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History 12 > WWII > Flashcards

WWII Flashcards

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1
Q

Spanish Civil war

A

Long standing regime:
-coalition of landowners,army ,catholic church
-Opposition form workers etc , King abdicated, Republic established
-Public opinion shifting from left to right depending on their newest violent plans
Popular Front
-Coalition of socialists,communists,anarchists
-Country divided into:
Republicans (left) Nationalists (right)
-Socialists -Church
-communists -army
-anyone who supported -Falange(Spain’s
existing republic fascist group)

-Civil war ended with Nationalists (Franco) governing

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2
Q

Foreign Intervention

A

-fascists helping fascists
Britain:
-Non-interventionist
-still hoped to gain support from Italy in possible anti-German agreement

France:

  • Non-interventionist
  • Leon Blum, socialist leader feared fascists in own country starting a civil war

Soviet Union:
-Of non-fascist powers,USSR only one to send support to Republican gov

Germany:

  • Sent Luftwaffe to support Nationalists
  • Hitler’s generals eager to use Spain as a lab to test newly improved tanks ,planes +give men battle experience

Italy:

  • Mussolini sent troops to Spain
  • Believed involvement , another step in expansion of Italian influence
  • Partly because of mutual involvement in Spain, Italy +Germany came out as Axis powers

International Brigades:
-Citizens of B,F, Canada etc participated on side of Republicans

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3
Q

Impact of European Affairs

A
  • Hitler learned democracies unwilling to use force to resist right-wing movements
  • Stalin realized that if G attacked USSR, B+F wouldn’t help, influenced his decision to sign Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact
  • Britain changing mind, now supported rearmament
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4
Q

Stresa Front

A
  • Hitler announced reintroduction of conscription
  • Breach of treaty of Versailles
  • F,B,Italy in Stresa(Italy) to condemn Hitler’s action
  • France assigned treaty of mutual assistance with USSR
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5
Q

Japan in Depression

A
  • Only Indepedndent Asian country with own empire
  • finiance minister policy of big spending which renewed Japan
  • War of conquest (Manchuria)
  • Event increase power and prestige of army in Japan
  • Japanese coveted French,British,Dutch colonies
  • Invaded China, declared New Order which promised a gov for common people
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6
Q

Japan +USA

A

-China received aid from USA
-This annoyed Japs , USA justified with Open Door Policy (free trade)
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere
-Japs invited other countries of SE Asia to join them
-Attempt to create an empire at little cost
USA actions
-Froze Japanese assets in America, July 1941
-Oct 1941 USA cut off Japs oil supply
- Without oil Japs had to take Dutch East Indies
-American navy had to be eliminated in order for Japs to carry out plan for empire in Pacific
-7 Dec 1941, Attack on Pearl Harbour
-8 Dec 1941, US+Britian declare war on Japan
-Germany declares war on USA

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7
Q

Nazi Foreign policy

A 
-Repudiation of Versailles
    cancel reparations
    increase armed forces
    formation of Luftwaffe
    compulsary military service
    reoccupation of Rhineland
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8
Q

Appeasement

A

-Approach to foreign relations which attempts to maintain peace by making concessions to aggressor to prevent war

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9
Q

Reasons for Appreasment

A
  • B argued that Hitler merely correcting what never should have happened (treaty)
  • WWI so brutal
  • B thought a strengthened G was good for trade and offsetting Russian/French influence
  • Saw Hitler as block against communism
  • Balance of power essential
  • none of items on Hitler’s ‘hit list’ were vital to B interests
  • Didn’t understand Hitler was master of deciet
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10
Q

Rhineland Crisis

A
  • While Europe busy with Italy+Ethiopia, Hitler reoccupied demilitarized Rhineland
  • Offered to join league and years of peace
  • France unwilling to act alone when B refused idea of retaliation
  • France now on defensive
  • Hitler learnt that he could get away with bluff
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11
Q

Anschluss Crisis

A

-1936, Hitler signed Austro-German treaty declaring Austria a German state
Annexation
-Hitler gave Schuschnigg (Chancellor) ultimatum
must take pressure off Nazi Party
make leader of Nazi party (Seyss-Inquart)
minister of interior, who controlled police
-Schuschnigg needed public support to resist Hitler,plebiscite on Austrian independence
-Hitler said it violated ultimatum, resign turn gov over to Seyss or face invasion
-S resigned, Seyss Inquart in power, made Austria a part of Germany
Significance:
-No more Austria
-People+resources added to Germany
-gave Hitler common border with Italy +Influence in Balkans

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12
Q

Czechoslovakian Crisis

A
  • Interest in Sudetenland (had Germans, Czech minerals +fortresses
  • Wanted dismemberment of Czech state give Hitler path to East
  • Benes (Czech PM) saw Hitler as agressor
  • France had alliance with Czech , didnt want war
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13
Q

Munich Crisis

A
  • Benes offered Sudetens everything they demanded
  • Actually wanted annexation
  • Chamberlain met Hitler,agreed to taking over Sudetenland
  • B+F put pressure on Czechs to accept inevitable, Benes resists
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14
Q

Munich Conference/Pact

A

-Hitler delayed occupation until 10 Oct
-F+B agreed , gave them time to pressure Benes
-Benes replaced by Emil Hacha
-March 1939 Czechoslovakia became German protectorate
Significance:
-Hitler lost credibility
-appeasement finished
-movement to rearm began
-future negotiations with Hitler backed with force
-proved Hitler was aggressor
-Chamberlain gave Poland a public Guarantee

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15
Q

Nazi-Soviet Pact

A
  • Stalin convinced would have to go it alone against Hitler
  • 1939 agreed not fight each other
  • secretly agreed to carve up Poland
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16
Q

Poland

A
  • Hitler tried to convince B+F his claims in Polish corridor were legitimate (rejected)
  • 1 sept 1939 Hitler sent Blitzkrieg against Poland
  • 3 sept B+F declared war on G after trying to convince Hitler to withdraw from Poland
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17
Q

Blitzkrieg

A
  • ‘Lightening war’
    1. Airplanes:
  • led attack to knock out key positions and create havoc amoungst enemy forces
    2. Panzer:
  • Tanks smash through front
    3. Paratroopers:
  • Drop behind lines
    4. Motorized infantry:
  • trucks etc consolidate new position and map enemy resistance
    5. Infantry:
  • throughout,air force continue to support Armour on ground
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18
Q

Phony war / Sitzkrieg

A
  • Lack of action of Western Front until April 1940
  • B+F preparing for war
  • Hitler breaks ice with invasion of Norway
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19
Q

Norway Landings

A
  • B hoped to tighten blockade of Germany , landed in Norway seize port where Swedish iron shipped to Germany
  • B knew Norway’s heavy water (extra H+ molecule) easier to make H bomb, didn’t want Germany to find out
  • Hitler got there first, Norway surrendered
  • Hitler set up puppet gov headed by leader of Norwegian Nazi party who helped Hitler into Norway Vidkun Quisling (Traitor)
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20
Q

Dunkirk-Operation Dynamo

A

-Plan to lift trapped B+F forces from beaches of Dunkirk
-340,000 troops evacuation by British navy
-commercial boats brought men back to ships
-tanks,guns left behind
Significance:
-Moral victory for Allies
-Best of British forces saved

  • *Hitlers Mistake!
  • did not send in tanks to Dunkirk, wanted tanks in Paris instead
  • sends in Luftwaffe but heavy fog
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21
Q

Geneva conventions

A

-Geneva=place where league of nations is
-wrote rules about fighting war
no gas/chemical weapons
warn when going to attack

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22
Q

Fall of France

A
  • French forces in disarray
  • Blitzkrieg effective
  • France surrendered 22 June 1940

Why so fast?

  • Maginot line =useless
  • French deployed tanks badly
  • French air force no match for Luftwaffe in quality
  • internal division of France-fascists+communists both opposed war

Terms of surrender:

  • Northern France +Atlantic ports occupied
  • army demobilized
  • Southern France (Vichy France) allowed semi-independent gov, no real independence

Marshall Petain:

  • ran Vichy gov
  • Began to collaborate with Nazis-became embarrassment to french after

Charles De Gaulle

  • French general escaped to Britain
  • Leader of free French fighting group in Britain

Britain:
-Sank french fleet to prevent it falling to Axis powers, sore spot for French in future

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23
Q

Battle of Britain

A
  • July-Sept 1940
  • Luftwaffe vs RAF for control over skies above Britain +English channel
  • necessary step for G before invasion of British Isles (Operation Sea lion)
  • RAF outnumbered 3:1 , but maintained good kill ratio

Spitfire:

  • British fighter plane
  • superior maneuverability

Radar:

  • advantage for Britain
  • could detect German bomber +fighter squadrons while they were still over channel
  • Intercept them before they got to their targets

Enigma:

  • British possessed German cipher Machine
  • enabled Britain to receive and decode German messages
  • *Hitler’s mistake!
  • German bomber got lost, accidentally bombed civilians in London
  • Churchill ordered retaliatory strike on Berlin
  • Hitler enrage, ordered Luftwaffe to turn away from strategic attack on airfields to bombing London (Blitz)
  • Gave RAF a chance to rest and rebuild
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24
Q

London Blitz

A

-Hitler hoped to break will of British, did opposite became more determined “we can take it” =motto
-43,685 citizens killed,
-end of Sept 1940, Hitler indefinitely postponed invasion of British
Significance:
-First time Hitler denied a conquest
-Setback meant war would be long, which was advantage to B once USA added
- Allies had a place to launch re-invasion of Europe
-RAF won battle of skies and prevented invasion

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25
Q

Eastern Front 1939-1941

A

-casualties,large battles,men point to fact that war in east main event

26
Q

Winter War

A
  • Russia tried to bully Finland into parting with territories
  • Finns refused,Russia invaded
  • signed peace treaty 1940
27
Q

Barbarossa Goals

A
  • Attack on Soviet Union
  • Lebenstraum,conquest of largest country
  • Hitler envied ‘breadbasket of Europe” (Ukraine)
  • Hitler need oil-fuel
  • destroy communism
28
Q

Initial attack of Soviet Union

A
  • Most of soviet airforce destroyed on ground
  • Red army suffered from lack of experiences leadership due to Stalin’s purges
  • Stalin invoked scorched earth policy, USSR traded territory from time
  • retreating forces +civilians destroyed everything they left behind
  • Before winter Nazi’s laid seige to Leningrad
  • *Hitler’s mistake
  • Created a two-front war
29
Q

North Africa

A

-Strategic theater because :
Suez canal:Vital British shipping connection
to/from Middle East
Oil: Needed due to highly mechanized +highly
mobile nature of conflict

General Erwin Rommel

  • desert fox
  • assumed command of German Africa Korps

General Bernard Montgomery

  • Monty
  • Assumed command of British forces in North Africa

El Alamein 1942
-close to Suez
-Montgomery defeat Rommel and German/Italian retreat across Africa began
Significance:
-Suez canal remained in Allied hands
-Hitler denied access to oil of Middle east
-proved to allies Hitlers best forces can be defeated

  • *Hitlers mistake
  • sent troops to help Italy, meant that by conquering more , had to leave troops to establish Nazi rule, making army smaller and smaller
  • Hitler denied Rommel more troops, he had asked for to conquer British troops, Hitler wanted/needed Russian invasion
  • Allied win at El Alamein means no fuel for Germany

General Dwight Eisenhower

  • Allies led by American Eisenhower landed in Morocco
  • Eisenhower advancing from West-Operation Torch-Montgomery from East
30
Q

Battle of Atlantic

A

-At first Hitler sinking Allied ships faster than they were building them
-radar and convoy systems changed that
Significance:
-Without a safe route for North American goods to reach Europe, US would do the Allies little good

31
Q

Eastern Front 1942-1945

A
  • Russian winter ground mechanized warfare to a Holt
  • tanks +airplanes immobilized
  • Hitler miscalculated length of time his troops would be in Soviet Union, They only had summer clothes and provisions
  • *Hitlers mistake!
  • 6th army wanted to dig in for winter, Hitler kept going, many froze to death
  • Russians attacked at most vulnerable
32
Q

Battle of Stalingrad

A

-1 Sept 1942, Hitlers forces took large sections of Stalingrad
-Had to take each street and each building
-casualties heave on both sides
-Red army strike back, Hitler ordered to fight to death and not retreat
-promised air support never arrived
-German troops surrendered
Significance:
-Hitler lost some of best units
-denied access to Caucasus fields
-Germany now forced onto defensive
-Began road to liberation

  • *Hitlers mistake!
  • Instead of going South to oil fields Hitler wanted to defeat Stalingrad first (Named after Stalin,ego thing)
33
Q

Italian Campaign

A

-Stalin wanted a 2nd front in France but allies wanted all other sources of trouble from Germans eliminated first.(North Africa , Italy)

Sicily

  • amphibious attack, Italians offered weak resistance
  • now clear for a similar landing on Italian mainland

Partisans
-dedicated soldiers fighting for a cause who were not soldiers in regular army of country

Significance:

  • Prerequisite step for liberation of Europe
  • Occupied German troops,making them unavailable for defence of France
34
Q

D-day- (Operation Overlord) June 6,1944

A

-Dwight Eisenhower made supreme cammander of Allied forces preparing for D-day
-5 beaches:
Utah+Ohama-America
Gold +Sword-British
Juno-Canada
-French resistance (undeground ant-Nazi organization) assisted attacking Allies
-25 Aug, Allied forces and Charles De Gaulle marched into Paris

  • *Hitler’s mistake
  • Kept reserve tanks on high ground during D-day and allowed allies to get on high ground.
  • Hitler didnt trust generals after Rommel’s betrayal
35
Q

Operation Market Garden

A
  • Allies suffer a setback

- Dropped 3 airborne divisions behind German lines in Holland , only to have them land in midst of a tank division

36
Q

Battle of the Bulge

A

-Germans launched one last offensive ,found a weak spot in Allied Front in Ardenned

37
Q

V-1 or Buzz-bombs

A
  • Last ditch effort with ‘revenge weapons’
  • unmanned flying bombs,radio controlled drone plane
  • possible to shoot them down
38
Q

V2

A

-Ballistic missile (rocket) flew at supersonic speeds and terrorized London population

39
Q

Dresden

A
  • Allies launched raid on Dresden
  • hoper to rush Germany into surrender
  • Fire-bombing raide , killed over 100,000 Germans
40
Q

Taking Berlin

A
  • Eisenhower let Russians take Berlin, while he took Ruhr valley (Industrial Heartland)
  • Germany military cut in two
  • 30 April ,Hitler committed suicide
41
Q

Tripartite

A
  • Japan+Italy
  • Each country promised to to support others if attacked by any new enemy (USA)
  • Many small states decided to ensure German Protection from encroaching Russia by joining pact
42
Q

Roosevelt-Japanese

A
  • Japanese threatened colonies of western Imperialist powers it South-East Asia (Americans in Philippines)
  • FDR froze all Jap cash + property in USA and tightened economic sanctions
  • Placed embargo on oil as well as other materials
  • USA sent aid to China
  • Pearl Harbour , 7 Dec 1941
43
Q

Doolittle Raid

A
  • First military strike

- Bomber mission over Japan

44
Q

2 most defining Battles

A

Battle of Coral Sea 1942

  • Planes vs planes (supported by carriers)\
  • try to destroy each others carriers
  • setback for Japs , prevented them from taking port from which they could have bombed Australia

Battle of Midway 1942

  • Turning point for pacific
  • American fleet defeated Japanese fleet by sinking four of the Japanese aircraft carriers as well as one heavy cruiser
  • Naval aviation (carriers) most important element of combat in Pacific
  • US had Japanese code
45
Q

Island Hopping

A
  • Instead of taking each piece of land conquered, Americans decided to take strategic islands in order to get closer to main islands of Japan
  • Saved much fighting and casualties
46
Q

Battle of Leyte Gulf 1944

A
  • Largest naval battle in history of war at sea
  • prerequisite to retaking Philippines
  • pit virtually whole American pacific fleet against what was left of Jap fleet
47
Q

Kamikaze

A
  • Suicicide missions,crash planes (with bombs) into American ships
  • uses less fuel can fly further (only going one way)
48
Q

Final stage

A

Iwo Jima and Okinawa

  • islands Americans fought on
  • had to fight against troops who would rather commit suicide than surrender, meant that had to fight until last Jap soldier was killed
  • Americans began bombing Tokyo (urge Japan to surrender)
49
Q

Manhattan Project

A
  • US funded,secret expensive project to determine if it were possible to create atomic bomb
  • tested at Los Alamos,New Mexico
50
Q

Hiroshima 6 Aug 1945

A
  • little boy
  • Military planners informed Truman, he could expect another 1-1.5 million casualties and another 12-18 months of fighting to take Japan
  • Enola gay (plane name)
  • 100,000 people destroyed
  • 8 Aug, soviets declared war on Japan
51
Q

Nagasaki 9 Aug 1945

A
  • Fat man
  • 40,000 dead
  • documents signed 2 Sept
52
Q

General Douglas MacArthur

A
  • supreme commander of Allied powers (SCAP)

- under his military gov, Japan was to be demilitarized and democratized

53
Q

Suzukis peace party

A
  • PM
  • Tried secretly to interest America in a peace to avoid unconditional surrender and would pressure position of Jap empire
54
Q

Holocaust

A

Einsatzgruppen
-special forces of SS,created to deal with undesirables of occupied countries

Wannsee conference
-1942,put finishing touches on final solution

Heydrich
-in charge of Holocaust

Nuremburg trials

  • First time leaders legally charged other leaders for immoral actions during a war
  • Nazi leaders+ most criminal generals tried for crimes against peace and crimes against humanity
55
Q

Wartime conferences

A

Newfoundland 1941
-Roosevelt +Churchill
-discuss war aims,
Atlantic charter:model for UN (14 points of WWII)

Casablanca 1943

  • US+B
  • agreed Germany should be forced to surrender unconditionally
  • intended as a message to Stalin, reassuring him that US+B wont make deal with G and leave USSR

Quebec1943

  • US+B
  • discuss progress of A bomb

Cairo
-us+B +Chiang (Chinese leader) met for talks on Eastern war

56
Q

Main conferences

A 
Tehran 1943
-first of big 3 conferences (USSR,US,B)
-Polish frontiers formed by:
Curzon line:
-line between German Poland + Russian Poland
-Russia got her side
2nd front
Soviets agreed to participate in Pacific war
Yalta 1945
-most important (big 3)
Europe
-formalized zones for dividing Germany 
Morgenthou Plan-Germany divided into 4 states
-agreed to Nuremburg trials
-Stalin promise to enter Pacific war
-approved principle of disarming Germany
-Stalin promise free elections for Soviet liberated Europe
UN
Dumbarton Oaks-organized plan for UN
-Agreed to San Francisco meeting to draft a UN charter
Potsdam 1945
-Roosevelt replaced by Truman
-Churchill replaced by Clement Attlee
-approved steps to disarm Germany
      Dismantle war industries
      Reparations
      Denazification
      Trial of war criminals
-defined Allied Control Council which was to govern Germany
57
Q

UNO

A

-General Assembly,all members equal voting rights
-security council with power to decide whether UNO should intervene
-council 5 permanent members
Soviet Union
US
Britain
France
China
-each have power to veto

58
Q

World bank + monetary fund

A
  • lend money to countries whose economies were in poor shape and whose currencies might suddenly have to be devalued
  • aim to prevent repeats of wild fluctuations in international exchange rates
  • bank lend money for re-building war-torn Europe and economic development of worlds poorer nations
59
Q

Eastern Independence

A

People Republics
-Soviet dominated communist republics whose leader took orders from Moscow and whose industries were reorganized so that USSR could take lions share if goods she needed

Marshall Tito

  • Led communist partisans , set up revolutionary army of National Liberation (Churchill encouraged +supplied movement to harass Germans)
  • Tito’s 200,00 Yugoslavian partisans kept 8 German divisions occupied
  • After soviet liberation Tito refused to accept Stalin’s orders or to allow Yugoslavian industry to serve Russian needs
  • Tito became an Independent communist state
60
Q

Decolonizaion in Asia

A
  • Nationalists resisting Japan
  • not about to let Allies come back
  • could become more powerful and independent because ‘masters’ busy

Indonesia

  • Sukarno (President) armed themselves withe weapons
  • Dutch came back, fought nationalists no help from US
  • Dutch gave up, country became centralized republic

Indo-china

  • Japs harassed by new movement, Vietminh
  • French offered Vietminh could have self-gov in north Vietnam state within French controlled federation of Indo-china
  • not good enough fighting

India
-Congress party refused to cooperate in British war effort , turned down a new scheme of eventual self-gov and Dominion status (didn’t trust B to keep promise)
-congress party mounted campaign of civil disobedience
Lord Mountbatten
-appointed as viceroy to prepare for transfer of authority (B-Indian)
Civil war
-Muslims killed Sikhs lest in New Pakistan
-Hindus and Sikhs massacred Muslims in India
Kashmir
-border state with Hindu ruler and concentrations of both Hindus and Muslims
-Forcibly partitioned between 2 countries(India/Pakistan)

History 12 (6 decks)

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