WWII Flashcards
Appeasement
giving in to the demands of an aggressor in order to keep the peace
Blitzkrieg
”lighting war”
-used tank and air power technology to strike against the enemy
Neutrality
a policy of supporting neither side in a war
- Neutrality Acts were passed by the U.S. to prevent them from being in WWII.
Vichy France
Germans set up a “puppet state” in the capital, Vichy
Island-hopping
goal: Allied strategy of recapturing some Japanese-held islands while bypassing others.
Fascism
any authoritarian government that is not communist, glorifies the state over individuals and strips people of basic human rights
-Basically Hitler’s Germany
D-Day (Date + What happened?)
Date : June 6, 1944
What Happened? Allied Forces invaded France
-Allied Forces had to fight their way to shore amid grenades, mines, and rapid gunfire
Genocide
the deliberate and systematic killing of people who belong to particular minority groups (Holocaust)
Holocaust
- “Final Solution to the Jewish Solution”
- the campaign of genocide against German Jews and other minorities in Europe
Aggression
How Mussolini, Hitler, and Japanese militarists behaved when they saw the desire for peace as weakness
Manhattan Project
code name for the project to build the first atomic bomb during WWII
-July 1945- first successful atomic bomb was tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Big Three
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin → agreed to focus on finishing the war in Europe
Erwin Rommel
known as “The Desert Fox”
Hitler’s most brilliant commanders
Pushed Britain back across the desert
Brought successes in 1941 and 1942 in North Africa
Took his own life after a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler
Harry Truman
33rd president after FDR
Made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan→ believed that it would bring the war to a quicker end
Neville Chamberlain
Prime minister in England
Considered weak
Marches into Austria and takes over
Meets Hitler at Munich→ Munich Conference
Charles de Gualle
French army officer → carried on resistance for the French during the war
Led French officers
Franklin Roosevelt
32 President of the U.S.
President during WWII
-present at the Atlantic Charter in 1941
Winston Churchill
New Prime minister in England
Was the Prime minister during the War → After, England gets rid of him
Warned of Nazi threat →predicted war in Europe
-Also present at the Atlantic Charter
Dwight Eisenhower
took control over a joint Britain and American force in Morocco and Algeria
Commanded Allied Forces in Western Europe
Dunkirk
port in France where 300,000 Allied troops were evacuated
- their retreat was cut off by German soldiers in 1940
Guernica
a small Spanish market town
April 1937 → German planes dropped bombs on the city and soldiers killed anyone who survived.
Nuremberg
Nuremberg Trials- series of war crime trials held in Germany –> 200 Germans and Austrians were tried.
Hiroshima
On August 6, 1945, →The U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city, Hiroshima. → killed ≈ 70,000 people
Nagasaki
On August 9, 1945, →The U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb on the Japanese city, Nagasaki. → killed ≈ 40,000 people
Midway
Aircraft War between Japan and the Allied powers → Americans won in June 1942
Phillipine Islands
Japan bombed the islands after the Pearl Harbor attack
Bataan Death March took place . → the forced march of Filipinos and American soldiers who surrendered to the Japanese military
Sudetenland
The old Czech Republic
annexed to Germany
Hitler persuaded the Czechs to surrender Sudetenland → Hitler promised Britain and France that he would not expand his territory
Munich Conference
Where was the ‘dress rehearsal’ for WWII?
In Guernica (The Spanish Civil War)
Which nation suffered the highest number of casualties in WWII?
The Soviet Union with 20 million dead
Where and when (mo/da/yr) did WWII officially begin in Europe?
WWII began in Poland when Germany invaded it on September 1, 1939.
Where and when (mo/da/yr) did the War in the Pacific officially begin?
December 7 or 8, 1941 in the Pacific
Where and when (mo/da/yr) did the invasion of France begin by the Allies?
June 6, 1944 in Normandy, France
Which major nations were Axis and which were Allied?
Axis: Germany, Italy, and Japan
Allied: Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union
What were the purpose and outcomes of the Atlantic Charter? Who signed it and where did they meet?
Purpose: set goals for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the postwar world
Outcomes:
-nation’s right to choose their own government, and general security
Who signed it? FDR and Churchill
Where did they meet? On a warship in the Atlantic
Who are the 5 permanent members of the Security Council and what power do each of these have over decisions?
5 permanent members of the Security Council: United States, Soviet Union (Russia),Britain, France, and China
Power: they could veto council decisions
Describe 5 outcomes of WWII.
Soviet Union, Japan, China, and Poland are in ruins.
Killed numerous amounts of people (≈ 50 million people around the world)
Clarity on the conditions of Auschwitz and the concentration/death camps (full understanding of how Jews were treated)
Nuremberg Trials- 200 Germans and Austrians were tried for war crimes
Nazis received death sentences or were imprisoned
United Nations
Cold War
From 1945-1991
- a struggle over political differences carried on by means short of military action or war
how to fight: foreign aid, espionage (spying), alliance, and propaganda
