WWII TEST Flashcards
Joseph Stalin
- Leader of Soviet Union
- Type of government- totalitarianism
Totalitarianism
- Gov controls society
- State planning of the economy
- State-owned collective farms
Adolf Hitler
- Leader of Germany
- Type of government- Nazism
Nazism
- Form of fascism
- Extreme racism aimed @ Jews
- Territorial expansion to create Lebensraum or “living space”
- Blamed
Benito Mussolini
- Leader of Italy
- Type of government- Fascism
Fascism
- Extreme nationalism
- State comes first; individual liberty 2nd
- Strongly opposes communism and democracy
- Favors military values, use of violence, strong leader
- Blackshirt squads terrorized rival political groups
- Outlawed labor unions, censored the press
Hediki Tojo
- Leader of Japan
- Type of government- Militarism
Militarism
- Military has increased power
- Military plays strong role in government
- aggressive military action abroad
WORLD REACTION to Germany and Italy aiding the nationalists in Spanish Civil War
Some volunteers (including 3k Americans) fought against the Nationalists, but only the Soviet Union officially aided the Repubs in the Civil War
AMERICAN REACTION to Germany and Italy aiding the nationalists in Spanish Civil War
The US congress passed neutrality acts in 1936 and 1937, which kept the US out of the conflict
WORLD REACTION to Germany invading Poland
2 days later, Allied powers declared war on Germany, were not able to stop invasion and takeover of Poland
AMERICAN REACTION to Germany invading Poland
US declared neutrality
AMERICAN REACTION to the massacre of civilians in Nanjing by Japanese troops
Roosevelt made a speech calling for a quarantine against aggressor nations like Japan (speech had little effect)
AMERICAN REACTION to the battle of Britain
US began sending aid to Britain under the Lend-Lease Act
Reason for Pearl Harbor
US didn’t approve of Japan’s aggression with China so we declared an embargo (they could no longer get oil)
Significance of Pearl Harbor
Crippled US Pacific fleet, sunk/damaged 18 ships and destroyed/damaged 300 aircraft
Next day, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan
Philippines
- Japan invaded several large possessions (such as Philippine islands) held by America
- Americans a Filipinos under General Douglas MacArthur resisted a Japanese onslaught
- March- Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave the islands, 2 months later, Japan conquered Philippines
- 7,000 died in the Bataan death march
Coral Sea
- US needs to supply Australia
- US able to break Japanese code
- Sent naval force to Coral Sea
- Warships never saw each other, fought with carrier planes
- America won, able to replace aircraft (Japan couldn’t)
Midway
- US intercepts Japan’s codes again
- America won- demolished Japan’s forces
- Last Japanese offensive
Okinawa
- Last “stepping stone” on way to Jaapn
- 12,000 Americans dead, 100,000 Japanese dead
- America won
- Kamikaze- pilots flew bomb-filled planes directly into American vessels
Southern Italy
- Allies used North Africa as a staging area to invade the territory
- Territory’s leaders voted out Mussolini and restored the King and Parliament
- Territory surrendered to the Allies and soon declared war on Germany
- German forces remained in this territory and battled Allied forces as they moved north
Normandy
- Operation Overlord called for an invasion of France
- D-Day- landing craft unloaded allied troops on the beaches of normandy as German gun batteries targeted the invading Allies
- By end of first day, allies held 59 miles of the coast
- From this territory, allied troops began a rapid sweep across France and liberated Paris
Battle of the Bulge
- Hitler planned for his armies to burst through the allied lines in the Ardennes region of Belgium
- 8 German armored division smashed into the America forces, creating a large bulge in the Allied line
- Allied air support and support of General Patton’s Third Army forced the Germans to withdraw, ending the last German offensive on the western front
Executive Order 9066
Order that forced Japanese Americans into internment camps
