Battle of Alsace

Battle fought during the second World War

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For the Battle of Alsace during World War I, see Battle of Mulhouse.

Battle of Alsace

Part of the Second World War
| Date| November 20, 1944 - March 19, 1945

|

Location|

Alsace

Result|  Decisive Allied victory
Belligerents

* France
* United States

* Germany

Casualties and losses

* France: ~3,000/4,000 killed, several thousands injured.
* United States: Thousands killed and injured.

* Germany: approximately 23,000 killed or injured; 23,000 prisoners.[1]

In January 1945, a M10 tank destroyer opens fire in the snow near Sparsbach. American tanks heading towards Drusenheim in January 1945.

The Battle of Alsace was a military campaign between the Allies, mainly French, and the Germans in Alsace, eastern France, from 20 November 1944 to 19 March 1945. It led to the liberation of Alsace by the Allies.[2]

## Context

[edit]

During the second phase of World War II, the Allies landed in Normandy starting from 6 June 1944 and in Provence starting from 15 August 1944. These two new fronts have expanded and allowed the liberation of a large part of the French territory within the span of a few months. Exceptions were the "Atlantic pockets" and Alsace, the latter region being where the Allied troops, mainly French troops, focused their efforts starting in November 1944.[3]

The battle took part next to the Battle of the Vosges [fr].

## Course of the battle

[edit]

The operations were launched from the Vosges and the Belfort Gap. Mulhouse was liberated on 21 November 1944, by General Béthouart, and Strasbourg on November 23 by General Leclerc while leading the 2nd Armored Division.[4]

The Germans resisted and launched a strong counteroffensive, Operation Nordwind, on 1 January 1945. At that time, Eisenhower, the commander in chief, wanted to retreat and temporarily evacuate Alsace, but General de Gaulle opposed it and sent reinforcements to defend Strasbourg. The German counterattack was stopped.[2][5]

General de Lattre, commanding the French 1st Army, launched a double offensive with his two army corps to defeat the Colmar Pocket. The 1st army corps operated from Mulhouse; the 2nd army corps, assisted by the XXI Corps, advanced from the northwest towards Neuf-Brisach. The French entered Colmar on 2 February 1945; the Colmar Pocket was cleared on February 9.[5][6]

The last part of Alsace, from the Moder to the border, was liberated from March 15 to 19, 1945.[5]

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ Dufour, Pierre (2014). La campagne d'Alsace: automne 1944-hiver 1945. Paris: Grancher. ISBN 978-2-7339-1278-2.
2. ^ a b Rowley 2002, p. 32.
3. ^ Rowley 2002, pp. 32, 594–595.
4. ^ Rowley 2002, pp. 32, 595.
5. ^ a b c Larousse.
6. ^ Rowley 2002, pp. 239–240, 595.

## Bibliography and sources

[edit]

* Rowley, Anthony, ed. (2002). Dictionnaire d'histoire de France. Paris: Perrin. p. 32\. ISBN 9782262013219. OCLC 301690235.
* Larousse, Éditions. "Campagne d'Alsace novembre 1944-mars 1945 - LAROUSSE". www.larousse.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-01.
* Vonau, Jean-Laurent (2022). L'Alsace annexée: 1940-1945. Strasbourg: Signe. pp. 416–461\. ISBN 978-2-7468-4242-7.

## See also

[edit]

* World War II
* Lorraine campaign
* Colmar Pocket
* Operation Nordwind
* Liberation of Strasbourg

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
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Theaters|

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* Indian Ocean
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* Mediterranean and Middle East
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* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
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* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* Atrocities against prisoners of war
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
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* Nanjing Massacre
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* Croatian war crimes
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* Persecution of Jews
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* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland / Manchuria
* Rape during the liberation of France / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Algeria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Liberia
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* State of Burma
* Republic of China (Wang Jingwei)
* Independent State of Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* German Reich
* Hungary
* Azad Hind
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Empire of Japan
* Manchukuo
* Mengjiang
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovak Republic
* Thailand
* Vichy France
* Guangzhouwan
* French Indochina
* French Madagascar
* Syria–Lebanon
* French North Africa
* French West Africa
* Collaboration

Neutral|

* Afghanistan
* Andorra
* Bhutan
* Ireland
* Liechtenstein
* Monaco
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Saudi Arabia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tibet
* Turkey
* Vatican City
* Yemen

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* German atrocities against Polish POWs
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Asia
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
* Anschluss
* Munich Agreement
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia
* Operation Himmler
* Italian invasion of Albania

|

1939|

* Invasion of Poland
* Battle of the Atlantic
* Phoney War
* First Battle of Changsha
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Denmark
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* German invasion of the Netherlands
* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of France
* Dunkirk evacuation
* Battle of Britain
* Battle of the Mediterranean
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Japanese invasion of French Indochina
* Italian invasion of Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of Shanggao
* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* German invasion of Greece
* Battle of Crete
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Battle of South Shanxi
* Syria–Lebanon campaign
* East African campaign
* Invasion of the Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Battle of Kiev
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Siege of Leningrad
* Battle of Moscow
* Bombing of Gorky
* Siege of Sevastopol
* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Japanese invasion of Thailand
* Fall of Hong Kong
* Fall of the Philippines
* Battle of Guam
* Battle of Wake Island
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Borneo
* Japanese invasion of Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Fall of Singapore
* Battle of the Java Sea
* St Nazaire Raid
* Battle of Christmas Island
* Battle of the Coral Sea
* Battle of Madagascar
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
* Battle of Gazala
* Battle of Dutch Harbor
* Battle of Midway
* Aleutian Islands campaign
* Kiska
* Attu
* Blue
* First Battle of El Alamein
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Kokoda Track campaign
* Rzhev
* Jubilee
* Second Battle of El Alamein
* Guadalcanal campaign
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Black May
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of West Hubei
* Battle of Attu
* Bombing of Gorky
* Battle of Kursk
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Smolensk
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Cottage
* Battle of the Dnieper
* Allied invasion of Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Second Battle of Kiev
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
* Tarawa
* Makin
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Tempest
* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Narva
* U-Go
* Imphal
* Ichi-Go
* Kohima
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Second Battle of Guam
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw Uprising
* Eastern Romania
* Liberation of Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Belgrade offensive
* Battle of San Marino
* Lapland
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Battle of Manila
* Battle of Iwo Jima
* Indochina
* Vienna offensive
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Bratislava–Brno offensive
* Battle of Okinawa
* Second Guangxi campaign
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Battle of Berlin
* Prague offensive
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

* v
* t
* e

Liberation of France

* Belgium
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway

Forces|

* Army of Africa
* Commando Kieffer
* First Army
* Cavalry Corps
* 3rd Army Corps
* 4th
* 5th
* 1st Armored
* 32nd Infantry
* Francs-Tireurs et Partisans
* French Forces of the Interior
* French Liberation Army
* French Expeditionary Corps Divisions:
* 1st Free French
* 2nd Moroccan Infantry
* 3rd Algerian Infantry
* 4th Moroccan Mountain
* Second Army
* French Forces of the West

Leaders|

* Charles de Gaulle
* Jean Moulin
* Winston Churchill
* Bernard Montgomery
* Henri Giraud
* Dwight D. Eisenhower
* Raymond O. Barton
* George S. Patton
* Philippe Leclerc
* Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
* Philippe Kieffer

Administration|

* Empire Defense Council
* French Civil and Military High Command
* French National Committee
* French Committee of National Liberation
* Provisional Consultative Assembly
* Provisional Government

French
campaign|

| Nov 1940|

* Battle of Gabon

|

Jun 1941|

* Syria–Lebanon campaign

Dec 1941|

* Capture of Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Nov 1942|

* Operation Torch
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of Réunion

Sept 1943|

* Liberation of Corsica

Jan 1944|

* Battle of Vercors
* Battle of Glières

March 1944|

* Liberation of Limousin

May 1944|

* Battle of Mont Mouchet

Jun 1944|

* Operation Overlord
* Battle of Carentan
* Battle of Cherbourg
* Battle for Caen
* Liberation of Limousin
* Tulle massacre
* Liberation of Guéret [fr]
* Oradour-sur-Glane massacre
* Maquis de Saint-Marcel
* Maquis de Saffré
* Battle of Ushant

July 1944|

* Liberation of Saint-Lô
* Battle of Mont Gargan [fr]
* Operation Cobra

Aug 1944|

* Battle for Brittany
* Rennes
* Saint-Malo
* Liberation of Brest
* Atlantic pockets:
* Lorient
* Saint-Nazaire
* Lioran [fr]
* Égletons [fr]
* Battle of Port Cros
* Battle of La Ciotat
* Provence landings
* Liberation of Toulon
* Liberation of Marseille
* Liberation of Paris
* Maillé massacre
* Liberation of Guéret [fr]
* Battle of Montélimar [fr]
* Liberation of Nice [fr]

Sept 1944|

* Battle of the Vosges
* Liberation of Nancy
* Operation Astonia
* Operation Undergo
* Atlantic pockets:
* La Rochelle
* Royan
* Dunkirk
* Battle of Arracourt
* Battle of Meximieux [fr]

Nov 1944 -
March 1945|

* Battle of the Vosges
* Battle of Alsace
* Liberation of Strasbourg
* Colmar Pocket
* Bitche [fr]
* Battle of the Vosges [fr]
* Battle of Bruyères [fr]

Apr 1945|

* Atlantic pockets:
* Royan

May 1945|

* Atlantic pockets:
* Dunkirk
* La Rochelle
* Lorient
* Saint-Nazaire

Aftermath|

* End of Vichy
* 1945 municipal elections
* Advance to the Rhine
* Invasion of Germany
* End of World War II in Europe
* Victory in Europe Day
* Victory Day
* Provisional Government
* Épuration légale
* Épuration sauvage
* Tripartisme
* 1946 legislative election
* Fourth Republic
* Trente Glorieuses
* Trial of Philippe Pétain
* Klaus Barbie trial

* WW II theatres:
* Atlantic
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* Pacific
* Sino Japanese

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