World War II (World History) Flashcards
How Axis Expansion caused the war:
(Writing)
German, Japan, and Italy took over countries/territories without being punished. Lack of punishment gave the Axis countries the courage to start a war and made them more powerful.
The Role of the Allies in causing WW2
(Writing)
Allies let the Axis powers build up their militaries and expand their territories without punishment because of appeasement. Allies did not prepare for battle, so when the war started, they could not stop it. The US had a policy of isolationism which allowed Axis powers to gain power because the US did not get involved.
Appeasement
Policy of Great Britain to give in to demands in order to maintain peace in Europe.
Nonaggression Pacts
Mutual promise between the Soviet Union and Germany that they would not attack one another and they would divide Poland.
Blitzkrieg
“Lightning war” - A form of warfare in which surprise attacks from fast-moving airplanes are followed by massive attacks with infantry forces - Hitler’s idea.
What caused Great Britain and France to finally declare war on Germany?
Hitler invaded Poland.
Name the Allies
Great Britain, France, US, and Soviet Union.
Name the Axis Powers
Japan, Italy, and Germany.
Rescue at Dunkirk
Allied troops trapped by Germans at Dunkirk. British Royal Navy and civilians in private boats rescued 338,000 Allied troops.
Details of Battle of Britain
German Luftwaffe attacked England. Won by British because of the Royal Air Force. Important because it showed Hitler could be defeated in battle.
Name of the German Airforce
Luftwaffe.
Name 2 technologies that made in British successful in the Battle of Britain.
(Writing)
Radar - the RAF knew when the Germans were going to attack, how many there were, and from what direction.
The Enigma Machine - The Germans’ code machine that had been smuggled into Britain, so the British could decode German messages.
Why did Mussolini attack Egypt?
In order to take control of the Suez canal from Britain.
Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps
Known as the “Desert Fox,” he successfully led the German tank corps in Africa until he was defeated by British and American forces.
Atlantic Charter
A declaration issued in August 1941 by British prime minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin Roosevelt showed their connection before the US entered the war.
Details of Pearl Harbor
Took place on December 7, 1941. Japan launched a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor.
Turning points in the war in the Pacific
The battles of Coral Sea and Midway
Island-hopping
US strategy of moving from one island to the next, capturing them and moving closer to Japan.
Holocaust (targeted groups, details of concentration/death camps, how many killed?)
(Writing)
The main group targeted was the Jews. Jews were sent to concentration camps or death camps, used as slave labor, used in medical experiments, or killed in gas chambers. Germans killed 5-6 million Jews, which was 2/3 European Jews.
Aryan
The group of people Hitler believed was the “master race” who created culture.
Kristallnacht
The “Night of Broken Glass” where Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues were destroyed by the Nazis. It prompted many Jews to leave Germany.
Ghettos
Prior to the Final Solution of the Holocaust, Jews were forced to live in ghettos: small, closed communities with limited resources where Hilter hoped they would die of natural causes.
Final Solution
Hitler’s idea to eliminate the Jews by murdering them when life in the ghettos was too slow at eliminating them.
Genocide
A systematic killing of a group of people.
Battle of Stalingrad
The Germans were defeated by the Soviets because the Germans were frostbitten and starving, which allowed the Soviets to start pushing toward Germany.
D-Day
The Allied invasion of the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944 that led to a break in the German front and gave the allies a foothold in France.
Battle of the Bulge
Germans moved into the Ardennes (a forest) and broke through the American defenses. As the Germans pushed forward it caused a “bulge” in the Allied lines, but the Germans were eventually pushed back.
Kamikazes
Japanese suicide pilots that attempted to sink Allied ships by crash-driving bomb-filled planes into them.
Tokyo Bombing and firestorm
US dropped incendiary bombs. Dry, windy conditions spread the flames which turned into a firestorm, destroying almost 16 square miles of the densely populated city and killed between 80,000 and 100,000.
Dropping the Atomic Bombs and Japan’s Unconditional Surrender
(Writing)
The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and devasted both cities. The bombs killed tens of thousands instantly, leveled the cities, it was the most destructive weapon ever used in warfare, and forced the Japanese to realize they could not fight against such a weapon. The Japanese then surrendered. WW2 ended.
