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Once the U.S. was at war with Germany and Italy as well as Japan, Americans had to focus on how to win the war in both Europe and Asia. Europe in early 1942 was almost entirely controlled by the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. Even Germany's old partner, the Soviet Union, had been betrayed by Hitler and invaded in June 1941. Click the image below to see the fascist fortress Europe had become by the time the U.S. entered the war.

Britain, the last Allied nation standing, had been enduring steady, devastating bombing raids by German airplanes since May 1941; this long attack was called the Battle of Britain, and it was meant to weaken Britain so that Germany could invade it. When the first U.S. forces arrived in Britain early in 1942, there was little they could do. Northern and Western Europe were so well-defended by the Germans that there was no sense trying to launch an Allied invasion there. Eastern Europe was occupied by Germany, and east of that, the Soviet Union was fighting for its life against a massive German invasion.

The only possible way into Europe was from the south—through Africa. On November 8, 1942, the Allies launched Operation Torch, the campaign in North Africa. If the Allies were successful in North Africa, Germany would have to remove some of its soldiers from the invasion of the Soviet Union and send them to Africa. Then the Soviet Union might be able to stop the invasion and begin its own advance into Europe. If the Soviets were attacking from the east, then the Allies could invade from the south and west, and Germany and Italy would be surrounded.

Answer these questions to test your understanding of the start of the U.S. military campaign to free Europe.