – November, 1943

Commanders and Forces: German: 2.5 million troops. (Adolph Hitler) Soviets: 6 million troops Red Army.
(Joseph Stalin)
Casualties: German: 213,000 killed and wounded. Soviet: 430,000 killed and wounded.

Key Actions: After the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army swept westward, driving back he Germans.

Key Effects: Vast areas of the central and southern Soviet Union were liberated by the Red Army. The German Army faced ultimate defeat. The Germans had lost thousands of tanks and vehicles, which meant that they had to rely more and more on horses for their transportation.

BATTLES OF WWII - Battle of the Blitz

The Blitz

Location: Britain

Date: September 7, 1940 – May 11, 1941

Commanders and Forces: German Luftwaffe (Goering) British: RAF Fighter (Dowding) Casualties: German: 518 aircraft destroyed; British: 43,000 killed, 1.4 million made homeless

Key Actions: Bombing British cities caused heavy civilian casualties, but did not break British morale.

Key Effects: An undefeated Britain in the West in the spring of 1941 meant Germany would be faced with a war on two fronts when Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union was launched in June, 1941. Also, heavy losses of skilled Luftwaffe aircrews over Britain would be keenly felt during the German attack on the Soviets.