Ch. 11.2 The Course of WWII

Question 1

blitzkrieg

Answer 1

“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

Question 2

partisan

Answer 2

resistance fighters; Italian partisans shot Mussolini

Question 3

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Answer 3

want isolationism for U.S.

Question 4

Douglas MacArthur

Answer 4

U.S. general; operation to move into Philippines through New Guinea and South Pacific islands

Question 5

Winston Churchill

Answer 5

British prime minister; called Italy “soft underbelly of Europe”

Question 6

Harry S. Truman

Answer 6

decision to use atomic bomb; hoped they would enable U.S. to avoid Japanese invasion; used bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Question 7

Stalingrad

Answer 7

turning point; major industrial center on the Volga; Nov. 1942-Feb 1943; Germans were enclosed within Stalingrad—>had to surrender

Question 8

Midway Island

Answer 8

turning point; June 4, 1942: Battle of Midway Island; U.S. planes destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and defeated navy

Question 9

Normandy, D-Day

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Answer 10

(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

Question 11

El Alamein

Answer 11

turning point; Rommel’s troops were stopped in 1942 at El Alamein (Battle of El Alamein - British commander Montgomery defeat Rommel’s forces)

Question 12

Erwin Rommel

Answer 12

“Desert Fox”; commanded Afrika Korps in North Africa; clever tactics to break through British defenses; troops stopped in 1942 at El Alamein

Question 13

island hopping

Answer 13

policy to capture some Japanese-controlled islands and bypass others up to Japan

Question 14

V-E Day

Answer 14

Victory in Europe Day; Germans surrendered on May 7, 1945 but celebrated as May 8th

Question 15

V-J Day

Answer 15

Victory in Japan Day; Aug 15, 1945; Sept 2, 1945: formal peace treaty signed on battleship USS Missouri

Question 16

Battle of Britain

Answer 16

Aug 1940: Luftwaffe began attacking GB bases; GB fought back, attacked Berlin; Luftwaffe bombed GB cities; British was winning—>Hitler postponed invasion of GB

Question 17

Marshal Henri Petain

Answer 17

aged French hero of WWI; led Vichy France

Question 18

Vichy France

Answer 18

authoritarian regime under German control to the south of France; controlled by Petain

Question 19

phony war

Answer 19

winter of waiting after taking Poland; Hitler resumed attack on April 9, 1940 with blitz against Denmark and Norway

Question 20

Dunkirk

Answer 20

Germans trapped French troops and British army at the beaches of Dunkirk; British navy and private boats evacuate 338,000 people (Miracle at Dunkirk)

Question 21

Ardennes Forest

Answer 21

through Lux. and this forest German Panzer divisions broke through French defense; not through Maginot Line

Question 22

isolationism

Answer 22

FDR wanted U.S. to follow this policy; stay out of war (even though GB asked for help after Dunkirk)

Question 23

neutrality acts

Answer 23

passed in 1930s; prevent U.S. from getting involved in European wars; gradually relaxed—> sent supplies to Britain

Question 24

Luftwaffe

Answer 24

German air force; Aug 1940: bombed GB war bases and (Sept) cities

Question 25

Leningrad

Answer 25

1941: Germans surround Leningrad; 2&1/2 year siege; Soviets did not surrender

Question 26

Pearl Harbor attack

Answer 26

Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese attacked U.S. naval base in Hawaii; big loss for U.S.; contributed to U.S. joining war

Question 27

Allied Powers

Answer 27

France (out), GB, Soviet Union (later), U.S. (later)

Question 28

Axis Powers

Answer 28

Germany, Italy, Albania, (Libya), Japan