Ch. 11.2 The Course of WWII Flashcards
blitzkrieg
“lightning war”; Hitler’s strategy to use armored columns (panzer divisions-strike force of about 300 tanks with support forces) supported by airplanes; Poland taken by USSR + Germany on Sept 28, 1939; next blitz attacks: Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France
partisan
resistance fighters; Italian partisans shot Mussolini
Franklin D. Roosevelt
want isolationism for U.S.
Douglas MacArthur
U.S. general; operation to move into Philippines through New Guinea and South Pacific islands
Winston Churchill
British prime minister; called Italy “soft underbelly of Europe”
Harry S. Truman
decision to use atomic bomb; hoped they would enable U.S. to avoid Japanese invasion; used bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Stalingrad
turning point; major industrial center on the Volga; Nov. 1942-Feb 1943; Germans were enclosed within Stalingrad—>had to surrender
Midway Island
turning point; June 4, 1942: Battle of Midway Island; U.S. planes destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and defeated navy
Normandy, D-Day
June 6, 1944: Allied forces under U.S. General Eisenhower command landed on Normandy beaches; Allies pushed inland and defeated German defense; liberated Paris and other countries, advanced into Germany, met with USSR
Hiroshima, Nagasaki
(H)Aug 6, 1945 Enola Gay dropped Little Boy (N) demand unconditional surrender; Aug 9, 1945: Fat Man dropped—>Aug 10 Emperor Hirohito insisted surrender
El Alamein
turning point; Rommel’s troops were stopped in 1942 at El Alamein (Battle of El Alamein - British commander Montgomery defeat Rommel’s forces)
Erwin Rommel
“Desert Fox”; commanded Afrika Korps in North Africa; clever tactics to break through British defenses; troops stopped in 1942 at El Alamein
island hopping
policy to capture some Japanese-controlled islands and bypass others up to Japan
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day; Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945 but celebrated as May 8th
V-J Day
Victory in Japan Day; Aug 15, 1945; Sept 2, 1945: formal peace treaty signed on battleship USS Missouri
Battle of Britain
Aug 1940: Luftwaffe began attacking GB bases; GB fought back, attacked Berlin; Luftwaffe bombed GB cities; British was winning—>Hitler postponed invasion of GB
Marshal Henri Petain
aged French hero of WWI; led Vichy France
Vichy France
authoritarian regime under German control to the south of France; controlled by Petain
phony war
winter of waiting after taking Poland; Hitler resumed attack on April 9, 1940 with blitz against Denmark and Norway
Dunkirk
Germans trapped French troops and British army at the beaches of Dunkirk; British navy and private boats evacuate 338,000 people (Miracle at Dunkirk)
Ardennes Forest
through Lux. and this forest German Panzer divisions broke through French defense; not through Maginot Line
isolationism
FDR wanted U.S. to follow this policy; stay out of war (even though GB asked for help after Dunkirk)
neutrality acts
passed in 1930s; prevent U.S. from getting involved in European wars; gradually relaxed—> sent supplies to Britain
Luftwaffe
German air force; Aug 1940: bombed GB war bases and (Sept) cities
