Step 58 of 106

Turning points (1942-1943)

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Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 - February 1943): Massive Soviet defensive battle for the city on the Volga River. The Soviets surrounded and destroyed an entire German army (the Sixth Army). German losses were perhaps 850,000. Stalingrad turned the tide on the Eastern Front. After Stalingrad, the German army was retreating.
Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942): British forces under Montgomery defeated German and Italian forces under Rommel in Egypt, ending the Axis threat to the Suez Canal and Middle Eastern oil.
Allied invasion of Italy (1943): U.S. and British forces invaded Sicily and then mainland Italy. Mussolini was deposed by his own Fascist Grand Council in July 1943. Italy switched sides. Germany seized northern Italy and continued fighting.
D-Day (June 6, 1944): Allied invasion of Normandy, the largest amphibious invasion in history. Roughly 156,000 troops landed on the French coast. Operation Overlord opened a second front in Western Europe and accelerated German defeat.