Unit 10: World War Two Flashcards
How the War in Europe began
began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939
Axis Powers
in September 1940, the Fascist countries Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Pact and became the Axis Powers
Why the Soviets joined the Allied Powers
in August 1939, Germany had signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, so the German Army could avoid fighting two-front war. However, when the German Army was successful in the west, they turned on USSR. So when the Germans invaded the USSR in June 1941, the Soviets joined the Allied Powers
How the War in Pacific began
began when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 & then took over much of Southeast Asia. The Japanese Army had already invaded Manchuria in September 1931 & committed the Rape of Nanking in December 1937. The Japanese controlled Korea since 1910, and they eventually took over all of East Asia (almost a 1/4 of the world) except Thailand & most of China.
How did the US support the Allies before they declared war on the Axis Powers
they supported the Allies with the Flying Tigers (sending supplies on planes to China) & the Lend-Lease Act (sending supplies on ships to Britain)
“Four Policemen”
(led the Allied Powers) US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, & Chinese Premier Chiang Kai-Shek
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) in Europe
Dwight D. Eisenhower
SCAP in Pacific
Douglas MacArthur
key army & navy leaders
US General George Patton fought German General Erwin Rommel in N. Africa; US Admiral Chester Nimitz fought Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in the South Pacific
blitzkrieg & kamikaze
Early in WWII, Germany’s blitzkrieg (“lightening war”) strategy devastated most European armies, and later, Japan’s kamikaze (“divine wind”) strategy was a last ditch effort to keep the Americans from invading the home islands
D-Day/Normandy Invasion
Eisenhower was responsible for the June 6, 1944 D-Day/Normandy Invasion to free France
Iwo JIma
the greatest image of American tenacity is the photo/statue of the 1945 flag-raising at Iwo Jima
defeats & evacuations for the Allies
the Battle of Dunkirk (5/40 in France) and Corregidor (4/42 in the Philippines)
victories & turning points for the Allies
the Battle of Stalingrad (11/42 in the USSR), El Alamein (11/42 in North Africa), and Midway (6/42 in the Pacific)
final charges & defeats for the Axis Powers
the Battle of Bulge (1/45 in Belgium, France, & Germany) and Okinawa (4/45 in southern Japan)
Victory in Europe (V-E Day)
announced on May 8, 1945 when Soviets captured Berlin
Victory in Japan (V-J Day)
After Roosevelt died in April 1945, Truman reviewed Robert Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project and ordered the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 8/6 & 8/9; Japan surrendered on the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945
the Holocaust
the systematic murder of six million Jews & five million others deemed undesirable by the Nazis; Genocide did not happen in America during WWII, but Roosevelt did order the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans
4 particularly memorable groups of minority soldiers
Tuskegee Airmen, Navajo Codetalkers, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, & the Women’s Army Corps (WAC)
Rosie the Riveter
during the early 40s, 1 in 3 factory workers were female
helps the Allied leaders strategize for an end to WWII and recovery in the postwar era
the 1941 Atlantic Charter & the 1945 Yalta and Potsdam Conferences
war criminals
violators of the rules of the Geneva Convention; were punished (Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials)
Universal Declaration on Human Rights
written by Eleanor Roosevelt; in 1948 the UN adopted this
casualties of WWII
20 million soldiers, 40 million civilians, and 400,000 Americans died in WWII
