Battle of the Bulge: December 16, 1944- January 25, 1945)
The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive attack against the Allied forces. Towards the end of World War II, the German military set up an offensive code-named "Operation Watch on the Rhine" along the Western Front. Germany believed that the alliance along the Western frontier was not strong. Therefore, the attack was created in an attempt to break up the Allied forces and in turn, help Germany win the war. Initially, the operation was a success for a number of reasons: The allies were surprised, inclement weather and there were exchanges of wrong information on the allies side due to English speaking impostor Germans. This allowed for the Germans to make small advances along the line, creating bulges at points on the Western Front. This is why the battle was named the Battle of the Bulge. However, their success was short-lived and because of the German’s lack of supplies, specifically fuel, the Allies were able to gain the upper hand. By the end of the month long battle, the American forces had 81,000 casualties and the Germans had around 100,000 casualties, making the Battle of the Bulge one of the largest battles fought in World War II.