Chapter 14 Flashcards
Why did Italy invade Ethiopia?
Ethiopia had defeated Italy in battle of Adowa in 1896
In an act of revenge, Italy invaded Ethiopia
Haile Selassie
Ethiopian king at time of invasion
appealed to League for help
Ethiopia timeline
Italy invaded Ethiopia
Haile Selassie
League voted sanctions against Italy, but they had no power to enforce the sanctions
Italy conquered Ethiopia
Which of Hitler’s actions went against the Treaty of Versailles? How did the ppl of Germany + Western democracies react to this?
Built up German military
Sent troops to Rhineland, bordering France, which had to be demilitarized according to the treaty
Germans hated the treaty, so these acts made Hitler more popular at home
policy of appeasement
policy of appeasement + why?
Western democracies denounced Hitler’s moves, but did nothing
- France was too demoralized from political divisions at home to take on Hitler w/out British support
- Britain didn’t want to confront Hitler bc some ppl believed Hitler was justified bc they felt the treaty was too harsh on them in the first place
- Many ppl saw fascism as defense against communism (a greater evil)
- Depression sapped energies of Western democracies
- Widespread pacifism and disgust w war pushed govs to seek peace
Neutrality Acts
passed by US Congress
Forbade the sale of arms to any nation at war
Outlawed loans to warring nations
Prohibited Americans from traveling ships of warring nations
Fundamental goal was to avoid involvement in European war, not to prevent such conflict
what did the axis powers agree to do?
to fight communism
not interfere w one another’s plans for expansion
WWII prologue timeline
Japan took Manchuria + started 2nd Sino-Japanese War
Italy invaded Ethiopia
Hitler went against Treaty of Versailles
policy of appeasement + Neutrality Acts
Spain civil war
Annexation of Austria
Munich Pact
Nazi-Soviet Pact
invasion of Poland
WWII starts
Spain civil war timeline
old king –> new liberal gov
Leftists demanded more radical reforms
Conservatives, backed by military rejected these changes
Francisco Franco led a revolt –> civil war
- Right-wing Nationalists [fascists, conservatives]
Hitler and Mussolini supported them
- Republic supporting Loyalists [communists, socialists, democracy]
Soviet Union supported them
- Govs from Britain, France, and US didn’t join, but individuals did
Franco won and set up a dictatorship, like Hitler and Mussolini
Austria Annexation
He forced Austrian chancellor to appoint Nazis to key cabinet posts
Chancellor balked at his order, so Hitler sent in German army to “preserve order”
Hitler gave a speech from the Hofburg Palace, former home of Habsburg emperors, indicating his new role as leader of Austria
Anschluss violated Versailles treaty, causing a war scare
Western democracies took no action
Anschluss?
union of Austria and Germany
Munich Pact timeline
At first, Hitler insisted that the Germans in the Sudetenland [W. Czechoslovakia] be given autonomy
Britain and France didn’t want to go to war for it, so they caved in, and Hitler promised he had no further plans for expansion
Munich Pact was signed to give Sudetenland to Germany
reactions to munich pact?
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was happy bc of Munich Pact
French leader Edouard Daladier was skeptical
Winston Churchill knew Nazis would dishonor the pact
Nazi-Soviet Pact + motives?
publicly, a nonaggression pact
privately, they agreed not to fight if the other went to war and to divide up Poland and other parts of E. Europe between them
Hitler
- wanted a free hand in Poland
- didn’t want to fight Western democracies and Soviet Union at the same time
Stalin
- sought W.ern allies against Hitler, but mutual suspicions kept them apart
- tried to protect USSR from threat of war w Germany
- grabbed a chance to gain land in E. Europe
Europe WWII timeline
blitzkrieg
Invasion of France
Operation Sea Lion
Invasion of Egypt
Operation Barbarossa
Lend-Lease Act
Atlantic Charter
US joins war
Allied Victory in N. Africa + advance thru Italy
Battle of Stalingrad
D-Day + French Freedom
Battle of Bulge
Yalta Conference
V-E Day
blitzkrieg
lightning war
Hitler invaded Poland + E. Europe while Britain and France couldn’t do anything due to location
Invasion of France timeline
phony war
attack thru the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, which was thought to be invasion proof
Dunkirk
Hitler forced French to sign a treaty in the same place where Germany signed the armistice
Germany occupied N. France and set up a puppet state in S. France w capital at Vichy
Operation Sea Lion
Germany invaded Britain
started the blitz [bombed London and other British cities]
British king and queen supported Londoners by going to bomb shelters w them instead of fleeing
The bombing made the British more determined to fight the Germans
Invasion of Egypt
Italy invaded
British came to help Egyptians
Hitler sent General Erwin Rommel [aka Desert Fox], who pushed British back
Operation Barbarossa
Germany invaded USSR, nullifying Nazi-Soviet Pact
Hitler was winning, but stalled before they could take Moscow and Leningrad bc:
- Stalin was caught unprepared and his army lost its top officers in his purges
- Soviets destroyed factories and burned crops as they retreated
- German advance stalled bc they weren’t prepared for the brutal winter and thousands of Germans died
Britain and USSR became allies
Lend-Lease Act
[allowed US to sell or lend war materials to “any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the US”
FDR said US wouldn’t join war, but would become “arsenal of democracy” by supplying arms to ppl fighting for freedom
Atlantic Charter
FDR secretly met Churchill and they issued Atlantic Charter, which set goals for the war and postwar world
To destroy Nazi tyranny
Pledged to support the right of the ppl to choose their form of gov
Called for a “permanent system of general security”, would be UN
Based off of Wilson’s 14 points
Allied Victory in N. Africa + advance thru Italy
- British Gen. Montgomery vs. German Gen. Rommel
- El Alamein
- Eisenhower
- Rommel surrender
- Allies cross to Italy
- S. Italy fell + armistice
- Hitler sent troops to N. Italy
- forced Hitler to fight on another front
Battle of El Alamein, Allies stopped Rommel’s advance and drove them back
US Gen, Dwight Eisenhower commanded joint British and US force. He trapped Rommel’s army and Rommel surrendered
After winning N. Africa, Allies could cross Mediterranean Sea to Italy
Defeated Italian forces in Sicily and S. Italy. Italians overthrew Mussolini and signed armistice, but Hitler sent troops to rescue Mussolini and aid Italians fighting in N.
Decisive for the Allies bc it forced Hitler to fight on another front
Battle of Stalingrad
Germans surrounded the city and bitter struggles raged as winter closed in
Soviets surrounded the attackers and the Germans surrendered a few months later bc they were trapped w/out food, ammo, hope of rescue
German defeat
After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Red Army drove the invaders out of the USSR and Soviet troops began advancing into E. Europe
D-Day + French Freedom
Allies finally decided to open a second front at Normandy
To prepare, Allied bombers bombed German factories and aircrafts + French railroads and bridges
Allies dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines just before midnight
At dawn, 1000s of ships carried Allied troops across the English Channel
Battle of the Bulge
Allied forces battled to Germany after freeing France
Germany launched a massive counterattack
Germans were unable to break thru
Allied advance stalled for 6 wks
Yalta Conference
Stalin insisted that the Soviet Union needed to maintain control of E. Europe to protect itself
Churchill and Roosevelt favored self-determination, but they needed Stalin
- USSR would declare war on Japan after Germany’s surrender
- Stalin was promised possession of S. Sakhalin Island, Kuril Islands, and an occupation zone in Korea
- Germany would be temporarily divided in four zones to be governed by US, France, Britain, USSR
- Stalin agreed to hold free elections in E. Europe
V-E Day
Victory in Europe day after Germans surrendered
US (from W.) and USSR (from E.) soldiers met at the Elbe River in Germany
Hitler suicided when USSR soldiers advanced into Berlin
Guerillas in Italy executed Mussolini
Reasons why Allies won?
Germany’s location + location of their allies forced them on many fronts
Hitler took almost complete control over military and made bad choices
Hitler underestimated USSR military abilities
Germany’s production capacity did not compare
- US had twice as much production capacity as all Axis Powers combined
- Allied bombing hindered German production
Hitler didn’t prepare for the brutal winters of the USSR
Japan WWII timeline
Japan invaded Manchuria and started 2nd Sino-Japanese War
Tensions between US and Japan
Pearl Harbor
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of Midway
Bataan Death March
island-hopping campaigns
blockade of Japan
kamikaze pilots
Manhattan Project
Hiroshima
USSR declares war on Japan and invades Manchuria
Nagasaki
Hirohito forced the gov to surrender
What happened at the Tehran conference?
Churchill and Roosevelt agreed to let the borders of the Nazi-Soviet Pact stand, despite Poland’s wishes
Stalin asked to open a second front in Europe to relieve pressure on Soviet Union, but Roosevelt and Churchill said they didn’t have the resources
- Stalin saw this as a ploy to weaken Soviet Union
Women’s role in the war?
In Britain and US, women held auxiliary roles in the armed forces
In occupied Europe, women fought in the resistance
Soviet women served in combat roles
Rosie the Riveter
represented the women who replaced the men in essential war industry jobs
Marie Fourcade
French woman who helped downed Allied pilots escape
Lily Litvak
Soviet pilot who shot down 12 German planes before she was killed
How did tensions between Japan and US begin?
To stop Japanese aggression, US banned the sale of war materials (iron, steel, oil, etc.) to Japan
Japanese saw this as an attempt to interfere in Japan’s sphere of influence
Talks were held, but militarists, like Gen. Tojo Hideki, wanted to expand and US was in the way
war bond
citizens lent gov money that would be returned w interest
Battle of Coral Sea
For first time in naval history, enemy ships never saw each other
Attacks were carried out by planes launched from aircraft carriers
Japanese were prevented from taking several imp islands and many of their seacrafts were destroyed
Battle of Midway
Also fought entirely in air
US destroyed essential navy stuff
Japan couldn’t launch any more offensive operations after this
Bataan Death March
Japanese gained control of the Philippines and killed many US and Filipino soldiers
island-hopping campaigns
US forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur
Goal: recapture more Japanese-held islands
- Used captured islands as stepping stones
- Gradually moved towards Japan
First island: Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands
Blockade of Japan
US Navy led by Admiral Nimitz
US bombers pounded Japanese cities and industries
Gen. MacArthur began fight to retake Philippines
British pushed Japanese forces back into Burma and Malaya
Kamikaze pilots
young pilots who crashed their explosive-laden planes into US warships
Which president ordered atomic bomb?
Truman [president after FDR died]
UN Charter rules
Each member nation has one vote in the General Assembly
Smaller Security Council has greater power
UN deals with other world issues besides peacekeeping
Security Council?
Goal: give these great powers authority to ensure peace
US, USSR (Russia), Britain, France, China
Each permanent member can veto any council decision
Each has the power to apply economic sanctions or send a peace-keeping military force to try to resolve disputes
Differences among nations of Security Council (USSR and US) have kept UN from taking action
Stalin’s two goals in E. Europe after WWII
Spread communism
Create a buffer zone of friendly govs against Germany
How did pro-Soviet communism spread thru E. Europe
Red Army left behind occupying forces in E. Europe as they pushed Germans out
Most E. European countries had Communist parties, many of which fought against Nazis
Red Army + these local Communists destroyed rivals and even assassinated democratic leaders
The Truman Doctrine
Main idea was limiting communism to areas alr under Soviet control
Soon after, Truman sent military + economic aid to Greece and Turkey, where Stalin was trying to make them communist
The Marshall Plan
massive aid package where US sent food + economic aid to W. Europe to help countries rebuild
Did this bc postwar hunger + poverty = fertile ground for communist ideas
Truman offered aid to USSR and E. Europe, but Stalin made them refuse and said USSR would aid E. Europ
Why did W. Allies extend the Marshall Plan to W. Germany?
Did this bc they wanted German economy to recover, so they could restore political stability to the region
Berlin Airlift
Berlin was occupied by all four victorious Allies
Stalin tried to force the W. Allies out by sealing off transportation into the Western sectors
W. Allies started Berlin Airlift, where cargo planes supplied Berliners w food + fuel
After a yr, Soviets ended the blockade
Warsaw Pact
USSR + 7 satellites in E. Europe
Often invoked by Soviets to keep its satellites in order
What happened at Dunkirk?
- invasion of France
- Retreating British forces were caught between German forces and English Channel
- British sent ALL naval carriers (fishing boats, naval vessels, merchant ships, etc) across the channel to pick up the stranded forces at Dunkirk
