World War 2 Flashcards

Question

What Blitzkrieg?

Answer 1

Lightning War This was a new and effective warfare tactic of Germany's This was based on: - speed, surprise, and coordination - hit hard and move on instantly - creating panic among civilians

Answer 2

After the defeat of Poland, there was a break in fighting for the Allies as they prepared for war. While they prepared for war, Germany was invading many countries and very fast

Answer 3

The invasion of France

Answer 4

- during the invasion of France, thousands of British troops went across the English Channel to defend France - However, due to the speedy Germans, the British were trapped and had to retreat to the seaport town of Dunkirk on the French Coast - The British needed to be rescued, but the British Navy had few ships to spare Instead, English fishers, weekend sailors and ferry captains took their boats across the channel to rescue French and British troops → this was called Operation Dynamo

Answer 5

- divided France into occupied and unoccupied zones, with a rigid demarcation line between the two. - The Germans would control three-fifths of the country, including northern and western France and the entire Atlantic coast. - included the surrender of all Jews living in France to the Germans - The French Army was disbanded - France had to pay Germany’s occupation costs, even though militaries defending France lost way more people than Germany lost

Answer 6

- invasion began, and thousands of British troops crossed the English Channel to help - Due to the rapid German airforce, they were trapped and had to retreat at Dunkirk (on the coast of France) - the British Navy did not have enough boats to save all the soldiers - instead, civilians with their own boats rescued them (nearly 700 boats) - this saving was called operation dynamo

Answer 7

- end of Phoney War - Henri-Philippe Petain, France's new premier, began negotiations with Adolf Hitler and signed an armistice with Germany. Terms: - France was divided into an occupied and unoccupied region (Germany controlled over 3/5s) -Included the surrender of all Jews in France to the Germans - the French Army was disbanded - the French had to pay Germany's occupation costs - The French could not fight against Germany - 1.5 million French soldiers were captured by Germany and remained prisoners of war

Answer 8

Germany's invasion of France

Answer 9

After Poland's defeat, the Allies were recovering and preparing themselves as Germany was taking over many other countries in short periods of time. Essentially, only Germany was fighting at this point

Answer 10

This is the battle of Britain Advantages of the RAF: - superior radars (to track German planes) - other Allied countries were able to help in many ways - the British Spitfire (a type of plane) Britain was still losing, until Hitler's mistake Hitler's mistake: - the British bombed Berlin which infuriated the Commander of the German Airforce as he promised that would not happen - The Germans "Blitzed" Britain for 57 days, consecutively as revenge - During this time, the RAF was able to recover and rebuild itself, allowing Britain to win in the next German attack - This caused Hitler to put a pause in operation Sea Lion - Operation Sea Lion was Hitler's plan to invade that was unsuccesful

Answer 11

- Hitler wanted to invade the UK - he had to control the skies over the British Channel first - the plan was to destroy the RAF advantages of the RAF: - superior radars (to track German planes) - other Allied countries were able to help in many ways - the British Spitfire, arguably the best in the world Britain was still losing, until Hitler's mistake Hitler's mistake: - the British bombed Berlin which infuriated the Commander of the German Airforce as he promised that would not happen - The Germans "Blitzed" Britain for 57 days, consecutively as revenge - During this time, the RAF was able to recover and rebuild itself, allowing Britain to win in the next German attack - This caused Hitler to put a pause in operation Sea Lion

Answer 12

Lightning War This tactic was based on speed, surprise, coordination and movement The design was to hit hard and move on instantly Create panic among the civilian population

Answer 13

- during the war, Britain relied heavily on Canada for reinforcements - Germany wanted to end this - So, Germany patrolled the Atlantic and attacked any Allied ships - at first, Germany was winning - eventually, the Allied improved their techniques and tactics -the Allies won

Answer 14

The Battle of Atlantic

Answer 15

- Hitler wanted to conquer the Soviet Union - he wanted to access the U.S.S.R to access its oil resources - this is when the Non-Aggression Pact was broken - 3 million troops attacked the Soviet Border - Russians were captured and many military equipment pieces were captured or destroyed - Hitler made some mistakes: - he ordered his troops to go more north and south, delaying them from reaching their objectives - eventually winter came, which the Germans were not prepared for - the Soviets burned down crops and buildings to lower the resources the Germans had - the Soviets and Germans went on to have some of the deadliest wars of History for 2 years - Eventually, the Soviets won

Answer 16

1935 Prohibited exports of arms munition or other war-related items to foreign countries 1937 warring nations could get any items except for arms 1939 any item could be sold as long as it was paid for

Answer 17

- The Lend-Lease Policy allowed the U.S. to send a country money required to fight Germany - the country would not have to pay the U.S. back right away - the U.S. had made a Lend-Lease contract with over 30 countries

Answer 18

- Japan had begun to build its empire and invaded Korea and China - in response, the U.S. and Britain put economic sanctions on Japan - The U.S. ceased oil exports to Japan - Although the U.S. and Japan were trying to sign a peace treaty, Japan was planning a secret attack - Japan wanted the West's colonies and natural resources - on Dec 7, the attacks began, catching the U.S. by surprise (Japan did NOT declare war) - the next day, the U.S. declared war on Japan - Dec 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S.

Answer 19

- A few hours after Pearl Harbour, Japan invaded Hong Kong, a British colony - Every Canadian soldier there was killed or taken prisoner → the battle was considered a death trap The Japanese were well equipped and experienced Canadian troops were insufficiently trained 30% of them had not even fired a gun - On Dec 8, 1941, Japan launched its attack on Hong Kong - Dec 19, Japan attacked Canada and Canadian soldiers were outnumbered 1 to 10 - 17 days later, Japan surrendered Many Canadians died in combat and in Prisoner War Camps (POW) In camps: - Canadians were starved → served 3 servings of plain rice a day - Used as slave labor - Many fell ill from exhaustion or other diseases - Red Cross medicine was sent to the camps but was sometimes stolen and sold on the black market

Answer 20

- many Canadians, British, and some Americans and French planned to attack the heavily fortified port of Dieppe - They intended to seize the town, destroy the port facilities and airport, take prisoners and return to England. - the key to victory was the surprise aspect, which was lost as the Germans spotted the Allied coming at night, and the attack started midday - landing crafts were blown up on the water or within minutes of arriving - very few soldiers reached the town - 900 were killed, 2000 were taken prisoner - this caused D-Day to be moved back a year

Answer 21

At the battle of Dieppe, when the Allied were so brutally defeated, they realized that they had many more preparations to manage.

Answer 22

1. It was foolish to attack a beach during broad daylight 2. the enemy should have been weakened by aerial or navy bombardment first

Answer 23

- he created the Wartime Prices and Trade Board to control the economy - the Board limited prices to cost "plus 10%" - Even with these controls, the government paid $65 million a week for the war effort

Answer 24

The U.S. encouraged people to buy victory bonds. Encouragement was done with propaganda and news reels

Answer 25

Victory bonds were loans to the government that would be redeemed to the population with interest

Answer 26

- The ration book offered coupons to people so that they could purchase rationed goods - when they ran out of coupons, they could no longer purchase that particular good, unless on the black market (if caught, included stiff fines) - this was to limit overconsumption, waste, and to preserve money for the war

Answer 27

- they were to follow the rationed food and gas rules - they saved many things to contribute to factories that were building things for war (plastic, paper, aluminum, fat, etc) - foods that Canadians weren't eating were sent to Britain, where rationing was more severe - people had victory gardens - children planted victory gardens in fields and front of schools - students knitted socks and scarves during their lunch hour - children wrote letters to lonely prisoners of war - teens were left off school to bring in the harvest - there were air-raid warden volunteers

Answer 28

Women who met and married Canadian men while they were stationed overseas

Answer 29

- soldiers received funds for their return along with any savings from victory bonds they might have purchased - the government provided rehabilitation programs for the wounded - offered free tuition for anyone wanting to attend college or university - loans were made available for anyone who wanted to buy farms or businesses

Answer 30

- they turned raw materials into planes, tanks, and ships - over a million women were working in the Canadian Industry - women took over farming jobs - women collected items that would otherwise have been thrown away to be used for war items - eventually, the armed forces needed recruits, allowing women to enlist. Women took part in a lot of non-combat roles, such as radar operators, truck and ambulance drivers, nurses, secretaries, and mechanics

Answer 31

- radar operators - truck and ambulance drivers - nurses - secretaries - mechanics

Answer 32

- Code name: Operation Overlord - British, Canadian, and Americans went to attack the coast of France - the Allies wanted to convince the Germans that they were going to attack Pas-de-Calais (50km away from where they wanted to attack, Normandy) - to make it seem this way, the Allied launched preliminary bombs - they also built inflatable tanks, planes, and landing crafts, which looked real to the Germans - there were also double agents who told stories to the Germans to fool them - pretend radio transmissions were being broadcasted just as if a large army was getting prepared - while the Allied were attacking Germany, the Germans thought that it was solely a diversion, and continued to keep their focus on Pas-de-Calais - by the time the Germans realized this, it was too late - troops split up so that war was being fought on 3 fronts in Germany - many Canadians fought on Juno Beach - after capturing many German towns, they moved inland - Canadian Minesweepers cleared the channel for the invasion - allied paratroopers landed behind German coastal defences - Germans fought for a year before retreating

Answer 33

- Scheldt river was inland from the coast of France and Germany still controlled the mouth - The Canadian Army was given the task to clear them out - The battle ended in a Canadian victory

Answer 34

- 175 000 Canadian soldiers, the largest Canadian assault force in history, joined the rhine offensive - the Canadians successfully drove the Germans out of the Netherlands, and chased them into northern Germany - Meanwhile, the allies met at Berlin (if you take the capital, you take the country) - May 5, a ceasefire was declared (temporary suspension of fighting) - May 7, Germany surrendered - May 8, VE Day (Victory in Europe Day)

Answer 35

April 30, 1945

Answer 36

- by 1945, the U.S. had reclaimed many of the lands that Japan had conquered - Albert Einstein warned the U.S. that Germany was preparing a bomb of mass destruction - in response, President Roosevelt formed the Manhattan Project (a group of allied scientists in a top-secret race to produce the atomic bomb - New President Harry Truman decided to launch the atomic bomb over Japan to enforce its surrender - They dropped the bomb on Hiroshima first, killing 173, 000 people - Japan still did not surrender, so, the U.S. dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki, killing 80 000 people - Japan finally surrendered - decades later, survivors were giving birth to deformed babies

Answer 37

- it would take many more American lives to invade Japan directly - the Soviets entered the Pacific war and it seemed that they would arrive at Japan first (unlike America, they wanted to conquer Japan) - Billions of dollars would have been lost with a direct invasion - the Allies sent a message to Japan, saying, "if you don't surrender, you will be destroyed" and Japan did not reply

Answer 38

In Mein Kampf, Hitler uses the main thesis of “the Jewish peril” → a Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership Hitler announces what he believes is the world’s two main evils: Judaism and Communism Hitler’s goal was to obtain Lebensraum (living space), which explains why he wanted to expand eastward so dramatically He also blamed Germany’s chief distress on the parliament of the Weimar, the Jews, Socialists, Marxists He announced that he wanted to completely destroy the parliamentary system believing that it was corrupt in principle as those who reach power are inherent opportunists

Answer 39

As a favour to the Soviets agreeing to not go to war, Germany gave the Soviets the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

Answer 40

- Japan invades Manchuria, a province of China - Eventually, Japan invades all of China - the League condemns Japan's government and suggests certain changes, causing Japan to back out of the League - Mussolini trying to conquer Ethiopia - Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis formed the Anti-Comintern Pact and became allies - they agreed to support each other against the communist Soviet Union - Policy of Appeasement (Austria) - Munich Agreement (Czechoslovakia) - Soviet Non-Agression Pact - Hitler Invaded Poland

Answer 41

1934 Hitler killed Paul von Hindenburg and other members of Parliament to gain power

Answer 42

Hitler invaded and conquered the following 4 countries - Denmark - Norway - Belgium - Netherlands Meanwhile, the Allies were able to recover

Answer 43

Hitler wanted to destroy the British Airforce to be able to invade and conquer Britain. Hitler bombed targets: radar stations, air fields and factories

Answer 44

- The German army bombed Dutch and Belgian Airfields so they could go through southern Belgium to get to France through the Ardennes rather than the Magniot Line