Chapter 24.2
Danzig/Polish Corridor
October 1938: he demanded the return of Danzig, a Baltic Sea port with strong German roots, to German control. Although Danzig was more than 90 percent German, it had been separated from Germany at the end of World War I to give Poland access to the sea. Hitler also requested a highway and railroad across the Polish Corridor, which separated western Germany from the German state of East Prussia.
Luftwaffe
June 1940, the German air force, called the Luftwaffe, began to attack British shipping in the English Channel
Maginot Line
Line of trenches dug by the French to prepare for defensive warfare
What were the three reasons European leaders agreed to a policy of appeasement?
1. Prevent another war 2. Hitler had few demands and he just wanted a German-speaking country so they tried to give it to him since it made sense. 3. No one was ready to fight in the war
Battle of Britain 1940
Air battle between German and British air forces. Luftwaffe (german air force) launched out an all-out air battle to destroy the British Royal Air Force. The British won
Appeasement
Appeasement is the policy of giving concessions in exchange for peace
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact 1939
Aug 23, 1939, Hitler & Stalin signed the pact that said that the Germans and Soviets would not fight each other/invade each other for 10 years, allowed the Germans to invade Poland soon after pact was signed
Neville Chamberlain
Britain's prime minister who participated in Hitler's appeasement
radar
British won the Battle of Britain of 1940 through the use of radar. The British were able to detect incoming German aircraft and direct British fighters to intercept them
What countries did Hitler militarily conquer by 1940?
Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Poland
Why was Britain able to resist Germany?
English Channel
Vichy/Marshal Philippe Pétain
French Puppet state controlled by Germany during World War II / the new government's figurehead leader
What was the Phony War?
French/British vs. Germany waited on their lines for an attack, but none came, called sitzkieg (sitting war) or phony war
Explain the Miracle at Dunkirk.
Germans invaded through Belgium instead of the Maginot Line and French completely unprepared, trapped at beaches of Dunkirk and civilian boats of the English Channel. The only hope for Britain and France was to evacuate their troops at sea, but German had captured one port called Dunkirk.
sitzkrieg/Bore War/Phony War
Germans referred to the situation of western Europe remained eerily quiet the sitting war/The British called it the "Bore War,"/ while American newspapers nicknamed it the "Phony War."
Blitzkrieg
Germany term for "lightning war"; military tactic that used large numbers of massed tanks to break through and rapidly encircle enemy positions
Why did Stalin sign a nonaggression pact with Hitler? What was the secret deal between the two dictators?
He believed the best way to protect the USSR was to turn the capitalist nations against each other. The secret deal was to divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Explain the significance of the Battle of Britain.
The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler's military forces.
Sudetenland
an area of Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population
Munich Conference 1938
meeting between Germany, Italy, Great Britain, & France that gave Hitler part of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland)
Winston Churchill
replaced Britain's Neville Chamberlain as prime minister; peace was not an option for him; he would not surrender
Dunkirk
small town in northern France, where the French and British evacuated surviving troops by sea
Hermann Goering
the head of the German air force
What was Hitler's strategy for defeating France?
tried to go around the Maginot Line and take over the Netherlands, etc
Anschluss
unification of Austria and Germany.