What was D-Day?
by Victor Davis Hanson
Seventy years ago this
About 160,000 troops landed on five Normandy beaches and linked up with airborne troops in a masterful display of planning and courage. Within a month almost a million Allied troops had landed in
The western front required the diversion of hundreds of thousands of German troops. It weakened Nazi resistance to the Russians while robbing the Third Reich of its valuable occupied European territory.
The impatient and long-suffering Russians had demanded of their allies a second front commensurate with their own sacrifices. Their Herculean efforts by war's end would account for two out of every three dead German soldiers -- at a cost of 20 million Russian civilian and military casualties.
Yet for all the sacrifices of the
The Western Allies had hardly been idle before D-Day. They had taken
The U.S. and the British Commonwealth fought almost everywhere. They waged a multiform war on and under the seas. They eventually destroyed Japanese and German heavy industry with a costly and controversial strategic bombing campaign.
The Allies sent friends such as the Russians and Chinese billions of dollars worth of food and war materiel.
In sum, while
Yet if D-Day was brilliantly planned and executed, the follow-up advance through
So how did the Allies get from the beaches of Normandy to
Over Normandy, British and American fighter aircraft were not only as good or better than German models but were far more numerous. By mid-1944,
The German soldier was the more disciplined, experienced, armed and deadly warrior of World War II. But his cause was bad, and by 1944 his enemies were far more numerous and far better supplied. No soldiers fought better on their home soil than did the Russians, and none more resourcefully abroad than the British Tommy and the American G.I., when bolstered by ample air, armor and artillery support.
Omaha Beach to central
D-Day ushered in the end of the Third Reich. It was the most brilliantly conducted invasion in military history, and probably no one but a unique generation of British, Canadians and Americans could have pulled it off.
Available at Amazon.com:
Archie Brown, What was D-Day?: Political Leadership in the Modern Age
Hew Strachan, The Direction of War: Contemporary Strategy in Historical Perspective
Lawrence Freedman, Strategy: A History
More WORLD NEWS ...
- The Weakening Foundations of Western Power
- The New Global Marketplace of Political Change
- Diplomacy in the Age of Globalization
- Why the World Is Becoming the Un-Sweden
- Venture Capitalists Rule the World
- Authoritarian Symps
- Celebrating Wars & Destruction
- The Decline of War?
- Transhumanism and War
- How Aggression Went From an Act of War to a Pathology
- Assessing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime
- Healing or Harming? The Provision of Health Care by Peacekeepers
- Learning the Lessons of Ebola
- NGOs: Foreign Agents
- How Climate Change and Resource Scarcity Are Upending World Politics
- Humanity's War on Wildlife
- Women Up in Arms
- Nations and Borders are Always Messy
- Comparing Atrocities
- Religious Violence: What We Get Wrong
- Crying 'Lone Wolf'
- Partnering against Human Trafficking
- 8 Ways to Reduce Global Inequality
- Population Decline and the Great Economic Reversal
- The Intersection of Three Crises
- A New Global Development Bank in Town
- Henry Kissinger: 'Low-Life Scum'
- Reclaiming Privacy in the Golden Age of Surveillance
- Sony, the Internet of Things, and the Evolving Cyber-Threat
- Cyber Jihadists and Their Web
- Targeted Sanctions and the Right to Due Process
- The Dynamics of Global Change
- Is the Concept of Terrorism Still Useful?
- Muslim Cartoonist Draws Lessons from the Charlie Hebdo Massacre
- Refereeing a Race to the Bottom
- How Liberal Democracy Promotes Inequality
- The Dance of Superpowers
- The Big Chill: Tensions in the Arctic
- The Games of Our Lives
- Kissinger on World Order
- The War on Terrorism: The Way Forward
- Nigeria: Rebuilding After Boko Haram
- Peace Talks Stall in South Sudan
- Putting Boko Haram in Context
- Congo: Two Visions for Development
- Skating on Thin Ice, Tunisia Chooses a New President
- South Sudan: Action Needed Now to Prevent Another Year of Devastation
- Poverty: The Petri Dish That Grows Ebola
- Ebola's Racial Disparity
- Africa's Place on World Stage
- Ebola & Economic Inequality
- Women Bearing Brunt of Ebola
- Tunisia's Upcoming Elections
- Militarizing the Ebola Crisis
- What Role for UN in Tackling Ebola?
- Ebola Dwarfed by Malaria & HIV/AIDS
- Africa's Islamic State?
- Cutting Corners in South Sudan
- A Forgotten Crisis at the Heart of Africa
- Sudan: Forced Faith is Not Faith
- Moral Compass Points Toward Retribution in Nigeria
- Nigeria: Extremist Islam Scared of Little Girls
- What We Can Do for the Kidnapped Nigerian Girls
- Nigeria's Stolen Girls and Clueless Leaders
- Is Japan's Prime Minister the Next Putin?
- Cambodia's Remarkable Journey
- India: Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Flares Up
- China Pulls Pollution Documentary
- India: Worshippers in Cremation Ritual
- Japan: World's Oldest Celebrates 117th Birthday
- Japan: Cats Overrun Island
- Mass Wedding in South Korea
- South Korea: Ending International Adoptions
- The New Face of Chinese Repression
- China's Economic Slowdown and the Necessity of Reform
- China's Crazy Plan to Mine the Moon
- The Good Life of the Newly Rich in China
- North Korea's History of Broken Nuclear Promises
- North Korea In Numbers
- Hong Kong: Pragmatism vs Liberalism
- Great Gamble on the Mekong
- Indonesia's Seaward Shift
- The New Nuance in Chinese Diplomacy
- China Now Top Economy
- Nuclear War Threshold Keeps Dropping
- China's Interest in Defeating ISIL
- Japan Is Antagonizing Everyone
- China and The United States: The Dance of Superpowers
- South Korea: The Politics of Patience
- Fishing for Peace in Korea
- Hong Kong is not Tiananmen
- Why China Won't Talk to Hong Kong's Protesters
- Hong Kong: The Future of People Power?
- Can China Pacify Its Minorities?
- Pragmatism Challenges Superpower Status
- A Capitalist in North Korea
- Japan Still Hobbled by Racism and Militarism
- The Tao of North Korea
- Europe & Islam: The Way Forward
- Putin & the Irony of Helsinki
- Russia's Defense Industry
- Turning the European Debt Myth Upside-Down
- Germany Emerges
- The New Drivers of Europe's Geopolitics
- Does Germany Trust Greece?
- The European Union, Nationalism and the Crisis of Europe
- The Intersection of Three Crises
- Population Decline and the Great Economic Reversal
- A New Crackdown in Belarus
- Church and State in Poland
- Greek People 'Need To Suffer More'
- Greece Says Euro Zone Deal Won Time as Cash Bled From Banks
- Ireland's Fine Gael Considering Coalition With Labour, Independents
- 1 Year on, Kiev Bloodbath Remembered
- Updating German Thrift for the Age of Austerity
- Migration, Islam and Security in Europe
- Reconciling the Faultines of Europe's Past
- Can Ukraine Gnaw Its Way out of Trouble?
- Europe Gets up off the Mat to Battle Austerity
- Calls for Appeasement in Ukraine
- France's New Strategy: Two Years On
- How the Left Failed France's Muslims
- Can the Violence in Honduras Be Stopped?
- Ecuador: All You Need Is Love and Oil?
- Argentina's Tangled Web
- Human Rights Violations in Brazil
- Paraguay's Legacy of Violence
- Nicaragua Canal: Critics Line Up
- Why Obama and Congress Should Go Further With Cuba
- U.S. Cuban Relations Reimagined
- Yes, Black America Fears the Police
- New Boston Bombing Video
- Obama's Last National Security Strategy
- What We Lose with a Privatized Postal Service
- Wal-Mart Does Something Right
- Guantanamo Bay's Place in U.S. Strategy
- Obama Corrects a Historic Mistake on Cuba
- Brazil's Presidential Elections
- Brazil's Struggle with Gang-Run Slums
- Ebola: Is Cuba Caring too Much?
- The Mass Shooting in Mexico
- No Happy Ending to the Child Refugee Crisis
- The Decline of American Influence
- More Than a Mexican Problem
- Mexico's Hidden Epidemic
- Venezuela Progresses in Battle Against Contraband
- The Challenges of Panama's President
- Low Point of US - Cuba Policy
- Cuba's Currency Conversion
- Colombia's Challenger Vows Hard Line on Venezuela
- Two-Track War Against ISIL
- The Need for a New Syrian Narrative
- Why ISIS Exists
- Why Are Women Joining the Islamic State?
- When Bibi Came to Town
- The Geopolitics of Speeches
- 10 Reasons I'm Praying for AIPAC's Decline
- Understanding Turkey's Tilt
- Some Good News from the Middle East
- ISIS Unites the World
- An Eritrean in Israel
- Global Warming Triggered Syria War
- Is Turkey Holding Up a Resolution in Syria?
- Does Syria See the U.S. as an Ally?
- Nationalism under Pressure: Islamic State, Iraq and Kurdistan
- Syria's Future and the War against ISIS
- The Syrian Labyrinth
- So, Islamic State, You Want to Rule a Caliphate
- Wanna-Be's Doing Islamic State's Bidding
- Is ISIS Capable of Nuclear Terrorism?
- Khomeini Drew the Line at Nukes
- Israel's Lack of Interest
- Recognizing Palestine
- Gaza: Bipartisan War on Human Rights
- Iraq Long Awash in Carnage
- Turkey's Dealings With ISIL
- In What World Are the Kurds as Dangerous as the Islamic State?
- Iran: Netanyahu UN Speech Baseless
- Without Iran, Coalition to Confront ISIS is Doomed
- Treat ISIS Like an Onion
- Turkey & Israel: There and Back Again
- Kingdom of Slaves
- Yes, Black America Fears the Police
- New Boston Bombing Video
- Obama's Last National Security Strategy
- What We Lose with a Privatized Postal Service
- Wal-Mart Does Something Right
- Guantanamo Bay's Place in U.S. Strategy
- Obama Corrects a Historic Mistake on Cuba
- Why Obama and Congress Should Go Further With Cuba
- U.S. Cuban Relations Reimagined
- China and The United States
- Tensions in the Arctic
- Ebola and Moral Panic
- What West Africa Can Teach the U.S. About Ebola
- Everything Wrong with Obama's War on ISIS
- Maya Angelou was Deeper than a Pithy Quote
- Give Killers Coverage, Not A Soapbox
- Our Culture Behind Wisconsin Girls' Stabbing Case
- Are Hispanics in Danger of Becoming White?
- Obama Outlines the Limits of Foreign Intervention
- Just Don't Call It 'Reparations'
- Small Men with Ugly Thoughts, Expressed Aloud
- It's Time to Show Our Veterans Some Love
- Justice for All, Except Those Too Big to Jail
- On the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
- Policing Thought Crime
- Turmoil and Intimations of Gender Bias at The Gray Lady
More WORLD NEWS ...
Article: Copyright © 2014, Tribune Content Agency, LLC
"What was D-Day?"
|
|