XII. The Second World War and the Decline of European Primacy

Question 0

Leon Blum

Answer 0

first Socialist premier of France 1936-7, leader of the Popular Front alliance of the left

Question 1

Molotov-Ribbentropp Pact

Answer 1

1939 nonaggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union that was concluded only a few days before the beginning of World War II and which divided eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

Question 2

Ciano

Answer 2

Italian statesman and diplomat who was influential in bringing Italy into World War Two after the fall of France in 1940. Later he tried to sue for a separate peace with the Allies after several Allied victories in 1942

Question 3

Tojo

Answer 3

PM Japan 1941-44, oversaw much of the Pacific campaign. An aggressive militant to led post-Pearl Harbor war efforts. Assumed virtual dictatorial powers after a series of military setbacks. Resigned 1944 after Allied victories in Mariana islands.

Question 4

Neville Chamberlain

Answer 4

PM of Britain famous for pursuing a policy of appeasement, signing the Munich Agreement in 1939 - “peace in our time”. Resigned in 1940

Question 5

lend-lease

Answer 5

a program under which the United States supplied Free France, Great Britain, the Republic of China, and later the USSR and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945. In return, the U.S. was given leases on bases in Allied territory during the war.

Question 6

Guernica

Answer 6

April 26, 1937, Bombing of Guernica, one of the first aerial bombings by Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe. Destroyed the town. It inspired the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso.

Question 7

Danzig

Answer 7

Free City after Versailles but German population wanted to be returned to Germany. Became a central issue for Hitler’s Lebensraum. Status of city used as a pretext for invading Poland.

Question 8

Sudentenland

Answer 8

Area of Czechoslovakia with large German population
Sudeten crisis of 1938 was provoked by the demands of Nazi Germany that the Sudetenland be annexed to Germany. signed over to the Nazis in Munich Agreement. Hitler invaded rest of Czechoslovakia shortly thereafter

Question 9

Marco-Polo bridge

Answer 9

the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugouqiao (Lugou Bridge) Incident (盧溝橋事變) or the July 7th Incident (七七事變), was a battle between the Republic of China’s National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945

Question 10

Maginot Line

Answer 10

Maginot Line, elaborate defensive barrier in northeast France constructed in the 1930s. The French established the fortification to provide time for their army to mobilize in the event of attack, allowing French forces to move into Belgium for a decisive confrontation with Germany. The success of static, defensive combat in World War I was a key influence on French thinking. French military experts extolled the Maginot Line as a work of genius, believing it would prevent any further invasions from the east.

While the fortification system did prevent a direct attack, it was strategically ineffective, as the Germans invaded through Belgium, going around the Maginot Line. The German army came through the Ardennes forest and the Low Countries, completely sweeping by the line, causing the French army to surrender and conquering France in about six weeks.