In December 1944 Adolf Hitler directed an ambitious counteroffensive with
the object of regaining the initiative in the west and compelling the Allies to settle for a negotiated peace.
Hitler's generals were opposed to the plan,
but the Fuhrer's will prevailed and the counteroffensive was launched on 16 December by some 30 German divisions against Allied lines in the Ardennes region.
The Americans suffered some 75,000 casualties in the Battle of the Bulge, but the Germans lost 80,000 to l00,000.
German strength had been irredeemably impaired.
By the end of January 1945, American units had retaken all ground they had lost,
and the defeat of Germany was clearly only a matter of time.
In the east the Red Army had opened a winter offensive that was to carry, eventually, to and beyond Berlin.
