Why Was D-Day Important In WW2?
D-Day was one of the most important events of WW2 that took place on June 6th, 1944. Read the following four reasons, they will help you to understand it’s importance in the theater of the Second World War.
4 Reasons Why D-Day Was An Important Event
First Reason:
D-Day was the first main event that began the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi annexation. Before 6th June 1944, almost the entire Europe was under the control of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
In Western Europe, Germans annexed Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France within just a year (1940). Along with that, they also invaded and annexed many Eastern and Southern European countries like Denmark, Poland, Norway, Yugoslavia, etc.
For those suffering nations, it would have been impossible to regain their independence from the powerful Germans without the help of the United States, Great Britain, and Canada.
On June 6th, 1944 when these big powers launched the D-Day invasion, it gave them hope to restore their liberty once again.
On August 25th, 1944, the allies liberated Paris, then Belgium on September 8th, 1944, Luxembourg on September 10th, and the Netherlands on September 20th.
Although the Soviet Union fought and won battles on the Eastern front but instead of liberating those annexed nations, Joseph Stalin started focusing on establishing Communists rule there. For example, Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia fell into the grip of Communist rulers.
Second Reason:
Before the Normandy invasion (D-Day), it was almost uncertain whether Europe would be liberated in the future or not. On June 6th, 1944, via Operation Overload (codename) allied forces stormed the five beaches of the Normandy coast and captured all of them by nightfall.
The victory helped them to successfully put a strong foothold in Europe’s mainland (In France) and start other operations to liberate entire Western Europe.
Third Reason:
D-Day invasion broke Hitler’s great Atlantic Wall.
After occupying the entire Western Europe, German dictator Adolf Hitler wanted to secure the occupied regions from the invasion of the allies, especially from the United Kingdom. With this intention, from 1942 to 1944, he ordered German forces to build an extensive coastline defense system with strong fortifications.
So-called the Atlantic wall, the fortification began in 1942 when more than 1 million French workers were drafted forcefully. It was the longest fortification in human history, the length was 3200 miles.
Fourth Reason:
D-Day was the largest amphibious battle in human history, where 156,000 allied troops participated with 6939 vessels, 2395 aircraft, and 867 gliders. On the other hand, to counter the allies, 51,000 German troops were defending the Great Atlantic Wall.
Tip: If you want to experience the invasion, I suggest you watch the Saving Private Ryan movie. The movie’s opening scene is quite accurate according to many veterans of the Normandy invasion (D-Day).
