WWII Flashcards
Munich Pact
(1938) permitted German annexation of the Sudetenland, in western Czechoslovakia. Hitler then takes over all of Czechoslovakia; policy of appeasement
Nuremberg Law
Race-based measures depriving Jews of rights, designed (1935), deprived Jews of German citizenship, and other rights; escalated to violent hate crimes
Operation Barbarossa
The German invasion of the Soviet Union, which was launched on June 22, 1941. The failure of German troops to defeat Soviet forces in the campaign signaled a crucial turning point in the war.
Operation Sea Lion
a plan for the invasion of Great Britain through air force to destroy British air power and so open the way for the invasion
Potsdam Conference
- held in the Soviet occupation zone 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Peace Conference; 4 occupation zones, divided up Germany;
Tehran Conference
- strategy meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill in 1943
- 1st meeting of the allied leaders, West yielded to Stalin and let the Nazi-Soviet Pact stand
Anschluss
Annexation of Austria by Germany
Axis Powers Early Victories
Poland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, France, Netherlands;
Dwight Eisenhower
American General, took command of Britain
Belgium’s Role
Invaded and occupied by German forces; Gov. in exile, Jews in Belgium, liberated by Americans in 1944
Douglas MacArthur
American forces island hop to recapture islands and Japan, bombings
Yalta
Roosevelt. Churchill, and Stalin plan the final steps in the war; Atmosphere of distrust, self-determination, post war Germany, Focus on Japan
5 Genocide
Bosnia Herzogovina, Rwanda Genocide, Darfur Genocide, Cambodian Genocide, Holocaust
Bosnia Herzogovina
Serbs (minority, oppressors) v Muslims
Rwanda Genocide
Tutsi (oppressed) v Hutu
Darfur Genocide
systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people
Cambodian Genocide
systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge
Nazi-Soviet Pact
non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union with a secret protocol that partitioned Central and Eastern Europe between them.
Erwin Rommel (Desert Fox)
German field marshal, fought to get the British out of North Africa
Allies
Russia, Britain, US; (Big Three : FDR, Churchill, Stalin)
France
Axis Powers
Germany, Italy, Japan;
Russia and Germany take Poland first, early victories because of blitzkrieg in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, France, Netherlands;
agreed to to fight communism and to not interfere with others plan for expansion
Causes of World War II
- Versailles Treaty, which caused economic disaster in Germany
- Great Depression, worsened economy, created desire for economic relief and jobs, no matter the cost
- Weimer Republic, weak, and increased inflation, created desire for a strong leader that could topple the unpopular republic
- France taking the Rhineland from Germany, caused Weimer Republic to print money, increasing inflation
Benito Mussolini
Italian dictator who founded and led the National Fascist Party; Leader of the Blackshirts; becoming prime minister;Opposition parties, trade unions, and the free press were outlawed, free speech was crushed, network of spies and secret policemen; cult of personality, hailed as a genius and a superman by public figures worldwide.
Effects of World War II
- United Nations
- Rise of the USSR and US as global superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War (countries in Europe devastated economically)
- Arms race after the use of nuclear weapons
- Casualties, refugees, infrastructure and economies damaged, US helped reconstruction
Entry of the U.S. into the war
Turning point bc the United States’ production of arms was to meet not only its own needs but also France’s and Great Britain’s and their economic contribution was great; began to fight in N. Africa and moved their way up
Eugenics
Eugenics is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or promoting those judged to be superior.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler declared non-Aryan races such as Jews and Romani as inferior. He believed Germans should do everything possible, including genocide, to make sure their gene pool stayed pure.
FDR
Roosevelt took the lead in establishing a grand alliance among all countries fighting the Axis powers.supporters hailed him as the saviour of his nation during the Great Depression and the defender of democracy during World War II.
Hiroshima
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict. Japan surrendered six days after the bombing of Nagasaki
Kristallnacht
a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party; Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues were smashed. Book burnings also occurred;
League of Nations
The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. Founded by Widrow Wilson, US did not join after; Ultimately failed to keep the peace;
Neutrality
refusal to take part in a war between other powers; US neutral for the most part of the war;
Poland
Invasion of Poland, attack on Poland by Nazi Germany that marked the start of World War II; blitzkrieg, Britain and France declared war on Germany(Versailles treaty), but did little to help;
Rhineland
France invaded the mine because Germany could not make up their reperations;German workers protested the occupation of the Ruhr with an immense sitdown strike; The railroads, mines, factories, and public services in the Ruhr and Rhineland ground to a halt. Weimer gov. forced to print money to comensate the workers, which led to even higher inflation;
Soviet Union/USSR
After the Munich Agreement, the Soviet Union pursued a rapprochement with Nazi Germany; Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union; Battle of Stalingrad; Stalin met with Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Tehran Conference and discussed a two-front war against Germany and the future of Europe after the war. invasion of Manchuria. greatest number of casualties in the war, about a third of all World War II casualties; emerged as superpower
Total War
Warfare where all of a country’s available resources, military as well as civilian, are employed
Use of bombs in WWII
Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed; used by Germany in Blitzkrieg(London especially) and by Alllies/Axis in bombings in general;
Two Front War
Germany forced to fight on two fronts, France and Russia;
Antisemitism
The hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews.
Japanese colonial policies
- seize these regions and incorporate them into the empire to make itself self-sufficient economically and thus become the dominant power in the Pacific Ocean
- policy of founding and supporting puppet states in conquered regions. These conquered territories became the basis for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in 1940.
D-Day
Invasion of France to liberate it from Nazi occupation (3 months) in 1944
@ beach of Normandy, casualties high;
