If Operation Overlord, also known as D-Day, had failed then Hitler might have been able to hold all of Europe in tyranny. After Hitler ruthlessly took over Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium and European countries by force, an invasion had to occur. D-Day gave the Allied forces the opportunity to start pushing back Hitler’s forces. Viewed today as the most monumental and significant invasion of World War II, it ranked 24th as the most important event of the 20th century by USA Today. Leaving thousands dead and wounded, the invasion of D-Day started the beginning of the end of World War II, and ensured democracy would rule over tyranny.
After Germany took over Poland and other European countries, including France plus the fact that he was slaying millions of Jews and civilians, the majority of US citizens considered Germany nothing short of pure evil. Massive German air raids on London and other major cities made the US come to Britain’s aid and focus on the European theatre by 1941. Hitler was becoming known for his massacre of innocent Jews, nearly leading to complete genocide of the Jewish race. Both Hitler and the Allies knew an invasion of northwestern Europe was necessary to start pushing Germany out.
The Allies prepared vigorously for the attack with training camps and diversions. Training began early in 1944. Complete rehearsals known as Operations Smash, Tiger, and Fabius took place during the month of April (Holt, 32); afterwards, the men went on standby. Operation Fortitude, the deception plan, required that dummy parachutes be dropped. The dummies made loud noises to make Germans think they were under fire. Silver foil scattered across the general area of the invasion confused German radar, and double agent Juan Pujol convinced German leaders the Normandy attack was posed as a diversion (34). Supreme Commander Eisenhower demanded all French railways be destroyed by bombers to isolate the battlefield, called the Transportation Plan. Coordinated airdrops of real troops in certain areas had the Germans guess incorrectly on where the attack would occur.

Hitler prepared for the invasion with his massive Atlantic Wall and by pulling men out of the USSR. The Atlantic Wall stretched across hundreds of miles of coastline in different sections, starting with steel gates, ramps, hedgehog mines, barbed wire and ending usually with a pillbox and concrete bunkers (see Visual A). Hitler pulled half his troops out of the USSR and told his subordinates there would be no reinforcements until the invasion ceased.
The Allied attack sacrificed amazing numbers of lives (see Visual B) to occupy a 50-mile beach strip, which would then allow more troops on to start liberating France. On June 6, 1944, the US First Army and the British Second Army established beachheads in Normandy, on the French channel coast (encarta.msn.com, 6). Bad weather was a major consideration, but a delay could not be accepted. The night before the invasion, Eisenhower said, “O.K., lets go!” (Holt, 35) He told his troops, “We will accept nothing less than full victory.” (www.nando.net, 6) The Allies encountered heavy German resistance and with the Allies’ footholds being in a deteriorated condition led to 2,500 dead in one day. Hitler’s massive counter attack never came, and Allied air support made it difficult to move German troops. By the end of June, Eisenhower had 850,000 men and 150,000 vehicles ashore in Normandy (encarta.msn.com, 6). The Allies moved inland after emancipating Saint-Lo and Caen. They continued to completely liberate Paris (August 25, 1944) and France.
Operation Overlord affected many soldiers and took many lives, but the beach gave the Allies the ability to push back the Germans and to win World War II. Thousands of Allies did not survive the attack; but after D-Day Eisenhower installed more of his men and vehicles into Europe. They now had the ability and capacity to push the Germans back, while the Russian were doing the same in the east. After Hitler’s suicide, Germany surrendered and the Allies divided Germany into different occupational zones.
Not only did D-Day change the way which the military conducted assaults are conducted, but the invasion let the world know tyranny would not rule; General Dwight D. Eisenhower ultimately became president of the US because of its success. The massive invasion proved successful and later US attacks used diversions and surprise in a manner similar to D-Day. If Overlord failed, the Allies might not have won World War II, meaning that tyranny might have spread across Europe and Asia. Therefore, D-Day allowed democracy to prevail and stopped the reign of dictators. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allies (Holt, 31), became instantly famous after the success, and thereafter named NATO commander. He went on to become the 34th president of the United States from 1953-1961.
After the Allies barely survived the German machine gun fire at Normandy, the Allies went on to end World War II and let democracy triumph. After months of preparation and concentrated labor, both sides proved to be ready for an attack. Thousands of men died to occupy a 50-mile strip of beach. This risky move liberated France, and allowed the Allies to move in. The momentum permitted US troops to continue east and push back Hitler’s forces, ultimately leading to Allied victory in the Second World War. Hitler might have won the war if not for D-Day, and more than half the world would be under his reign of terror, under the command of a maniacal psychopath who nearly made the Jewish race extinct.