Bulge, Battle of the

Bulge, Battle of the
(Dec. 16, 1944–Jan. 16, 1945) In World War II, the last German offensive on the Western Front, an unsuccessful attempt to divide the Allied forces and prevent an invasion of Germany.

The "bulge" refers to the wedge that the Germans drove into the Allied lines. In December 1944, Allied forces were caught unprepared by a German counterthrust in the wooded Ardennes region of southern Belgium. The German drive, led by Gerd von Rundstedt's panzer army, was initially successful but was halted by Allied resistance and reinforcements led by George Patton. The Germans withdrew in January 1945, but both sides suffered heavy losses.

* * *

also called  Battle of the Ardennes 
 (Dec. 16, 1944–Jan. 16, 1945), the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II; an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory. The name Battle of the Bulge was appropriated from Winston Churchill's optimistic description, in May 1940, of the resistance that he mistakenly supposed was being offered to the Germans' breakthrough in that area just before the Anglo-French collapse; the Germans were in fact overwhelmingly successful. The “bulge” refers to the wedge that the Germans drove into the Allied lines.

      After their invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the Allies moved across northern France into Belgium during the summer but lost momentum in the autumn. In mid-December, Allied commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Eisenhower, Dwight D.)'s 48 divisions, distributed along a 600-mile front between the North Sea and Switzerland, were caught unprepared by a German counterthrust in the hilly and wooded Ardennes region of southern Belgium. While Allied aircraft were hampered by bad weather, Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt (Rundstedt, Gerd von)'s 5th and 6th Panzer Armies launched two parallel attacks with the eventual aim of retaking the great port of Antwerp. The 5th Army under Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel (Manteuffel, Hasso, Freiherr von), bypassing Bastogne (which was held throughout the offensive by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division), advanced by December 24 to within four miles (six kilometres) of the Meuse River. This was the farthest point of the German drive, which was halted by Christmas by the inadequacy of German supplies and by Allied resistance. General George S. Patton (Patton, George Smith)'s 3rd Army relieved Bastogne on the 26th, and on January 3 the U.S. 1st Army began a counteroffensive. The Germans made an orderly withdrawal between January 8 and 16, having used more of their resources than they could afford on this last desperate attempt to regain the initiative in the West.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Battle of the Bulge. — See Bulge, Battle of the. * * * …   Universalium

  • Battle of the Bulge. — See Bulge, Battle of the …   Useful english dictionary

  • Battle of the Scheldt — Part of World War II Buffalo amphibious vehicles taking Canadians across the Scheldt in Zeeland, 1944 …   Wikipedia

  • (the) Battle of the Bulge — the Battle of the Bulge [the Battle of the Bulge] a strong but unsuccessful attack by German forces against the ↑Allies in southern Belgium in 1944. The word bulge means a swelling, so the phrase is also used in a humorous way to mean a struggle… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Battle of the Coral Sea — Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of the Bulge — Battle of the Bulge, the the last main attack by the German army during World War II, when they surrounded the Allies army in Belgium in 1944 …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • Battle of the Bulge — For other uses, see Battle of the Bulge (disambiguation). Battle of the Bulge Part of World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of the Bulge (film) — Infobox Film name = Battle of the Bulge caption= Original movie poster imdb id = 0058947 producer = Sidney Harmon Milton Sperling Philip Yordan director = Ken Annakin writer = Bernard Gordon John Melson Milton Sperling Philip Yordan starring =… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of the Bulge (1991 game) — Infobox Game subject name=Battle of the Bulge image link= image caption=Cover art for Battle of the Bulge players=2| ages=10 and up setup time=10 minutes playing time=2 hours complexity=Medium strategy=Medium random chance=Medium skills=Planning …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of the Bulge order of battle — This is the order of battle of German and Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge.Allied Forces General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower LTG Omar N. Bradley LTG Courtney H. Hodges::5th Belgian Fusilier Battalion::143rd and 413th AA Gun… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”