The beggining of the End: Cause of D-Day

The D- Day Invasion of Normandy laid a beachhead for the Allies on the Front of Europe. This battle was the most important battle in the Western Front because was a way of being closer to the Nazi defeat. D- Day is referred to the paratrooper operations that happened in June 6 of 1945 in Normandy.

To understand the D- Day it’s important to talk about the context to know what expectative and reasons had the allies to invade Normandy. Russia had signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, and the two countries invaded Poland. That’s how the war started. The British and French people were indignant with this situation and declared the war to Germany. Germany advanced with big steps among Europe, invading France and the Low Countries too. Hitler wanted to invade the Low Countries because he wanted to get around the Maginot line, which was a huge fortification that stretches the whole distance of the German-French border. This was a big surprise for the French Army and they had to accept the defeat. Also the British army that was trying to help France had to retreat, this was embarrassing for Britain and the country now wanted to invade France to and with that obligate Germany to move on. But this was not the only problem…

In December 7 of 1941, Japan attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. The attack caused the declaration of war and the entry of United States in WW2. Three days after, Germany and Italy declared war to USA, which had a really strong army. It was so strong that the country defeat Germans in North Africa and also invaded Italy for 2 years with the help of Britain.

On June 4, 1944, two days before D-Day, the allies captured Rome and Germany immediately started a plan to invade Russia, naming the operation: Operation Barbarossa. However the Russians didn’t permit it making a counterattack, but the problem was that USSR did not want to fight alone against the German Army so they asked British and American armies for help. The two countries accepted the call and immediately started the plan to liberate Western Europe with the code-named Operation Overlord, and their first step was Normandy.

Before the Allies could think how to release the invasion they needed a supreme commander. The three countries argued about this during months and finally Roosevelt took the decision to choose General Dwight Eisenhower as the Supreme Commander.

German commander did expect and invasion but the disadvantage is that they didn’t know when and where. Everybody think of a different place and they couldn’t prepare for anything because the problem was where they put their army if the invasion could be in many different places. The Plan for Normandy was very complicated; there were naval and aerial bombardment, paratroopers that were dropped behind the enemy lines, five beaches for landing, etc. America would take place in Omaha and Utah, and the British in Sword and Gold. The day of the invasion started with really bad weather conditions, buy Eisenhower however, decided to take the risk.

And these are the causes of why America, Britain and Russia decided to invade Normandy. They needed to stop the pressure that Germany was putting in France. The D-Day and the Operation Overlord were a big victory for the countries and had a great effect on the outcomes of the war. This time the Allies were determinate to succeed and it’s good they did it because if they could fail the operation, maybe their morale could go down and they would be weaker. The D-Day Invasion of Normandy have been a great part in the World History and the beginning of the end.

Mariana Flores