World War 2 in Europe: Part 1 Flashcards
1
Q
Italy and Germany
A
- 1939 capture Albania
- 1935-1936 conquered Ethiopia
2
Q
Spain
A
- Spanish civil war began as a revolt
- began in Spanish Morocco (North Africa)
3
Q
October 1936
A
- 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
4
Q
March 1938
A
- German “Anschluss” with Austria
- Aschluss means union
- Hitler invaded Austria and united it with Germany
- Allies did nothing
5
Q
September 15, 1938
A
- 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
6
Q
September 29, 1938
A
- 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
7
Q
1939
A
- 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
8
Q
WWII
A
- 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
9
Q
Winter 1939 - Spring 1940 = nothing happened
A
- this period = called the “sit-down war”
- Germans called it: Sitzkrieg
- Allies called it: the “phony war”
10
Q
April 1940 = Hitler invaded and conquered Denmark and Norway
A
- England failed to stop these invasions
- Neville Chamberlain stepped down as Prime Minister
- Winston Churchill becomes new Prime Minister
11
Q
June 1940
A
- 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
12
Q
Hitler’s next target = Great Britain
A
- 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
13
Q
U.S.
A
- 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.
14
Q
Great Britain
A
- 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.
15
Q
1941
A
- 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
