Study Guide 11

Question 1

In what ways did the Europe of 1941 reflect the Europe under Napoleon in 1812 ? What was the main difference between these two “empires” ?

Answer 1

REPEAT

Question 2

Political scientists point out that Communism and Socialism, Fascism and Liberalism are belief systems. Therefore, like any belief system, they inspire what ?

Answer 2

• ANSWER: fierce loyalties / great self-sacrifices and great fury at criticism or doubts

Question 3

Pearl Harbor

a. When did the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor (in Hawaii) occur and what was thereby
destroyed ?
b. This Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor (in Hawaii) was not an isolated occurrence — rather,
it occurred in what greater context ?
c. What was the response of the United States government ?
d. And what was the response of the Axis powers ?
e. Which part of the United States did the Japanese first begin to invade and take over ?

Answer 3

• PARTIAL ANSWER: part of a broad attack upon international holdings (cities) throughout the Pacific and Asia, and further attacks in Asia beyond China
  [ the Japanese were aiming to eventually conquer Australia for “living space” ]

a.
b.
c. Declared war on Japan and then Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. (because allied with Japan)
d.
e. Alaska (island hopping)

Question 4

Why was “the Year of Dismay” given this name ?

Answer 4

Because it looks like the Japanese, Germans, and Italians are winning.

Question 5

What was “Operation Barbarossa” and why did it fail ? In what way is this similar to Napoleon’s attempted invasion of the same region ?

Answer 5

• PARTIAL ANSWER: the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union [ named after the famous medieval legend of Emperor Barbarossa, who magically asleep in a mysterious mountain, would awaken and restore the greatness of the German Empire ]; the attack was by the largest army yet fielded in Europe (1 million men from virtually every European country) along a 1,000 mile front

Question 6

Exterminations

a. What decision was reached at the Wannsee Conference in January 1942 ?
b. What was the difference between concentration camps and death camps ?
c. Explain the connections between the Nazi euthanasia program and the “final solution” for the
Jews.
d. Which Nazi organization was responsible for the latter, and who were some of its leaders ?

Answer 6

a. extermination of the Jews (final solution)
b. forced labor camps vs killing camps
c. NOT DONE
d. SS

Question 7

The Anglo-American western attack upon Nazi-dominated Europe (“Fortress Europe”) began when and where ?

Answer 7

NOT DONE

Question 8

The last major assassination attempt upon Hitler occurred when ? Did it succeed ? Was there a connection between this event and the Allied invasion of Europe ? What were the consequences for the German military after this assassination attempt ?

Answer 8

PARTIAL ANSWER: The apparent purpose of the assassination was to ally with moderate elements of the Nazi government and begin peace negotiations with the Allies

NOT DONE

Question 9

Hitler ordered the eradication of the city of Paris (the famous dictum “Is Paris Burning?”). Why did this not occur ?

Answer 9

Because the German military refuses to do so and sabotages this program

Question 10

What happened to German cities in 1944 and 1945 ? Three cities are famous icons of the horrendous aerial bombing of civilian targets in World War II. Which cities are these (one Dutch, one English, one German) ? Who was “Bomber Harris”; what policy did he implement for the joint British and American air forces, and why ? Did this policy have the desired effect ?

Answer 10

PARTIAL ANSWER: Sir Arthur Harris, Royal Air Force Marshal: saturation bombing of (mostly) German cities to “demoralize” the population and encourage it to
revolt and overthrow Hitler

Question 11

Which famous bridge did the Americans capture intact in March 1945 which allowed the Allies to invade Germany itself ?

Answer 11

NOT DONE

Question 12

To what logical conclusion did the Social Darwinist theories of Hitler and his regime apparently lead in 1945 regarding the German people themselves once it was evident that Nazi Germany would lose the war ? And why, therefore, did the American armies come across less resistance from the Germans than they anticipated once they crossed the Rhine River in 1945 ?

Answer 12

The SS begins to destroy food warehouses as well. That de-Nazifies the Germans before the Americans even get there. They begin to realize that the government is their enemy.

Question 13

A major shift in history seemed to occur in April 1945. Which major leaders died in this month ?

Answer 13

Hitler, Mussolini, and Roosevelt all die in this month.

Question 14

As the war in Europe drew to its bloody end:

a. what did many Nazi officials and their families do ?
b. who captured Berlin, considered to be the great prize ?
c. what final action did the SS commit against Germans trying to find refuge in the
Underground railway tunnels beneath Berlin ?
d. on what day did Germany surrender, and once again, why were the “wrong” people
chosen to sign this surrender ?

Answer 14

a. many families kill themselves.
b. Soviet Russians
c.
d. the German military, which is the wrong people because they didn’t control the war

Question 15

The following month, the United Nations was established.

a. In which city was the Charter signed ?
b. Which major countries were members ?
c. Which countries were excluded ?

Answer 15

NOT DONE

Question 16

The war in the Pacific:

a. World War II ended after 2 Japanese cities were destroyed by atomic bombs. Which cities
were these, and in which month were they destroyed ?
b. Was the destruction of these 2 cities the beginning of a new policy or the continuation of an
older policy with new weapons ?

Answer 16

NOT DONE

Question 17

Postwar Europe

a. What were the different zones into which Germany and Berlin were divided ?
b. Why did the Allies have a great falling out after summer 1945 ?
c. What did Stalin say was an inevitable consequence of the war ?
d. What did Winston Churchill mean that an “iron curtain” was descending across Europe ?
e. Why did the Soviet Union blockade the western zones of Berlin in 1948, and what was the result of this blockade ? Was the Soviet objective achieved ?
f. What was “the Cold War” ?
g. The struggle to prevent Greece and Turkey from becoming Communist countries brought
about the creation of which famous American agency ? What were some of the purposes of this agency ?

Answer 17

a. four zones
b. Britain, France, U.S., and Soviet Union. The Americans and Soviet Union have a falling out
c. The Americans are afraid Stalin is taking over all of Eastern Europe, which he says is an inevitable consequence
d.
e. in order to drive the British, American, and French military out of Berlin and that is not achieved.
f. Ideological war between U.S. and USSR no battles happen
g. Brings about the creation of the C.I.A. Purposes are 1. to gather intelligence. 2. covert (secret) operations.

Question 18

What was the purpose of “the Marshall Plan” (named after the U.S. Secretary of State) ? Why did Stalin not permit East European countries to participate ? Which famous American General was in charge of occupied Germany ? What was “the Truman Doctrine” ?

Answer 18

NOT DONE

Question 19

Which two countries were created in Germany in 1949, and what was the difference between them ? Where were the capital cities ? What happened to the city of Berlin ? Although the German states were not able to join the United Nations, the western German state joined which powerful military alliance

Answer 19

NOT DONE

Question 20

When did Stalin die and who replaced him as leader of the Soviet Union ?

Answer 20

NOT DONE

Question 21

Ten years (1959) after its creation, which country was the richest country in Europe ?

Answer 21

NOT DONE

Question 22

Why did the East German government build a wall through and around Berlin in August 1961 ?

Answer 22

To prevent people from fleeing Eastern Germany

Question 23

Life in East Germany. The East German government provided everything that one needed: you had
a place to live (according to how many people are in your family), cheap rent and cheap transportation, you had food and clothes to buy, and a guaranteed job and health care. Would you be satisfied with this way of life ? Why or why not ?

Answer 23

NOT DONE

Question 24

A new era begins:

a. When did Mikhail Gorbachev come to power in the Soviet Union ? What kind of reforms did he try to implement ?
b. As the effect of Gorbachev’s reforms in the Soviet Union began to strengthen reform movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the East German government found itself in the same predicament as in 1961. What was that dangerous (even crippling) predicament, and why was the outcome of the crisis in 1989 different from the outcome in 1961 ?
c. When was Germany reunited ?
d. When did World War II officially end, that is, when was full sovereignty granted to
Germany ?
e. When was the official end of the Cold War pronounced, and by whom ?
f. What brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union, and when did this occur ?

Answer 24

• PARTIAL ANSWER: F > Due to the escalating effects of Gorbachev’s reforms, Boris Yeltsin is the first democratically elected President in Russian history
  (July 1991). Since the Soviet constitution organized by Lenin had technically permitted a Soviet Republic to withdraw from the Soviet Union, Boris
  Yeltsin does so, proclaiming the Russian withdrawal from the Soviet Union in Dec. 1991; this brings about the collapse of the Soviet Union, as Russia was its largest component part, and other regions (the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, etc), also withdraw.
  A new Russian constitution is created 2 years later, in December 1993.

b. That East Germans now go to Czechoslovakia in order to flee to West Germany. (East Germany needs to keep control over its population which is no longer possible at this time). Outcome: Soviet Union will NOT help Germans this time.
c. 1990
d. 1990