WW2 Flashcards
Hitler’s failed coupe (1)
hitler’s attempt to overthrow republic
Mein Kampf: my struggle (4)
- hitler’s book
- political ambitions
- plan to overthrow republic
- hatred for jews
Fascism (2)
- political party
- authority in one person
Nazism (3)
- political party
- Hitler/Germany
- Nationalism
Japan invades Manchuria (3)
- oil reserves
- empire building
- install a puppet government
Burning the Reichstag (3)
- government building in Germany
- communists blamed
- begins Hitler’s campaign of fear
Enabling Acts (2)
- end democracy-begin autocracy/dictatorship
- hitler becomes dictator
Night of long knives
-hitler eliminates his opponents
Mussolini invades ethiopia (2)
- league of nations does nothing
- ethiopia has mines for resources
Munich Conference/Appeasement (2)
- appeasement: giving something to satisfy someone
- Chamberlain of Britain gives Hitler Czech land
Molstov-Ribbentrop Pact (2)
- non-aggression pact
- secret pact to divide poland
Polish Corridor (4)
- Treaty of Versailles had granted Poles access to sea at Danzig
- Poland signed nonaggression pact with Germany in 1934
- Blitzkreig on Sep 1
- one month later, Germany and Russia each have 1/2 of poland, Britain and France prepare for war
The Gleiwitz Incident (4)
- germans dressed like poles take over a german radio station
- broadcast an anti-german message
- germans attack poland in 1939
- russia attacks from east
Germans attack Scandinavian Countries (3)
- Sweden and Norway fall in 3 days
- airfield and naval bases
- iron ore available for germany
Germany and Maginot Line (3)
- germany moves west
- french establish Maginot line
- Hitler goes North through Belgium
France falls to Germany (9)
-six weeks
-Germany blitzkrieg overwhelms France
-Italy moves in from south
-Vichy Regime
^^Germans get 2/3 of France, Pertain to hold South but sells land to hitler
-French freedom fighters try to fight Hitler
^resistance government known as free french
^fought off the grid-underground
^Led by Charles DeGaulle
Rescue at Dunkirk
inspires allies for the coming days of war
Battle of Britain (9)
-57 nights of bombing
-Chamberlain out and Churchill in
-Luftwaffe vs. RAF (royal air force)
^luftwaffe almost double the size of RAF
-RAF helped by the “Dowding System”
^RADAR: radio direction finding and ranging
^Ultra: picks up radio calls
-Dissention in Germany and British spirit owns the day
USSR targeted (4)
- USSR secured non aggression pact with Japan and Finland
- Hitler is upset: unable to take Britain, so he attacks russia
- wants rich oil reserves of the Ukraine
- Result: stalemate between Germany and Russia
Good Neighbor Policy in US (3)
- foreign policy toward countries of latin america
- Goal: to create economic policy for USA
- Goal: to change the way USA was looked upon in latin america
Lend Lease Act - USA (2)
- lend or lease equipment to countries fighting the aggressors
- gives US time to prepare for war
Selective Service Act- USA
-first military draft during peace time
Atlantic Charter - USA (5)
- FDR and Churchill meet
- Terms:
1. US Navy ships will escort British vessel carrying Lend Lease Aid
2. Purpose of allies will be to defeat Nazis
3. Made plans to rebuild Europe after war
Us put embargo on oil to Japan
japan begins to plan Pearl Harbor
Japan and the Pacific Theatre (3)
- Japan wants an empire led by General Tojo and General Hirohito
- Japan wants an empire
- need natural resources
Pearl Harbor (3)
-December 7, 1941
-unexpected: Japan was in negotiations with US when bombing took place
^also unexpected because of US arrogance
Doolittle’s raid April 1942 (6)
- led by Colonel James H. Doolittle
- FDR’s attempt to bounce back from Pearl Harbor
- Two accomplishments of the raid
1. first successful attack on mainland japan
2. inspired allied forces and americans at home - Led to Admiral Kumamoto’s failure
Island Hopping Strategy (8)
-used by the US
-first allied offensive is at Guadalcanal
-Japanese call it the “island of death”
-battle of Midway
^under direction of Admiral Chester Nimitz
-Midway is turning point in war
^Japanese unable to get airfields
^US Navajo code breakers intercepted location, date, and time of Japanese attack
Kamikazes (7)
-US faces off with Kamikazes
^Kamikaze means divine wind
^took an oath od unyielding allegiance to the emperor
-Allies win at Iwo Jima 1945
-Knock out Japanese Radar Defense
-Virtually eliminate Japanese threat
-First flag to fly over japanese home territory
Allies prevail in North Africa (3)
- British General Montgomery wins at El Alamein, Tunisia
- American General Eisenhower wins in Algeria
- German General Rommel’s Africa Korps defeated and Germany’s fighting spirit weakened
Germany loses in Russia (7)
-why stalingrad?
^want one front war
^oil for german war machine
^propaganda coup for Hitler over stalin
-German General Paulus failed to take Stalingrad
-Winter weather took a toll on Germans
-Loss at Stalingrad put Germans on the defensive
Mussolini defeated in Germany (3)
- King Victor Emmanuel has Mussolini arrested
- Allies enter Rome-June 1944, but do not control. until May 1945
- Mussolini shot and Hanged
D-Day Invasion (7)
-June 6, 1944: operation overlord
-largest land and sea attack in history
-top secret operation led by Eisenhower
-launched onto Normandy coast
^Not Calais
-with the help of General Patton the allies secure the beach and liberate France
-Get supplies in France for a final push
Battle of the Bulge (3)
- Hitler’s live or die move in the army
- Germany fails: snow hampers their movement
- Germany fails: had no reinforcements
Germany surrenders (4)
- allies and soviets surround in Berlin
- Hitler commits suicide April 30, 1945
- May 9, 1945: VE Day- Victory in Europe- germans surrender
- FDR dead, new president Truman accepts news of allied victory
Victory in the Pacific (6)
-victory at the leyte eliminates Japanese fleet as fighting force
-Truman decides to use atomic bomb
^manhattan project under leadership of Groves and Oppenheimer
-1st bomb on Hiroshima - August 6, 1945
-3 days later second bomb hits Nagasaki
-Japanese surrender - Sept 2 on USS Missouri
