Eisenhower called it the “Crusade in Europe:” the year-long campaign by America and its allies to liberate Western Europe from Nazi Germany. It was the most complicated endeavor in history, one that confronted the inexperienced American armed forces with unprecedented diplomatic, logistic, and military challenges.  This online course will address the many aspects of the American experience in the European Theater of Operations, from the beaches of Normandy to the snows of Bastogne, from the command tent to the frontline, from the rigors of training camp to the traumas of combat. We will examine the strategy and tactics behind the largest and bloodiest battles ever fought by the United States Army. Above all we will consider how and why ordinary Americans embarked on a “crusade” that liberated Western Europe and brought about the total defeat of Hitler’s Third Reich.