Patton World War 2 essays

Patton World War 2 essays After being defeated in World War 1, Germany under new leadership was trying to regain and increase its power. Adolph Hitler had Germany invading surrounding countries trying to build up Germany and unite its people. Great Britain and France were trying to follow the act of appeasement and had allowed Germany to take over parts of Europe. Britain and France had no choice, but to declare war on Germany on September 3, 1939 after Hitler invaded Poland. The Unites States at this time was trying to avoid war by staying neutral, but was forced to sell goods to Great Britain in order for them to survive. The U.S. became involved in the war after they were attacked Japan, allies of Germany, at Pearl Harbor without warning on December 7, 1941. A day later, Germany and its allies declared war on the U.S. This sequence of events is what led the U.S. to becoming involved in World War 2. The Unites States first action in World War 2 took place in North Africa in 1942. General George S. Patton led the U.S. army and General Montgomery led Britains in an attempt to take control of northern Africa. The allies were fighting together under Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. President and General. This was important land for many reasons. One was that it would give them land so that they could set up an invasion into Italy which could be used as a backdoor into Europe. The second was that it kept the Mediterranean Sea open as well as the Suez Canal for trade routes. Pattons men were pushed back at first, but he and Montgomery forced the Germans led by Rommel into Tunisia. At Tunisia, the allies attacked from the west and south allowing them to take control of North Africa. The allies managed to take control of North Africa despite their tanks and other fighting machines were inferior at the time. Patton was known as a fighting general who was very confident with himself. He believed that the only way to fight war was to attack, attac...