impact of ww2 Flashcards
when did germany attack the ussr/russia?
1941
what happened when germany attacked the ussr?
- did well at first
- freezing winter forced them to stop, guns wouldn’t fire, poorly clothed
- huge russian army began to push them back to germany
- battle at stalingrad,defeats elsewhere too, then america joined on britain & russias side
how many people died/surrendered at the battle in stalingrad?
over 80,000 germans died, 90,000 surrendered
why was rationing introduced?
- supplies were needed for the soldiers
- severe food shortages
when was rationing introduced for clothing and food?
by november 1939
examples of things that were rationed?
- people had one egg per week
- soap & toilet paper in very short supply - suggested that soggy, stewed pine needles could be used instead of soap
- hot water two days a week
how did the nazis respond to the hardships of rationing?
by asking the german people to completely commit themselves to winning the war
when was it clear that germany was doomed to lose the war?
by the beginning of 1944, after america joined on britain and russias side, and battle in stalingrad/defeats elsewhere
who was made armaments minister in 1943 and what was he told?
albert speer - told to organise country for total war
what does total war mean?
everything entirely focused on making weapons and growing food for soldiers; anything that didn’t contribute to war stopped
what things were closed to prepare for total war?
beer houses, dance halls, even sweet shops, letterboxes boarded up, factories forced to stay open longer though
what did the nazis do to deal with the loss of male factory workers/severe labour shortages?
- great numbers of women drafted in to work in them
- by 1944 around 7 million foreign workers brought in from countries Germany had conquered to work as slave labour in factories
when did britain and america begin dropping bombs on german cities?
from 1942
what was the impact of the allied bombings?
- no electricity, water, transport
- people left homes to look for refuge (as refugees) in safer places
- thousands of deaths & injuries, people had to be retrieved from homes by medical services
- medical services at full stretch
- bombing caused flooding & gas explosions
- constant danger of unexploded bombs
- support for nazis began to weaken
why were people opposed to hitler & the nazis?
- uncomfortable with concentration camps & dreaded gestapo
- shocked at treatment of jews or physically/mentally disabled
- hated restrictions & limits put on their lives
what is an example of a low level form of resistance/opposition to the nazis?
moaning/grumbling about nazis - telling an anti-hitler joke or complaining about way jewish friends being treated; usually done in their own homes
what is passive resistance?
when germans publicly showed they didn’t support nazis, by refusing to do exactly as they were told
what’s an example of passive resistance?
- refusing to give heil hitler salute
- refusing to give money to hitler youth members (they went from house to house collecting funds)
what did the white rose group do?
urged germans to get rid of hitler by:
- handing out anti-nazi leaflets
- putting up posters
- writing graffiti on walls
who were the leaders of the white rose group?
brother & sister hans and sophie scholl; munich university students
what happened to hans & sophie scholl?
caught in 1943, beheaded for their ‘crimes’
what did the edelweiss pirates and navajos do?
- they were banned youth groups
- beat up nazi officials
- helped army deserters
why did people try to assassinate hitler, and how many attempts were there?
- around 50 attempts
- hitler/nazis couldn’t be voted out, only way to get rid of them to assassinate hitler
who was in the kreisau circle?
army officers, university professors, aristocrats who were shocked by hitlers plans for war & brutality of nazi regime
what did the kreisau circle do?
discussed assassinating hitler & getting rid of nazis but didn’t actually do anything
who was the beck-goerdeler group led by?
former army general ludwig beck and nazi official karl goerdeler
what did the beck-goerdeler group do?
- contacted british about possibility of removing hitler, nothing agreed though
- made attempts on hitlers life march & november 1943
- behind july bomb plot - 1944
who agreed to be part of the july bomb plot and why?
a disillusioned army officer, colonel claus von stauffenberg, because the war was going very badly at this stage
what happened in the july bomb plot?
- bomb would be detonated in room where hitler meeting other nazi leaders
- then beck-goerdeler group would take over, end war, change germany for better
- killed 4 men, burnt hitlers hair, burst his eardrums, blew some of his clothes off but didn’t kill hitler
what happened after the july bomb plot?
- stauffenberg and goerdeler executed
- beck committed suicide
- about 5000 others executed in revenge for the attack
when had the germany army been pushed out of the soviet union?
by the end of 1944
what did the soviet army do during 1945?
- continued to advance and liberate countries Germany had once occupied e.g. hungary & austria
- 16th april 1945 - began to attack berlin with around 1.5 million soldiers
- by april 24th - berlin surrounded, only people left to defend it were about 100,000 men who were members of Volkssturm or hitler youth
month that berlin was surrounded?
april
when did hitler commit suicide?
30th april in his bunker, after killing wife eva braun & his dog
when did germany surrender?
8th may
