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Background Information
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998American epic war filmduring the Invasion of Normandy in World War II.Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat,the film is notable for its graphic portrayal of war, and for the intensity ofits opening 27 minutes, which includes a depiction of the Omaha Beach assaultduring the Normandy landings. It follows United States Army Rangers Captain JohnH. Miller (Tom Hanks)and a squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, GiovanniRibisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg,and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon),who is the last-surviving brother of fourservicemen.
There are, however, historical inaccuraciesin the film's depiction of the Normandy campaign. At the time of the mission,American forces from the two American beach areas, Utah andOmaha, had not yet linked up. In reality, a Ranger team operating out ofthe Omaha beach area would have had to move through the heavily enemy-occupiedcity of Carentan,or swim or boat across the estuary linking Carentan to the channel, or transferby boat to the Utah landing area. On the other hand, US forces moving out ofUtah would have had direct and much shorter routes, relatively unencumbered byenemy positions, and were already in contact with some teams from both USairborne divisions landed in the area.
World War II
World War II (often abbreviatedto WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, wasa global war thatlasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. Itinvolved the vast majority of the world's countries—includingall of the great powers—eventually forming twoopposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis.It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war",the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientificcapabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction betweencivilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians,including the Holocaust (in which approximately 11million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial andpopulation centres (in which approximately one million werekilled, and which included the atomic bombings of Hiroshima andNagasaki), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. Thesemade World War II the deadliestconflict in human history.
The Empire ofJapan aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacificandwas already at war with the Republic of China in 1937, butthe world war is generally said to have begun on 1 September 1939 withthe invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany andsubsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the UnitedKingdom. Supplied by the Soviet Union,from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties,Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axisalliance with Italy and Japan.Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pactof August 1939,Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexedterritories of their European neighbors, Poland, Finland, Romania andthe Baltic states. The warcontinued primarily between the European Axis powers and the coalition of theUnited Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, with campaignsincluding the North Africaand East Africa campaigns,the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz bombingcampaign, the Balkan Campaign aswell as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. On 22 June 1941,the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, openingthe largest land theatre of war in history,which trapped the major part of the Axis military forces into a war ofattrition. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the PacificOcean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific.
The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japanlost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii,and Germany was defeated in North Africa and then, decisively, atStalingrad in the Soviet Union. In1943, with a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasion of Sicily andthe Allied invasion of Italy whichbrought about Italian surrender, and Allied victories in the Pacific, the Axislost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, theWestern Allies invaded German-occupied France, while theSoviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and itsallies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainlandAsia in South Central China and Burma,while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured keyWestern Pacific islands.
The war in Europeconcluded with an invasion of Germany bythe Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture ofBerlin by Soviet troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945. Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the UnitedStates dropped atomic bombs onthe Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on6 August and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelagoimminent,the possibility of additional atomic bombings, and the Soviet Union's declaration of war on Japan andinvasion of Manchuria, Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945. Thusended the war in Asia, cementing the totalvictory of the Allies.
World War II altered the politicalalignment and social structure of the world. The UnitedNations (UN) was established to foster internationalco-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—theUnited States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France—becamethe permanentmembers of the United Nations Security Council.[7] TheSoviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers,setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, theinfluence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia and Africa began. Most countries whoseindustries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery.Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to endpre-war enmities and to create a common identity.
Normandy Landings
The Normandylandings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landingoperations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II.The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation ofGerman-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control,and contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front.
Planning for theoperation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Alliesconducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans asto the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day wasfar from ideal, but postponing would have meant a delay of at least two weeks,as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides,and the time of day that meant only a few days in each month were deemedsuitable. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel incommand of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wallinanticipation of an Allied invasion.
The amphibious landings were preceded byextensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborneassault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, andCanadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantryand armoured divisions began landing on the coast ofFrance at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coastwas divided into five sectors: Utah,Omaha, Gold, Juno,and Sword.Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions,particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gunemplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered withobstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making thework of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties wereheaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, severalfortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gunemplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialized tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve any of theirgoals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô,and Bayeux remainedin German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Onlytwo of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads werenot connected until 12 June; however, the operation gained a foothold which theAllies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Dayhave been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.
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