On The Defensive
In the east, the Germans had been steadily withdrawing in the face of increasingly capable Red Army offensives. After the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, the Reich arsenal was deprived of many important armored vehicles and Germany was unable to launch another serious offensive in the east. At the time of the D-Day invasion on 6 June 1944, German forces were thinly stretched across three fronts. By August 1944, Soviet forces had crossed into parts of eastern Germany and in December, the last-ditch Ardennes Offensive ground to a halt in the west due to a lack of supplies and bitter allied opposition.
Read more about this topic: Military History Of Germany During World War II
Famous quotes containing the word defensive:
“What is clear is that Christianity directed increased attention to childhood. For the first time in history it seemed important to decide what the moral status of children was. In the midst of this sometimes excessive concern, a new sympathy for children was promoted. Sometimes this meant criticizing adults. . . . So far as parents were put on the defensive in this way, the beginning of the Christian era marks a revolution in the child’s status.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)