May 16th Study Guide

Question 1

Axis Powers

Answer 1

The three Axis powers Italy, Japan, and Germany, in WWII. The Axis powers were formed after 1938, when Hitler came to Italy and signed an agreement with Mussolini, declaring other countries are rotating on a Rome-Berlin Axis. The full scale of the Axis powers included Albania, Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Thailand.

Question 2

Allied Powers

Answer 2

Great Britain, the Soviet Union, The United States, and France, the combination that led to the ultimate success of the war.

Question 3

Rape of Nanjing

Answer 3

China was one of the first nations to truly become exposed to the atrocities committed by the soldiers, against innocent civilians. The Rape of Nanjing refers to the horrors that were committed by the Japanese soldiers against the women of China (stemming from vague concepts of racial superiority) “Over the course of two months the Japanese soldiers raped over several thousand women, murdered hundreds of thousands, unarmed soldiers and civilians, and burned ⅓ of the homes in Nanjing. Four hundred thousand Chinese people lost their lives at the hands of Japanese soldiers using them for target practice.

Question 4

Spanish Civil War

Answer 4

(1936-1939) Benito Mussolini of Italy, first intervened in the Spanish Civil war - supporting the overthrow of the Republic as militant rebels sought to annex Albani. Later Hitler joined his forces with Mussolini, in the Spanish Civil War, setting the 2 nations on a path to European conquest.

Question 5

anschluss

Answer 5

(union) Germany smoothly regained control of Austria, unifying it with Germany once again in March of 1938. Hitler justified this action by saying the people who he reunited with Germany were German, wanting to create a unified ethnic state. He later did the same thing with Sudentland in Czechoslovakia, and in September of 1938, Hitler demanded a cession of the land by the Czechoslovakians to the Germans. France and Britain wanted to avoid a conflict with Germany so they allowed for Germany to seize this land.

Question 6

Blitzkreig

Answer 6

In WWII War was generally more stealthy, with nations foregoing declaring outward war, Germany used this tactic to invade Poland on September 1, 1939, and within a month they controlled the Western part of Poland. This was known as the Blitzkrieg because they were able to gain control of a territory in lightening speed. The term was officially used by Journalists.

Question 7

Fall of France

Answer 7

In 1940 when the Germans seized control of Norway, they also gained control of the North Sea, which impeded the implementation of British aid, causing Belgium, the Netherlands, and the French to sign an armistice agreement. Turning point in Italy-German relations as encouraged Mussolini to join Hitler and forge an active partnership with him. This solidified that the British were now alone in the fight against the Germans.

Question 8

Battle of Britain

Answer 8

German attack by airforce on Britain using the Luftwaffe, the air war was known as “the blitz,” bombs rained down on heavily populated areas, killing over 40,000 civilians. Royal Airforce of Britain held ground steadfastly, forcing Hitlers forces to retreat.

Question 9

Luftwaffe:

Answer 9

The German airforce that was specifically used to attack Britain in the Blitz.

Question 10

Lebensraum:

Answer 10

term that exactly means, more living space for the Germans, wanted to invade the Soviet Union to find more living space for the German population.

Question 11

Operation Barbarossa: I

Answer 11

It was the code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June. On June 22nd, 1941, Hitler ordered his forces to invade the Soviet Union. The forces that he assembled included: 3.6 million soldiers, 3700 tanks, and 2500 planes. They took Stalin by surprise and then were able to capture the Russian heartland by December 1941, they sieged Leningrad and reached the gates of Moscow. But the Blitzkrieg strategies that worked in Poland, were not effective against the Soviets, as they underestimated the extent of the Soviet military. Stalin moved industrial production away from the fighting, used tanks donated by the Americans, and outnumbered the German forces, placing them in an outnumbered position causing 800,000 casualties. Harsh winter = prevented German invasion of Moscow. Until spring, German forces lost their motto.

Question 12

Stalingrad

Answer 12

In June of 1942, the German forces once again rallied and attempted to gain control of the oil fields in Stalingrad. By this time Stalin made the order, “not a step back.” as he wanted the war to be waged on a patriotic basis to protect, ‘mother Russia,’ - doing everything they could to stall German forces.

Question 13

Pearl Harbour

Answer 13

The Japanese allies of the axis powers began to occupy the Indo-china Regions of the Dutch East Indies, supported by the Germans the Vichy-French government. (1940) United States response with frozen Japanese assets and embargo on oil. This did not cause the Japanese to budge, in the of US demand to surrender. The Japanese wanted to retaliate by destroying American Naval capacities by an attack on Pearl Harbor - wanted to allow them full access to conquer southeast Asia. December 7th 1941, Japanese Bombers, fighters, and torpedo planes stuck the base in two separate waves, devastating American naval power in the pacific. 11th December 1941, Hitler and Mussolini declared war on the United States, subsequently US declared war, and joined ally with Britain and Soviet Union. Hitler said, “Now it is impossible for us to lose the war; we have an ally who has never been vanquished in 3000 years.” But Winston Churchill later said, “so we have won after all.” - correct.

Question 14

D-Day

Answer 14

Took place on June 6th, 1944, after the allied movement had gained momentum, Germany had failed to control of moscow and the Soviets were retaliating. British troops landed on the french coast of Normandy, the fighting was deadly, but Germany faced the most losses, (turning point in War) becoming overrun by the British forces. US and Britain were able to break down German forces, with around the clock fighting and bombing.
Reichstag: Germany’s Parliament building, Hitler committed suicide before he could see the Soviet Flag over the Reichstag building.

Question 15

Guadalcanal

Answer 15

1942-1943, battle fought between Japan and the allied forces around the area of the Guadalcanal area, in WWII = marked a turning point in the favor of the allies in the Pacific War. battle originally because the Americans saw that the Japanese were building a military base, that would seriously effect their surrounding bases and immediately took action.

Question 16

Iwo Jima and Okinawa

Answer 16

both were counterparts of Japan that were essential to Japanese naval and military activity, where the Kamikaze missions were launched by, with the small islands refusing to surrender.

Question 17

KamiKaze

Answer 17

pilots who “volunteered” to steer planes with just enough fuel to reach an allied ship and dive bomb it for the Japanese. This helped the Japanese to fly 1900 Kamikaze missions.

Question 18

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Answer 18

took place on August 6th and August 9th of 1945, when the Americans used the Atomic bomb against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, creating destruction like never before. They vaporized and killed with radiation poisoning upwards of 200,000 people. = Japanese surrender.

Question 19

Vichy Government

Answer 19

The counterpart of French government that operated in the southwestern part of France, place where the French would go to cooperate with German rule - split the country of France apart.

Question 20

Picture page 868

Answer 20

depicts people being hanged for Shooting at german soldiers in Belarus - part of anti partisans reprisals by Germans that led to the death of 700,000 people.

Question 21

War Atrocities

Answer 21

Treatment of POWS - the death rate of soldiers in Japanese captivity was around 30% with soldiers as chinese POWS being even higher. Hitlers racial ideology permeated the treatment of Soviets who were POWS. By February 1942, 2 million out of 3.3 million Soviet soldiers in German custody had died from starvation, shooting, or diseases. Germany + Japan also participated in horrific and unwilling medical experimentation. In China, Japanese militaary units, especially unit 731, conducted vivisections (surgery on the conscious person) Many other became victims of experimentation for germ warfare, such as the plague, chlorea, anthrax and more. Germans did many of the same things - but also did various experiments concerning race, and how different races would react to different diseases

Question 22

Holocaust

Answer 22

the persecution of European Jews by Germany leading to their near extinction, fueled by Hitlers Anti-sematic policies. Led to the death of over 6 million Jewish people. The Jewish population had been persecuted before by the Christians however, never to the extent displayed after Hitlers rise to power in 1933. The hatred brewed by Hitler, turning the population against its Jewish contingent put Germany on the path to mass-genocide. Quote in Holocaust museum: “Never Forget.”

Question 23

Final Solution

Answer 23

made in 1941 it was the official German policy of the attempt to murder every Jewish person in Europe.

Question 24

Wannsee Conferance

Answer 24

20th January 1914, 15 Nazi bureaucrats met to discuss how to implement and achieve the final solution
Evacuate all Jewish people to camps in Eastern Poland - either extermination or concentration camps, they were rounded up, packed onto trains and sent to their death
In these camps such as Belzec, Treblinka, and Auschwitz, = were sophisticated at mass extermination - introducing gassing as a manner to quickly exterminate, and
Especially at Auschwitz, where the Jewish people would be deceived into gas chambers, causing them to quickly parish, and their bodies later be burned to hide the crimes, caused Auschwitz to be one of the most efficient camps at extermination

Question 25

Waves

Answer 25

Women appointed for volunteer service in the navy) - the US government pressured women to join, “women’s war,” many women in Britain and the US joined the industrial workforce to take up industrial slack, and helped on the front in nursing, but in China and the Soviet Union, women were even allowed to take up arms.

Question 26

Comfort women

Answer 26

women who were forced by the Japanese government to serve in places called “comfort houses,” where they were forced into prostitution to service the needs of men coming from war, sometimes serving 20-30 men a day - as many as 200,000 women were conscripted to serve in these houses of prostitution.

Question 27

Rosie the Riveter

Answer 27

1942 poster of an idealized women known as Rosie the Riverter, used by the US government as propaganda - the coined phrase “we can do it.” meant to encourage women’s participation in the industrial workforce to help supply the military efforts abroad.

Question 28

Cold War

Answer 28

essentially a non-violent confrontation between the two major powers, the Soviet Union and the US to control world power/influence. Lasted nearly 5 decades and affected the whole world almost bringing the world back to nuclear annihilation. War first began with the division of Europe by what was known as the Iron Curtin, dividing the countries of the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe. - called this by Winston Churchill.

Question 29

Truman doctrine

Answer 29

12th of March 1947, announced by the US to solidify its perception of the world’s division between the “free” (democratic) and the “enslaved” (communist) people. Drew the battle lines of the cold war. Made by US President Harry Truman - said to the US Congress “At the present moment in world history, nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugations by armed minorities or outside pressures. US - committed to interventionist foreign policy = containment of communism = mitigate Soviet growth/influence.

Question 30

Marshall Plan

Answer 30

Also known as the European Recovery Plan, - named after Secretary of State George C. Marshall= rebuild European economies - corporation and capitalism - stop all Soviet communist influence in Europe. Proposed in 1947 and funded in 1948 - provided more than 13 billion to reconstruct Western Europe. Soviets retaliated with the formation of COMECON or Council for Mutual Economic Assistance 1949, increased trade in the Soviet Union + Eastern Europe = alternative to the Marshall Plan.

Question 31

Berlin Wall

Answer 31

1961 East Germany was suffering the loss of millions of Germans to West Germany, seeking to reap the benefits of the capitalist economy of West Germany. In 1961 nearly 3.5 million East Germans left for the West = which led to the creation of the Berlin Wall = which kept the people confined with violence and border guards ordered to shoot and kill but undermined the legitimacy of the government operations.

Question 32

domino Theory

Answer 32

Ideology invented by President Eisenhower of the US - basically stated that the countries that surrounded an area ruled by communism would eventually cause the surrounding ones to collapse into a system of communism like dominos.

Question 33

Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 33

On October 26th, 1962 the United States learned Soviet Technicians assembling launch sites for Nuclear missiles on Cuba. The area of deployment would allow them to reach the United States. JFK called an ultimatum Soviet leaders must withdraw all missiles from Cuba and stop the arrival of any additional nuclear threats - imposed air + naval quarantine on the island. Everyone expected there to be a nuclear confrontation but after two weeks Soviets yielded to US demands - Soviets also refrained from overthrowing Fidel Castro’s regime.

Question 34

Joseph Stalin

Answer 34

he began as a bureaucratic general secretary for the Russian government the Bolsheviks, quickly determined to gain power, inspired by movements of socialism and communism, he adopted Stalin, as a surname for man of steel. - wanted to overthrow Bolsheviks and create a dictatorship for the Soviet Union.
Five year Plan (1929) - replaced Lenins Nep, with his five year plan which he used to establish rapid economic growth, wanted to go from agricultural - industrial. Everything coordinated through government supervision, focused around steel and machinery (heavy industry) alternative to capitalism throughout rest of world - implemented collectivization of agriculture, wanting to unite all agriculture under government control, no more free market, big rebellion only stopped in 1931. Joe’s system allowed for Russia to be relatively prosperous in the face of the Great Depression.
1935-1938 Stalin = Great Purge, removed any delegates loyal to Bolsheviks or opposed to his system of leadership, killed 681,000 people on account of treason. World’s first communist empire (empire of proletariat)

Question 35

Winston Churchill

Answer 35

He served as Britain PM during the second world war, from 1940-45 and later again from 1951-1955, led Britain to victory during the second world war, known for being a great orator, and military strategists, in the loss of France their ally, he singlehandedly rallied the British forces to not give into German attack, allowing for them to prevail in the battle of Britain and turn the tide in the war.
In the first world war he served as the first lord of admirality, planned dardanelles and gallipoli,
Known for fighting with words
Fidel Castro:

Question 36

Fidel Castro

Answer 36

Cuban revolutionnary, created first communist state in Western hemisphere, wanted to fight the Batista dictatorship in Cuba, and founded the 26th of July movement where he sought to usurp batista, who relinquished control in 1959, after the 800 man guerilla warfare attack. Radicalized cuban policy, and severed all ties with US by 1960 while establishing trade agreement with the Soviet Union. US attempted to retaliate at bay of Pigs but were defeated. Cuba acquired weapons from Soviet union - Cuban Missile Crisis Socialist dictatorship, mainted control through fear and power. Many upper and middle class immigrated to America.

Question 37

FDR

Answer 37

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: President of the US
Came to power as US president amidst the Great Depression in 1933, he was well known for enacting the New Deal, where he sought to actively counter the inflation and rising unemployment by direct gov intervention. Began with fireside chats - to assure the nation of a presence of hope and fortitude for the American people. He was the only US president to have served 3 terms being elected by the people each time. At first maintained US isolationist policies at the outbreak of WWII, but as the war, escalated and after Pearl Harbour, the involvement of the US turned the tide for the war, initiating Hiroshima and Nagasaki and aiding the allied forces. Helped Win WWII.