FREE ESSAY ON THE EVENT OF THE CENTURY (D-DAY)

THE EVENT OF THE CENTURY (D-DAY)

The Event of a Century
In every nation of the world, an event takes place that could change the course of
history in that country. This event could change the history for better or for worse. For
the United States, D-Day is one such transpiration. After this one specific invasion on
June 6, 1944, everyone involved knew that it would change the course of history for the
United States and the rest of the world. The invasion, known also by the code name
Operation Overlord, did not, however, only consist of one day's events. These complicated
one day's events did make up D-Day but the months of planning for the invasion and the
changes in World War II and the rest of history also make up the structure of D-Day. 
To understand D-Day, a person must first understand the years of events that preceded the
invasion. The story of D-Day began when World War II began in Europe. The cause of the
war started with the alliance of Germany, under the control of the Nazi party, and Italy,
which was under the control of the fascist regime.1 The leader of Germany at this time
was Adolf Hitler, while Benito Mussolini led Italy. Before the beginning of the war,
Germany and Italy, also self-proclaimed as the Axis powers, invaded a section of
Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland. France, England, and the United States were not
happy with this but were willing to hold off on going to war to stop the Axis Powers. At
this time, the leaders of the main countries outside of the Axis Powers were Franklin
Roosevelt, Edouard Daladier, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill, for the United States,
France, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, respectively.2 These four countries,
however, would not silently watch the Axis Powers invade all of Europe. France and
England made an agreement with Poland that stated that if Germany or Italy should invade
Poland, both France and England would enter the war in defense of Poland. Although Hitler
and Mussolini both knew of the agreement, they felt that their forces could defeat each
of these countries without difficulty. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, and
two days later France and England declared war to defend Poland. Less than a month after
the invasion began, Germany controlled Poland and began to plan for their next invasion.
This next invasion began in May of 1940 when Germany attacked France, while on June 10,
Italy joined Germany and attacked France. By June 22, France had surrendered and Germany
was left in charge of most of France.3 At this point, Germany and Italy's only opponent
was England, who received many losses in defending France. After occupying the French
mainland, German leaders began looking for their next strategic move towards world
domination. Exactly one year after the French surrender, Hitler sent Germany to attack
the Soviet Union. This became known as the biggest mistake of the war made by Hitler's
German forces.4
Less than six months later, an event occurred that would change the face of the war. On
December 7, 1941, the Japanese Air Force and Navy led by Isoroku Yamamoto bombed the most
important port in Hawaii, Pearl Harbor. Nineteen ships and one hundred eighty-eight ships
were destroyed and twenty-four hundred men were killed. This action by the Japanese
infuriated American leaders to the point of requesting war. The next day, the United
States congress officially declared war on Japan and joined the Allies. On December 11
Italy and Germany declared war on the United States in defense of Japan. Joseph Stalin
immediately wanted the Allies to start a second front to ease the pressure being put on
the Russians by the Nazi attack. The Allies, however, did not feel ready to open up a
second front and instead cleared the Nazis out of North Africa and the island of Sicily.
After these relatively easy victories, the allies felt that they were finally ready to
open up a second front in France. This decision was reached and agreed upon at the
Teheran Conference that took place in November 1943. The conference was held in Teheran,
Iran, and Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin all attended the meeting. The group at the
conference decided that a second front would be opened in spring of 1944 with the
invasion of France.5 
To Roosevelt and the other allied leaders, invading France seemed like one of the most
difficult and sensitive military invasions in the history of the world. In order to
insure the success of the invasion, many actions needed to take place to weaken the
German force. One example of an Allied tactic was the use of bombers to destroy German
factories producing military necessities. By doing this, the Allies weakened Germany's
supply of tanks, munitions, and other military equipment. The Allied leaders also knew
that to insure a successful invasion, a great general must be put in charge of the
attack. To decide on the correct man, Roosevelt went to his Army Chief of Staff George
Marshall. Marshall suggested a man who had a reputation of being able to put together and
organize an effective military mission. This man was in charge of the American fighting
force in Africa and Sicily. The man chosen for the job was General Dwight Douglas
Eisenhower.
After Roosevelt decided to place Eisenhower as the Supreme Allied Commander, Eisenhower
knew that he must immediately begin planning for the invasion of France. Eisenhower
immediately began gathering troops, artillery, and transportation for the invasion.
Hitler and the Germans had already built a concrete and barbed wire barrier along the
shore of France. Hitler believed that this Atlantic Wall would defend the entire coast.6
Although this thought sounds ridiculous now, it seemed reasonable in 1944 because the use
of airborne troops who dropped to the battlefield in parachutes and gliders had not been
extensively used. 7
Eisenhower decided to send paratroopers over the Atlantic Wall and penetrate the German
border to begin the invasion. To accomplish this, Eisenhower had to initiate training
sessions for these paratroopers so they could learn what to do when the time came to
attack. Training began in the United Kingdom, North Africa, and at home in the United
States for all troops that were to be included in the invasion. The plan for attack
stated that early in the morning of the invasion, paratroopers would be sent in and would
attack the Germans from the inside. Next, still in the middle of the night, British
planes would strike and weaken the Atlantic Wall, the German infantry forces, and the
camps set up by the Germans. After that, an amphibious team sent in from boats would land
on the beach and attack the Germans in a regular battle situation. The site of the
invasion was also decided on at this time. The two beaches that the Americans would land
were code named Utah and Omaha. After knowing all that all that must take place,
Eisenhower now needed the supplies and men to accomplish the job. Men from the United
States, United Kingdom, and Canada all entered the ranks of the Allied forces preparing
for the invasion. By the time of the invasion, almost three million men and two and a
half million tons of equipment were ready for what would be the largest invasion of its
kind in history.8 The troops would be carried to the beaches on boats called LCVP's which
stands for Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel.9 These boats could carry thirty-two men,
but they did not have seats. The troops simply had to crouch into the boats in rows and
wait to be let out. 
The day on which the invasion could take place appeared as a problem. A full moon had to
appear so the troops could see in the middle of the night. Also, the tides had to be just
right and the weather had to cooperate with the invasion. 
In June, only the 5th, 6th, and 7th days had both the right phase of the moon and the
right tides at the right hours. But on Saturday, the 3rd, the weather was bad and the
forecast was discouraging. By Sunday it was clear that Monday, the 5th, would be
hopeless. The prediction was for weather so bad that the air forces wouldn't be able to
deliver their all-important bombardment. General Eisenhower postponed the attack for
twenty-four hours. The question was whether it (the attack) could be made on the 6th.10 
General Eisenhower took a poll of his advisors as to when the invasion should take place,
and they agreed that the 6th of June seemed like the correct day. The decision was made
and Eisenhower said, I don't see how we can do anything else. Go!11 
On the day of the invasion, the paratroopers went first, just as planned. Two separate
drops occurred fifty miles apart at 1:30 in the morning. This was the hardest job of the
entire invasion because they had to find their way through darkness and enemy territory
to seize roads and bridges behind the beaches to hold off the Germans from retreating too
far. Casualties were heavy for these paratroopers. Flooded areas at both ends of (the)
battlefield claimed the greatest number of British and American paratroopers.12 These
parachutes and hang gliders, however, had thrown the Germans off balance. The air force
bombing raids now needed to proceed as planned. The paratroopers had no trouble with the
overcast conditions, but the bombardment plans had to be changed due to the lack of
visibility. The pilots of the planes couldn't see their targets and had to bomb by
instrument, which was far less accurate.13 
After the air force had done all that it could, the time had come for the most important
job of the entire invasion: the first waves. The enormous weight of the whole gigantic
effort rested entirely, for the time being, on the men in the first waves.14 The men who
had traveled for hours in the LCVP's across the English Channel had to exit their ships,
run onto the beach, and into their nightmares. The goal of these men was to make their
way up the beach to at least a few hundred yards from the shore and begin to attack the
German held posts at the tops of the hills on the beach.15 The first wave of the troops
from the ships came at 6:30, what is now called H-Hour. When the ship began releasing the
men inside, they left the ships and waded onto the beach, through the Atlantic Wall that
had been set up to stop them. The first holes in the Atlantic Wall began to open, and men
began to storm through these holes. The Atlantic wall, however, had not been entirely
destroyed and the Germans began to fire back at the allied troops. Many thousands of men
died on the first wave alone, and the beach became covered in bodies and body parts. A
veteran of D-Day who fought on Omaha Beach, Corporal Samuel Fuller, remembers what the
beach was like:
We were in a very bad position, pinned down on the beach with a German division in front
of us and only water behind us. We had 7 yards of beachhead with no cover; the highest
thing around was a shale rock...They sent me to find our commander, Colonel George
Taylor, and tell him we'd opened a breach. I stood up and tried to run. When you run over
unconscious men, or men lying on their bellies, it's tough to keep your balance. You go
into the water, but the water is washing bodies in and out. Bodies, heads, flesh,
intestines; that's what Omaha Beach was.16
The rest of the day went as planned and appeared very successful. The Germans slowly
began to be pushed back and by the end of the day the Allies had control of most of the
beaches that they had planned on attacking.
The events of D-Day became known to many as the beginning of the end of World War II. It
appeared that the Germans would be pushed all the way to Germany and eventually surrender
the entire war. On August 15 the Allies made another attack on France, but this time it
was on Southern France, not northwestern France like D Day. By August 25, the Allies
captured Paris from the Germans, and by October of 1944, they had completely pushed the
Germans out of France. D-Day became known as the turning point of the war, and is what
caused the United States and the Allies to win the war.17
After D-day, Germany attempted only one more offensive against the Allies. In December
1944, the Allied invasion stalled around the border of France and Germany. This is when
Germany decided to make one final offensive. This attack, which came to be known as the
Battle of the Bulge, surprised the Allied forces. The United States and the rest of the
Allies, however, defeated the Germans in this battle and began marching toward Germany.
In March 1945, the United States made its way into Germany. At this same time, another
Allied power, the Soviet Union also moved into Germany. One month later, the two sides of
the Allied force met in Germany. After this occurred, it became very apparent that the
war in Europe was basically over. On May 8, 1945, Germany finally surrendered. Citizens
of the Allied powers everywhere celebrated the news of this day, which came to be known
as Victory over Europe day.18 The news of the German surrender left Japan as the United
States' only remaining enemy. The United States could now focus on the war that had been
going on in the Pacific ever since the beginning of the war. After Roosevelt's death on
April 12 1945, Vice-president Harry Truman took the office as president. Truman proceeded
to end the entire war by dropping atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. 
After World War II, the United States became the wealthiest and most powerful nation in
the world. Also after the war, the Allied powers met and agreed that the best way to keep
something like this from happening again is to outlaw Germany and Japan from having a
fully functional military force even to this day. If D-Day had not occurred, and World
War II had not ended when it did, America could be under Fascist rule and the American
public could be servants to Japanese, German, and Italian leaders. World War II's events
led to the Cold War, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Korean War. Because
D-Day was the beginning of the end of World War II, these extremely important pieces of
history can be attributed to the events that surrounded D-Day and the day itself. As a
result of D-Day, however, the world finally reached peace after World War II, and people
all around the world began living their lives without the fear of a new rule taking
over.
The events of World War II leading up to D-Day, the day of June 6, 1944 itself, and the
effect that this day had on the rest of history all play major roles in what D-Day means
to all of mankind. What exactly would the world be like at this point without the
invasion that ended World War II? Thankfully, no one will ever know.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Bliven, Bruce, Jr. The Story of D-Day. New York: Random House, 1956.
Fuller, Samuel. D-Day. Time 6 June 1994: 42-46.
Howarth, David. D Day. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1959.
Nash, Gary B. American Odyssey. Columbus: Glencoe, 1992.
Ryan, Cornelius. The Longest Day. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959.