World War II Flashcards
World War II was a global conflict that ranged from the shores of North America to China and Europe. This deck traces the path to war and the peace that emerged after the war's end.
How did the Western European powers react to the Germans’ attack on Poland?
Following Germany’s attack on Poland in September 1939, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany.
Germany quickly destroyed Poland, conquered Norway, then turned on Denmark, the Netherlands, and France, conquering each in turn. By late 1940, almost the entirety of Western Europe was under German control.
What was the Battle of Britain?
After the conquest of France, and as a prelude to invading Britain, the German Air Force (the Luftwaffe) carried out a bombing campaign against Great Britain, which the British narrowly defeated. With the Luftwaffe’s loss, Britain was freed from the peril of an invasion by sea.
Define:
blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, German for “lightning war,” referred to a tactic of using tanks and planes to create a hole in the enemy’s line of troops, then use that hole to cause a collapse of the enemy’s forces.
At the outbreak of World War Two, Blitzkrieg enabled Germany to conquer Poland in 30 days and to destroy the French army.
Which three countries composed the Axis Powers?
The three Axis Powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan, who signed a mutual defense pact in 1940.
What was the Lend-Lease Act?
The Lend-Lease Act, signed in 1941 (prior to America’s entry into World War II), was a policy that allowed Great Britain to purchase arms on credit.
Under Lend-Lease, the United States would serve as “the arsenal of democracy.”
In 1941, at a secret meeting off the coast of Newfoundland, President Franklin Roosevelt reached a secret agreement called the Atlantic Charter with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. What were the Charter’s terms?
Although the United States was not at war, the Charter described the Allies’ war objectives, which included free trade, no territory acquired by conquest, and self-determination of subject peoples.
Given that Germany was still on the offensive and that Britain had little hope of imposing peace without American involvement, the Atlantic Charter virtually committed the United States into entry into World War II.
In 1941, President Roosevelt announced an embargo on the shipment of any war material to Japan, but promised to lift the embargo if Japan agreed to withdraw from _____.
China
Japan refused to abandon its war in China. Oil, rubber, and other war materials were essential to Japan’s continued conquest. To gain these materials, the Japanese decided to strike at the Dutch East Indies (where such materials were in abundance).
The U.S. would likely declare war on Japan in the event of an attack on Dutch territory, so Japan resolved upon a quick strike against U.S. forces in an effort to achieve a rapid victory.
What did President Roosevelt term “a date which will live in infamy”?
The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which took place on December 7, 1941 (as did attacks on other U.S. bases). Japan’s intent was to destroy America’s three Pacific aircraft carriers, crippling the U.S. Navy.
Fortunately, all the American carriers were at sea and not present at the attack. Twelve hundred Americans lost their lives. On January 8, 1941, President Roosevelt asked for a declaration of war against Japan. One week later, Italy and Germany declared war against the United States.
Which theater of World War II saw the first major involvement of American troops against the Germans and Italians?
The United States first attacked the Germans and Italians in North Africa in 1942, where the British had been involved since 1940.
By 1943, the North African theater was free of Germans and Italians, and Allied forces began making their way up the Italian Peninsula.
In June 1941, Hitler turned on Stalin and attacked the U.S.S.R., conquering hundreds of square miles of territory. What battle proved a turning point in the war on the Eastern Front?
In a battle that raged from June 1942 to February 1943, Soviet forces surrounded the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad, forcing its surrender. Steadily, and with millions of casualties, the Soviets began pushing the Germans back toward Germany.
Soviet casualties, both civil and military, were the largest of any nation. Some 25 million Russian soldiers were killed, wounded, or listed as missing in the War, comparable only to Stalin’s wholesale slaughter of 43 million Russians in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s.
What event took place on June 6, 1944?
On June 6, 1944, the long-awaited invasion of Europe from the West began with the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.
By the end of the year, France had been liberated. By May 1945, Allied armies were approaching Berlin from the east and west. Hitler committed suicide and Germany sued for peace.
Which general led the troops of Free France?
Although France had surrendered to Germany in 1940, some of her army escaped to Britain where it was led by Charles de Gaulle.
The country they left behind became known as Vichy France, a rump state with its capital at the town of Vichy and firmly under the control of the Germans.
How many Jews died in the Holocaust?
The Holocaust was the systematic killing of Jews and other undesirables under the direction of Hitler’s German government and is estimated to have killed 6 million Jews.
Some 3 million other persons, including gypsies, homosexuals, and communists, are estimated to have lost their lives in concentration camps dedicated to using industrial methods to kill as rapidly as possible.
During the last week of December 1944, the Germans launched their last major offensive of the War in the Ardennes Forest, known as the Battle of the _____.
Bulge
The battle earned the nickname “Bulge” from the large salient the Germans created in the Allied line. By early January, the offensive was contained and that month the Western Allies crossed the Rhine River into Germany.
On May 8, 1945, the German armed forces formally surrendered to the Allied forces, ending World War II in Europe. What was the location of the Allied forces in Europe at the end of the War?
By May 8, Soviet forces had conquered much of Eastern Europe, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and most of Eastern Germany.
The Western Allied forces had liberated France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Western Germany.
