Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945), last German offensive in the west during World War II. Following the Normandy invasion that began on D-Day (June 6, 1944), Allied forces swept rapidly through France but became stalled along the German border in September. On December 16, taking advantage of weather that kept Allied aircraft on the ground, the Germans launched a counteroffensive through the hilly and wooded Ardennes country and advanced 50 km (31 mi) into Belgium and Luxembourg. Their aim was to divide the Americans and the British and retake the vital seaport of Antwerp. They created a “bulge” in the Allied lines, but their advance was halted near the Meuse in late December. Managing to avoid being cut off by an Allied pincer movement, the Germans withdrew to their own lines in January, but heavy losses, including some 220,000 casualties, contributed to their final collapse in the spring of 1945.