Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge

As the war was dragging on in the Western Front in WWII, the Third Reich was becoming ever desperate and decided to throw one more knock out punch. Hindsight is everything and it is easy to see how “Wacht am Rhein” was Hitler’s last chance to cling on to what empire he had left. However what happens if this last desperate punch had landed a devastating blow? Hitler hoped to have his forces reach the Meuse and possibly divide the Allied forces. The German Panzer Divisions would have been able to cause a lot of chaos on the supply lines. Nevertheless the Battle of the Bulge did have an impact on the course of the war, which was to quicken German defeat.
Since the Allied invasion June 6th, 1944 they had complete success in pushing the Germans east back over the Rhine. Through lighting quick advances the Germans would push towards Antwerp hoping to destroy a major supply post. The ultimate goal of the operation was to have a decisive and clear victory in order to sue for peace in the West freeing up a hand in the East. However this was unable to be achieved by the Germans. By looking at the factors, there are a few reasons for why this was unable to work. If Hitler was to regain the initiative with a devastating attack in an unexpected area, the success of such an operation would depend upon five main factors: strength and speed of the attack, response and performance of the opposition, terrain, weather, security.
The Germans throughout the war relied heavily on the Enigma machine. However, none of the major operation communications were ever sent through the Enigma. Hitler nearly kept a very tight lip on the operation, even making a few people swear to secrecy or death. “Wacht am Rhein” was used for a code because it would indicate a defensive operation as oppose to a major offensive. Although the Fuhrer had put into effect a very ample plans for secrecy there was still clues sent that if properly decoded would have alerted key Allied...

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