4.3-4.6 ID-Sig Flashcards
El Alamein
British and American forces fought against Afrika Korps. Russia wanted the 2nd front in Europe while Britain wanted to focus on North Africa to protect Egypt, Suez Canal and MIddle East oil fields from falling under German control
Sig: Germans outnumbered 2:1 -> turning point in the war when Afrika Korps retreat and surrender in Tunisia. Hitler thought of this war as a side chick and didn’t provide ample war power which contributed to Germany’s loss -> led to invasion of Italy (would use up more of Hitler’s power and resources)
Simple: Brit and Am wanted to protect oil fields in Egypt, Hitler treated Africa war as side chick and didnt give enough child support so invasion of italy ended up costing more in futrue
Mers El-Kebir
Britain decided to bomb the French naval fleet stationed in North Africa after the fall of France in case the Germans would use it against them
Sig: Britain and France were allies but Britain was so scared of Germany that it sacrificed the lives of French navy
Rommel
German general who led the Afrika Korps (German and Italian troops) and drove British out of Libya
Sig: High ranking German officer who was key in war in North Africa; Battle of El Alamein lost - turning point in war for allies (prevented full scale invasion of Egypt and Middle East)
Operation Barbarossa
German attempt to “Blitzkrieg” into Russia (attack on USSR) because he hated communism and wanted to strike before they had consolidated their strength
Sig: Turning point for Germany and was main cause of Germany’s loss of war; unexpected due to Nazi-Soviet non aggression pact but created second front for Hitler who committed 75% of war power to the effort
Nazis were ill prepared for the winter and the Russian scorched earth policy
Barbarossa - B is for blitzkrieg R is for Russia
Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler had devoted 75% of the war effort to USSR but Germans were forced to retreat after little to no progress, Hitler would launch another attack that would fail
Sig: MAJOR turning point in war - first loss for the nazis that sent them into retreat - Russia kept pushing them further and further into Berlin First clear sign that Hitler could lose
Radar
Technology developed for detecting and and tracking aircraft and ships
Sig: played a crucial role in the battle of Britain by giving air defences early warning of German attacks; also aided in battle of Atlantic when aircrafts used radar to track U-Boats (TURNING POINT)
U-Boat
German submarine that attacked British naval forces and supply ships during the battle of the Atlantic
Sig: Easy maneuvering in English channel was critical in battle of Atlantic and were sinking most of British ships until the British developed a new radar system that sunk almost all U-Boats
Dieppe
German army established a European fortress along the western seaboard of French/Belgian coastlines as an attempt to open the second front and test German defences
Sig: Allied planners learned not to launch an attack on heavily defended ports (more than 3k of 6k soldiers sent were killed); delayed opening of second western front and became a lesson for the Normandy landings
uhoh they really put the DIE in dieppe (P is for port defence) DontAttackDefendedPorts
Eisenhower
General of US military and commander in chief of allied forces in Europe who led D-Day
Sig: Key player/leader of D-day invasion - major turning point in WW2
V1-V2 Rockets
Early cruise missile used by Germany in the bombing of London (vengeance missiles)
Sig: used against allied targets (specifically UK) - used in bombing of London
Operation Overlord (D-Day, Normandy landing)
Operation of the allied forces to open the second European Front and liberate Western Europe
Sig: MAJOR turning point - caught nazis by surprise while Hitler refused to allow troops to withdraw and gain better vantage point - allowed allies to make progress in to France (had superior numbers)
Dresden
Britain and American joint bombing of the German city of Dresden
Sig: Military value of bombing did not justify Dresden’s near destruction (civilian area) - led to German gov. misreporting the number of deaths and using it as propaganda, promising a swift revenge
Battle of the Bulge
Short lived German advance through Ardennes vs allied forces - Hitler’s last attempt at a counter attack
Sig: this was Hitler’s final attempt to win the war, but they were ultimately overpowered and outnumbered by the allies -> Germany surrendered less than 4 months later
Bulge final advance through ardennes
