Battle Of The Bulge Essay

The Battle of the Bulge

Towards the end of WWII, the Axis forces planned a surprise attack near Bastogne, Germany, they attacked from the westside of the battle field because it was weakly guarded and their goal was to cause the Allies to retreat. The German Army wanted to keep the Allies out of Berlin because if the Allied forces were to attack and conquer Berlin then they could potentially take over Germany and the Nazi army wanted to avoid this by stopping them at this location. Therefore, the Battle of the Bulge was the last major German military offensive in western Europe. The Battle of the Bulge, from December 16, 1944, to January 16, 1945, near Belgium, Germany was a strategically complex battle between Allies and Axis resulting

However, cold weather conditions, and rough terrain were some of the challenges which would make the battle complex. Having eight inches of snow on the ground and temperature being anywhere from 20 degrees to 7 degrees fahrenheit the weather conditions harshened the terrain and battlefield. The terrain was rough with limited roads going to the battle spots then back to camp which created problems with supply chains, medical assistance, and using heavy artillery. Furthermore, it was waged in harsh, wintry conditions with snow and frigid temperatures; consequently, this led to issues such as frostbite, frozen equipment, and low morale. Additionally, Allied forces had limited winterized clothing because of supply issues and many soldiers only had summer battle fatigues. Also, Allied soldiers were issued a limited supply of weapons and only had approximately half of the manpower, artillery, vehicles, and fuel of the Axis forces. “The 1,500 tanks Hitler had committed to the counteroffensive could not go far. The enemy's lack of gasoline and diesel fuel led to transportation deficiencies, which, in turn, resulted in ammunition shortages and more failures all the way down the logistical line” (The Battle of the Bulge: An Allied Logistic Victory). They were low on weapons and clothes because of supply chain issues due to all the people that were sent off to war leaving

Hitler killed himself shortly after the battle because he knew what he would have to deal with and it would be easier to be dead. “The unconditional surrender of the German Third Reich was signed in the early morning hours of Monday, May 7, 1945, at Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force at Reims in northeastern France” (Surrender of Germany (1945). The Nazis during world war two would take and kill Allied soldiers, some of the unfaithful Germans and really anybody Hitler didn't like all that well. The Axis was sent to trial the Nuremberg trials lasting from november, 20, 1945 to october, 1, 1946. They surrendered and the Nerimberg trials went on and around 20 people were sentenced to life in prison, 25 of them death, and 10 set free. Adolf Hitler’s mindset made the battle complex, he said “Nothing is possible unless one commands a will which has to be obeyed by others, beginning at the top and ending only at the very bottom”. (military). Hitler had paranoia, antisocial tendencies, sadistic behavior, and narcissism proven by dr.Gustave Gilbert on October, 20, 1945, when he arrived in Nuremberg, Germany and performed psychological experiments on Nazis. Most of the people involved in world war two were not mentally stable from