Amphibious operations such as D-Day and the Allied advance 1944-45, including Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge

Amphibious operations such as D-Day and the Allied advance 1944-45, including Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge.

D-Day:

During the planning of the Normandy landings, there was a lot of thought put into how the Allies were to attack if a victory was to occur. This planning introduced new weapons and transport made for the swiftest and easiest landings possible.

1. In order to unload a large number of troops and supplies by sea, a harbour was needed. Due to the fact that there was no safe place to land ships to do this, the Allies came up with the idea of creating an artificial harbour, codenamed "Mulberry". Mulberry platforms for transportation were called "whales". In the Mulberry Harbour, there were 12 miles of roadways, anchored near the landing beaches but away from German artillery.
2. A pipeline was used by the Allies to carry fuel under the English Channel to invading forces, codenamed "PLUTO".
3. A group of specially modified tanks named "Hobart's Funnies" were created for the landings, including "The DD", "The Bobbin" and "The Flail". These were all made in the hopes that it would aid troops during the landings so that they could get the upper hand.

Battle of Arnhem:

1. In September 1944, British and Polish forces were given the task of securing the bridge at Arnhem, landing with parachutes and gliders - although ended up mostly missing where they were supposed to land.
2. Units were parachuted and glider-landed into the area. This was one of the first times that troops had used proper strategic use of airborne forces.

Battle of the Bulge:

1. This battle was a surprise for the Allies, who received minimal intelligence that an attack would happen.
2. Before the attack, English speaking German soldiers dressed in US uniform went behind Allies' lines, spreading misinformation, changing road signs, and cutting telephone wires.
3. At first, the weather was in the German's favour, with low cloud and fog making the Allies' air superiority defective.
4. However, the Germans had based their attack methods on massive armoured onslaught, requiring lots of fuel, which they did not possess
5. Because of this fuel deficiency, the Germans were only able to use their then never used before jet bombers for a brief time, as success in the air became meaningless because of the lack of armoured vehicles on the ground. This was a rare instance in which air superiority was not the deciding factor of a modern battle.

Blitzkrieg in Poland, Western Europe and the Soviet Union

Blitzkrieg in Poland, Western Europe and the Soviet Union.

Poland:

1. Hitler used primarily Blitzkrieg tactics when invading Poland in 1939 for a short and swift victory. 
2. The surprise strategy ensured that the Germans were able to continuously advance, not giving Polish soldiers enough time to regroup.
3. The heavy shelling and bombing that Poland faced from the Germans meant that the Polish were forced to surrender on September 17th, 1939.

Western Europe:

1. Using Blitzkrieg strategies, Germany was able to defeat Western European countries such as Denmark (April 1940), Belgium (May 1940), the Netherlands (May 1940), Luxembourg (May 1940) and France (May 1940).
2. Germany did not defeat Great Britain, which was protected from ground attack by the English Channel.

Soviet Union:

1. Germany attacked the USSR in June 1941. 
2. German troops were able to push Soviet forces back 600 miles to the gates of Moscow, making good use of the Blitzkrieg warfare that had been so successful in previous ambushes.
3. But, this technique eventually proved to be defective, when the Soviet Union, along with the UK and US were able to turn the tide of battle against Germany.

Attitudes to Versailles settlement and the League of Nations

Attitudes to Versailles settlement and the League of Nations

• The American people did not like the Versailles treaty. And so did not want to join the League of Nations.

1.   They refused to accept the treaty. They thought the League of Nations was connected to it.
2.  Americans didn't want to meddle with European affairs, thinking it would be too expensive. They wanted to only worry about American affairs (isolationism).
3.  Many thought that everyone should be free under democracy. So they were reluctant to help other countries at war that were trying to keep undemocratic colonies.
4. President Wilson's political enemies wanted to make him unpopular and get rid of him altogether. 

Although the idea for the League originally came from an American President, the way the American people felt about the Versailles treaty, and increasing isolationism meant that the USA never joined. 

Isolationism

Isolationism.

• The US wanted to be alone.

Industries:

- Due to the prospering industries after World War 1, American businesses became afraid for their well-being. With the threat of cheap European imports becoming more popular than their own more expensive American products.
- The European imports were cheaper because, at this time, European workers were willing to work for lower wages because of high unemployment in European countries.
- Businessmen were worried about American companies losing money; lack of American jobs and lower taxes for the government.

Immigration:

- President Harding put through many measures in order to tighten immigration control.
- The majority of people in favour of closing the open borders were the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).
- They were increasingly worried by the number of Asain, Catholic and Jewish people entering the country.
- Also thinking that people such as anarchists and communists were coming to live in the US and tarnishing the basis of American life.

This was a worrying and uncertain time for many Americans. Europe had many problems, whereas the US had relatively few. Limiting imports and tightening immigration was the US' solution to securing peace and success.

Economic benefits

Economic benefits.

• The USA was one of the only involved countries that were not completely devasted by the effects of World War 1. 

1.  US companies were able to expand to expand their reach around the world. Domestic US consumption increased as well, hence the name of the upcoming "roaring twenties."
2.  The US economy did slightly drop after peace was made once the war was over. But, again, they were the only country that wasn't in ruin, so were able to take advantage of this economic superiority.
3.  Countries with damaged industries bought American goods, making good use of American loans.

The US exported food and weapons the European countries during the war. Although they joined the allies towards the war's end no fighting happened on American soil.

So, the effects - which were mostly short-term (great depression was to come) were that the US economy was able to grow a lot due to how they involved themselves in the war and the position they were left in afterwards.