WWII Flashcards
Why did Hitler dislike communism?
- Communism preached “workers of the world unite;” Hitler believed struggle of the races, not the classes, was essential; Communism on extreme left and fascism on extreme right
- USSR were other military titans that could take over Europe
- Hitler was paranoid that communists and Jews were responsible for Germany’s problems after WWI
- German Communist Party was a threat to the Nazi Party
What happened at the 1938 Munich Conference?
Britain, Germany, and France; appeased Hitler’s expansionist demands, humiliation for Neville Chamberlain, who declared “peace in our time;” transfer of Sudetenland, the German-speaking part of Czechoslovakia, to Germany
WWII began with the German “blitzkrieg,” meaning _____, which invaded ______ in the year _______
lightening war; Poland; 1939
What was the effect of the US Neutrality Acts of 1935-1937?
To indirectly encourage aggressor nations
What was the US’s reaction to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) & what was its effect?
US remained neutral, which may have helped fascists succeed since the Germans and Italians supported Franco
What were the Nye Committee Senate Hearings? What year did they happen?
They charged that US gov’t yielded to bakers and ammunition makers like DuPont in entering WWI; happened in 1936
What was Charles Lindbergh’s America First Committee?
It proposed isolationism, or a policy of neutrality
What was the “Lend Lease?” What year did Congress pass it?
Not officially at war, but US sends aid to Britain and the Soviets; passed in 1941
What was the Tri-Partite Pact? When was it?
Rome (Italy), Berlin (Germany), and Tokyo (Japan) in 1940
What did Japan do in 1941 that exacerbated US tensions?
It invaded the oil and rubber rich French colony of Indochina, present day Vietnam
What does “Reich” mean?
Age of Greatness
What was the Atlantic Charter? Who created it? When was it created?
It was by FDR and Churchill; it described free and democratic postwar world, demanded self-determination for all nations so that ppl everywhere could decide what gov’t they wanted; 1941
