Table of Contents
Why was there no trench warfare in ww2?
The reason it was no longer viable was primarily due to the advances in air power. In WWI aircraft were in their infancy by WWII the had advanced to the point where they could plaster any trench fortification as well as deliver an airborne force does the 82nd Airborne or the 101st airborne ring any bells?
Where was the front line in ww2?
The Western Front was a military theatre of World War II encompassing Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Germany.
Was there trench warfare in ww2?
Yes, trenches were used in WWII, but not to the extent as WWI.
How long were the trenches on the Western Front?
roughly 475 miles
The trench systems on the Western Front were roughly 475 miles long, stretching from the English Channel to the Swiss Alps, although not in a continuous line.
Why did trench warfare develop on the western front?
One reason that World War I became a massive trench war on the Western Front was that western Europe was densely populated. The trench lines had the effect of turning Western Europe into two fortresses whose armies laid siege to each other along a single border. In the east, the geography worked against entrenchment.
What happened on the Western Front during World War II?
Western Front (World War II) The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations. The first phase saw the capitulation of the Netherlands, Belgium, and France during May and June 1940 after their defeat in the Low Countries and the northern half of France, and continued into an air war between Germany and Britain…
What happened to German POWs in the US after WW2?
While the western Allies released their final World War II prisoners in 1948, many German POWs in the U.S.S.R. were kept under lock and key for several more years. Most were used as slave labor in copper or coal mines, and anywhere between 400,000 and one million eventually died while in Soviet custody.
What were the main differences between the eastern and Western Fronts?
Both sides engaged in large-scale atrocities and war crimes. The struggle for the Eastern Front was bigger and costlier than the fighting in the West, but it was also significantly more brutal. Both sides flouted international law and practiced institutionalized acts of cruelty against enemy troops, prisoners and civilians.
Was May 1940 the turning point in the history of WW2?
“There’s no question,” he told me, “that the entire history of the war is determined in some sense and shaped by the German victory in France in May 1940.” Tooze was the only historian I talked to who pointed to May 1940 as the moment everything changed, and he makes a powerful case.