 Complete the following phrase:  By early 1945, events favored the Allied forces in Europe. On the Western Front the Allies had been fighting in Germany with campaigns against the Siegfried Line since the Battle of Aachen and the Battle of Hurtgen Forest in late 1944 and by January 1945 had pushed the Germans back to their starting points during the Battle of the Bulge. The failure of this offensive exhausted Germanys strategic reserve, leaving it ill-prepared to resist the final Allied campaigns in Europe. Additional losses in the Rhineland further weakened the German Army, leaving shattered remts of units to defend the east bank of the Rhine. On 7 March, the Allies 