Race To Berlin - The Western Front

The Western Front

Since the Allies landed in Normandy, the British and American armies (among affiliated Western Allied forces) had both moved swiftly and decisively to take western cities in France, and to move on to liberate Paris. By September 1944, Allied forces had reached the German border, but the subsequent failure of Operation Market Garden and the insuing deadlock handed the initiative to Germany for a brief period. In December, Hitler launched a bold but ultimately unsuccessful offensive which is known as the Battle of the Bulge. In March 1945, the Allies crossed the Rhine in a decisive manner, but the enormous casualties taken by Allied forces in the Ardennes in the previous months and the still significant distance to Berlin dampened Eisenhower's drive to take Berlin before the Soviets.