The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II.
The battle lasted for five weeks from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in Europe. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The goal of the German offensive was to seize the harbor at Antwerp, an important Ally source of supplies, equipment and military support, so they could stop the eventual Allied advance into Germany. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium as soon as possible.
The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and their fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success.
The battle ended with an Allied victory and a significant defeat and depletion of the already exhausted German forces in fuel, armor and soldiers. From among the Americans' peak strength of 610,000 troops there were 81,000 battle casualties, including at least 8,400 killed. The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and the third-deadliest campaign in American military history.
