WWII Flashcards
What countries were part of the axis powers and who were their leaders?
- Nazi Germany: Adolph Hitler
- Fascist Italy: Benito Mussolini
- Imperial Japan: Emperor Hirohito
What pact did the Axis Powers sign to band together? When and where?
- Tripartite Pact
- Berlin, Germany
- September 27, 1940
What countries were part of the Allies and who were their leaders?
- Soviet Union: Joseph Stalin
- US: Franklin D Roosevelt
- UK: Winston Churchill
- Republic of China: Charles DeGaulle
What was Mein Kampf?
- a biography and a vehicle for Hitler’s radical philosophies
- sold about 240,000 copies between 1925-1934
What was the Nazi Party formerly known as?
The German Workers Party
When was the Nazi Party established?
1919
What was the appeasement policy between Britain and Germany?
- British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain allowed Germany to maintain its position along the Rhine in order to avoid War
- Hitler adopted a policy of expansionism
What was the Weimar Constitution?
- it officially ended the German Revolution
- it established a Democratic Federal Republic with a president and a parliament
What is Beer Hall Putsch and what year did it happen?
- 1923
- Hitler’s unsuccessful attempt to start a violent rebellion in Germany against the Weimar Republic
What was the Enabling Act of 1933?
- it was drafted by Parliament and signed by Hindenburg
- Gave Hitler’s cabinet full legislative power to enact laws without consent of the Parliament
- then Hindenburg died in 1934 and Hitler declared himself Fuhrer
What is blitzkrieg?
a lighting fast war: fast moving tanks and powerful aircraft
When was Battle of Normandy?
June 6 to June 30, 1944
What happened at Battle of Normandy?
- it was an amphibious assault
- 156,000 American, British, and Canadian forces landed on 5 beaches along the heavily fortified coast of France’s Normandy region
- there were 10,000 allies deaths
- there were 4,000-9,000 axis deaths
-D -Day
-US Won
When was Pearl Harbor?
December 7, 1941
What was Pearl Harbor?
the Imperial Japanese launched a surprise attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
- it was a 5 phase attack that lasted from 7:55 am to 9:45 am
What was the German-Soviet Non-agression Pact?
- AKA Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
- no military action against each other for the next 10 years (Germany and Soviet Union
- contained a secret agreement where the Soviets and Germans agreed how they would later divide up Easter Europe
When was the German-Soviet Non-Agression Pact?
August 23, 1939
What was the battle of Iwo Jima?
- one of Japan’s most heavily fortified islands
- 20,700 Japanese in tunnels and caves
- 6,000 marines died
- only 200 Japanese survived
When was Battle of Midway?
June 4-7, 1942
What happened during battle of Midway?
- US Navy defeated Imperial Japanese
- Japanese wanted to eliminate the US, but couldnt
- Jap had 3,000 soldiers, 5 ships, 228 aircraft
- US had 340 soldiers, 2 ships, 145 aircraft
When was Hiroshima bombed?
August 6, 1945
Describe Hiroshima and bomb:
- Enola Gay dropped 9,700lb bomb on Hiroshima
- AKA Little Boy
- blast = 15,000 tons of TNT
- immediately killed 80,000 people
When was Nagasaki bombed?
August 9, 1945
Describe Nagasaki and the bomb:
- called Block’s Car
- dropped 10,800lb bomb
- AKA Fat Man
- blast = 22,000 tons of TNT
- killed 60-80,000 people
