World War 2 in Europe: Part 1

Question 1

Italy and Germany

Answer 1

• 1939 capture Albania

- 1935-1936 conquered Ethiopia

Question 2

Spain

Answer 2

• Spanish civil war began as a revolt

- began in Spanish Morocco (North Africa)

Question 3

October 1936

Answer 3

• Hitler sends troops to the Rhineland
  Hitler and Mussolini signed the Rome-Berlin Axis (an alliance)
  – later joined by Japan - became the Axis powers
  – no counter-alliance from the Allies

Question 4

March 1938

Answer 4

• German “Anschluss” with Austria
• • Aschluss means union
• • Hitler invaded Austria and united it with Germany
• • Allies did nothing

Question 5

September 15, 1938

Answer 5

• Neville Chamberlain (leader of England) and Hitler meet
• Hitler wants the Sudetenland to join Germany
• Chamberlain goes with policy of appeasement - grating concessions to maintain peace

Question 6

September 29, 1938

Answer 6

• Chamberlain, Hitler, Mussolini, and Daladier (from France) meet
• Hitler says if he can have the Sudetenland then he won’t touch the rest of Czechoslovakia or take any other European territories
• Great Britain and France agree to this

Question 7

1939

Answer 7

• March = Hitler sent troops into Czechoslovakia and took it over
• August = Hitler and Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
• they agreed to not invade each other
• they agreed to stay neutral if the other went to war
• both sides knew that this pace wouldn’t last long
• September 1 = Hitler invaded Poland
• 2 days later = Poland, Great Britain, and France declared war on Germany
• WWII had begun

Question 8

WWII

Answer 8

• Luftwaffe = German air force: swept in dropping bombs
• Panzers = armored tanks: crossed the Polish border
• Infantry = more than 1.5 million men poured in
• quick and efficient - Poland fell in a few weeks

Question 9

Winter 1939 - Spring 1940 = nothing happened

Answer 9

• this period = called the “sit-down war”
• Germans called it: Sitzkrieg
• Allies called it: the “phony war”

Question 10

April 1940 = Hitler invaded and conquered Denmark and Norway

Answer 10

• England failed to stop these invasions
• Neville Chamberlain stepped down as Prime Minister
• Winston Churchill becomes new Prime Minister

Question 11

June 1940

Answer 11

• Hitler invaded France
• june 14, entered Paris
• 1 week later - France surrendered to Germany
• Germans controlled northern France
• in southern France - nazis set up a “puppet government” in Vichy, France
• run by French officials, but they collaborated with the Germans

Question 12

Hitler’s next target = Great Britain

Answer 12

• Hitler thought he’d take over Britain by winning “air supremacy” and destroying Britain’s Royal Air Force
• August 1940 - Luftwaffe began bombing Great Britain
• destroyed 4 aircraft factories and 5 RAF fields
• 75 German planes shot down in the process
• August 24 - September 6, 1940 - nazis sent over 1,000 planes a day
• RAF lost 466 planes and 103 pilots
• even heavier losses for the Germans
• September 7 - November 3, 1940 = German bombers hit London with a blitz = series of air raids
• in 1 night alone = 70,000 bombs fell on London

Question 13

U.S.

Answer 13

• wanted to remain neutral
• Neutrality Acts (1937) - banned arms, shipments, loans, and credit to warring nations
• as Hitler got more aggressive, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt the need to aid the Allies
• Cash-and-Carry policy = Great Britain could trade cash for supplies from the U.S.

Question 14

Great Britain

Answer 14

• cost of WWII started to drain Britain’s treasury - couldn’t pay cash anymore
• U.S. approved “lend-lease policy” - President could lend war equipment to any country whose defense was vital to the U.S.

Question 15

1941

Answer 15

• Hitler turned his sights on the Soviet Union
• June 22, Hitler broke the Non-Aggression Pact and invaded the Soviet Union
• within a few days = Nazis destroyed most of the Soviet air force, disabled thousands of their tanks, and capture 1/2 million Soviet Soldiers
• Stalin issued his scorched-earth policy - if Soviets had to retreat, they would destroy/burn everything that could be of use to the invaders
• Germans ended up getting as far as Moscow, about 600 miles into the Soviet Union
• December = Soviets able to launch a successful counterattack to save Moscow and force the Nazis to retreat from the city

Question 16

who was the president of the U.S. when WWII began

Answer 16

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

Question 17

italy felt slighted after the ___________ when they did not get land they thought they were entitled to

Answer 17

• Treaty of Versailles

Question 18

While trying to stay neutral, the United States sent supplies to England through the _________

Answer 18

• Cash and Carry Policy

Question 19

at the beginning of WWII the United States wanted to ______________

Answer 19

• remain neutral

Question 20

Germany’s air force in WWII was called ___________

Answer 20

• the Luftwaffe