quiz 1

Question 1

Which two nations divided Poland in September, 1939?

Answer 1

germany and the soviet union

Question 2

List, in order, the first six nations that Germany conquered.

Answer 2

poland denmark norway netherlands belgium luxembourg france

Question 3

Why was Dunkirk a propaganda victory for both sides?

Answer 3

Allies: The “Miracle of Dunkirk” was a propaganda victory because so many british soldiers were saved in the operation. (Citizens with boats—English Channel)

Question 4

What was the Maginot Line?

Answer 4

A massive defensive structure in France along the German border.\ to deter invasion. In the -inter-war period this project was the main goal of the french military (investment).

Question 5

hy did France fall to Germany so quickly?

Answer 5

they were caught off-guard by a german that bypassed the Maginot Line and went through the Ardennes forest

B. German tactics—especially with tanks. They were able to get behind and surround French forces, which quickly collapsed.

Question 6

What was Vichy France?

Answer 6

Vichy France was a semi-independent but collaborationist regime in the south of France

Question 7

What were the ‘night and fog’ decrees

Answer 7

These were direct orders from Aadolf Hitler for occupied countries in Western Europe in which men would be arrested and moved into the “night and fog” of the German concentration camp system. Tens of thousands disappeared in this way. Very few records were ever kept.

Question 8

What happened to Jews in France?

Answer 8

They were often arrested by French police and the German Gestapo and transported to the concentration camp system in Germany.

Question 9

why was the Battle of Britain an air battle?

Answer 9

The invasion of Britain by Germany required air supremacy in order for a soldier to be brought accross the english channel for a land invasion

Question 10

What were the British advantages and what were the German advantages?

Answer 10

British: betterplanes(spitfire, Hurricane), radar technology, over their own territory

-Germans: more planes(3 to 1)

Question 11

What was the Blitz? Why did it happened? What did it allow the British to do? (3)

Answer 11

The Blitz refers to the night-time bombing raids on the cities of Britain by the Luftwwaffe.

The Blitz was a result of Hitler’s decision to bomb the cities after Berlin was bombed

The Blitz gave the british time to repair the airports, factories and produce more planes.

Question 12

In regards to the Battle of Britain, Churchill said “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” Explain what he means.

Answer 12

Churchill means that the future of Britain(“so much”) was owed by the people of Britain(“so many”) to the pilots who defeated the Luftwaffe.(“so few”)

Question 13

What was Operation Barbarossa?

Answer 13

Operation Barbarossa was the German invasion (surprise attack) on the Soviet Union that occured on june 22 1941

Question 14

Why did Hitler want to invade the USSR?

Answer 14

Lebensraum—”living space” for Germans in East Europe
Resources—– Oil, wheat, minerals, etc. (self sufficient)
Ideology— Communism is connected to judaism (Karl Marx was a German-Jew)
Perceived weakness of the Soviet Union—defeat in WW1, Stalin’s Purges of military.
Finland war

Question 15

Why were the Germans so brutal in the Soviet Union?

Answer 15

Commissar’s Order from Hitler.

This was a war of annihilation/ extermination (ideology—inferior Slavic peoples)

Question 16

What happened to Jewish people in the Ukraine, such as after the fall of Kiev? (1)

Answer 16

They were massacred by Einsatzgruppen soldiers in conjunction with local thugs.
Holocaust by bullets—shootings in the pits.
Jewish people were robbed of their valueables first.

Question 17

Why did Hitler order the siege of Leningrad?

Answer 17

Hitler wants Leningrad (and many other cities in East Europe) to be completely destroyed
The German army didn’t want the responsibility of feeding the people of Leningrad

Question 18

What does Hitler’s comment “We only have to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down” tell you about how he viewed the Soviet Union?

Answer 18

He believed that the Soviet Union was incredibly weak like a rotten old shack.
Many local populations(ethnicities) would rise up against the communists.

Question 19

Early in Operation Barbarossa, the German command believed the USSR was near defeat. However, their opinions soon changed. Why was this?

Answer 19

One, the German army lost more soldiers in 3 weeks than in the fall of France. (Tough Soviet resistance)
Two, the T-34 tanks of the Soviets were better than German tanks.

Question 20

Why was it important that Stalin ordered factories to be moved farther east?

Answer 20

This is important because those factories could produce various weapons and vehicles, but they were far enough away from German bombers to produce throughout the war.

Question 21

Describe two ways the weather was challenging for German forces?

Answer 21

First the rains turned the roads to mud which slowed the progress of the soldiers it also exhausted them
Second, German soldiers did not have winter clothing, rather they had summer uniforms and stuffed them with newspaper to keep warm, due to being told not to bring winter clothes from hitler because he exclaimed the war wouldn’t be long.

Question 22

Why were the Germans defeated at the Battle of Moscow?

Answer 22

The German soldiers were exhausted and unprepared for the weather.
Also, fresh soldiers from Siberia as well as the Russian air force pushed the Germans back from Moscow. Soviet Partisans also attacked supply lines.

Question 23

Why was it a mistake for Hitler to declare war on the USA?

Answer 23

There was no way for the german military to attack the USA mainland.
Not declaring war on the USA would have forced them to only fight japan
Japan did not declare war on the USSR when Germany declared war on the USA.