WW2 Summary Notes Ch4 Flashcards
what were the key aspects of totalitarism?
- regines only had one leader with absolute power
- only one ideology allowed
- secret police used extreme measures to instil terror in population
- dictators allowed no dissent;citizens denied human rights
- censorship and propaganda were tools used to control population
- citizens only left with freedom of thought but it was kept to themselves
what was the inflation crisis in germany?
- 1923 ordinary inflation became hyper inflation when germany failed to make reparation payments; french and belgian troops occupied ruhr valley
- german currency lost all value
- gov trashed old mark and any money owned by germans was now worthless
why were germans mad at the inflation crisis?
- french occupied their country
- government allowed their money to disappear
- ppl with money in bank were furious and later became nazis supporters
how did hitler come to power? pt1
- depression deepend, germans believed weimar gov (democracy) could not solve their problems
- drove voters to extreme political allegiances
- 1932 nazis become largest party;but not asked to become parliament
- communist grew popular but middle ppl turned to nazis to stop the growing influence of communists
- late 1932 hitler became chancellor after another election
how did hitler come to power? pt2
- won but did not have majority;frustrated bc unable to pass laws/have more power
- called another election (feb 1933) -dutch communist burned down reichstag (german parliament)
- convinced ppl communist revolution was at hand
- nazis short of majority but hitler outlawed communists out of parliament;got majority
- bullied parliament to give him enabling act to make him powerful
what did the nurmeberg laws mean?
- jews had to wear star of david at all times
- jews lost professional careers and property
- jews could not interact with german population
- jews lost their citizenship
what was hitler now referred to?
-fuhrer (the leader)
what was apart of the five year plan? pt1
- collectivizing farm land by ending all private ownership of land
- land placed in large state owned farms
- former peasants became workers
what was apart of the five year plan? pt2
- invest in construction of heavy industry
- ignored production of consumer goods
- production of building large resource rich industries
what were the fundamental causes of the second world war?
- treaty of versailles
- great depression
- rise of adolf hitler and nazi party
- failure of league of nations
- extreme nationalism
- unwillingness of democratic governments to intervene in places like germany
what was the appeasement crisis regarding czechoslovakia?
- 3mil+ germans included in czech;lived in the west called sudetenland:bordered germany
- hitler wanted the ppl apart of germany
- threatened invasion on oct 1, 1938-br and fr panic
- conference called in munich germany;hitler demanded return of sudetenland-got what he wanted
- czech wishes ignored;PM edvard benes of czech not invited to meeting
- in exchange for czech hitler promised not to invade the remaining portion of czech but failed on march 15 1939 when hitler’s troops invaded the whole of czech and it ceased to exist
what happened at the invasion of poland?
- september 1 1939 nazis invaded poland and ww2 began
- nazis used blitzkrieg tactices to advance through poland with no resistance
- br and fr immediatly declared war on germany
- PM mackenzie king promised consription would never be required-this gained the support from quebec leaders
what happened during the phony war?
- october 1939-april 1940
- everyone expected germany to attack western europe
- prevented by weather
- allied troops and canadians waited for attack
- war was a reality in czechoslovakia, poland, and finland
when did war in western europe start?
- may 1940
- hitler took norway, denmark, belgium and neverlands in spring 1941
what happened in 1940 during the battle of britain?
- german bomber squadron got lost and bombed london civillians accidently
- retaliation br PM winston churchill bombed german city berlin
- hitler mad, abandoned assault on raf airfield and ordered daylight bombing raids on london (blitz)
- stragety shift cost hitler the war