Unit 15: WWII

Mein Kampf

'My Struggle' by hitler, later became the basic book of nazi goals and ideology, reflected obsession

Effects of World War II

1) Independence movements in the colonies 2) competition between the USA and USSR to become the next superpower; Europe is divided into two spheres. 3) The creation of the United Nations as the major peacekeeping force in the world. 4) Germany and France grow economically, but are demilitarized.

How many Jews died in the death camps?

6 million

What was D-Day?

A day Allies began invasion of Europe (Normandy- northern France); offensive move to take back France and surrounding areas

Nazism

A form of socialism featuring racism and expansionism

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that uses nationalism and racism and little tolerance for opposition.

Who was the leader of the Third Reich?

Adolf Hitler.

Which country suffered the highest casualty rate in World War II?

After Hitler's invasion of Russia and because of poor agricultural planning, roughly 20 million people died. Statistics vary widely, but it remains the highest death toll a country has suffered during war.

Benito Mussolini

An Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and created Fascism. THE FIRST FASCIST!

Reparations

As part of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was ordered to pay fines to the Allies to repay the costs of the war. Opposed by the U.S., it quickly lead to a severe depression in Germany.

North Africa Campaign

Attempt by the Allied Powers to get Germans out of North Africa; Patton vs. Rommell; pushed Germans out of Tunisia back up into Italy. The Suez Canal made North Africa a strategically important location.

What was the name of the alrgest Nazi concentration camp?

Auschwitz

Country where Adolf Hitler was born

Austria

British and French aims in Paris Peace Conference in 1919 after WWI

Britain and France wanted to permanently keep Germany from military expansion.

What country had the most civilians killed in WWII?

China

Who was Prime Minister of great Britain during WWII?

Churchill

Operation Barbarossa: Hilter's Invasion of the USSR in 1942

Codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II -- led to USSR joining the Allies. Hitler viewed the Russians as racially inferior, controlled by Jews and communists. He also wanted to take their agricultural and natural resources. Finally, he thought that attacking Russia would result in Britain giving up its fight with Germany.

Pearl Harbor Attack, December 7, 1941

Dec 7 1941; Japanese attack American naval base and airforces in Oahu; US declares war on japan, Italy and Germany declare war on US

Who was supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during WWII and later President of the United States?

Eisenhower

Who was the President of the United States during the Great Depression and WWII?

Franklin D. Rooselvelt

Adolf Hitler

German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)

What was Nazism?

German form of fascism

Blitzkrieg

German word meaning lightning war. It was a German army tactic during World War II which called for quick moving, hard hitting drives into enemy territory.

What was a major reason for Hitler's rise to power?

Germans thought that the Treaty of Versailles to end World War II was unfair.

What country suffered greatly because of WWI government debts?

Germany

What was the event that started World War II in Europe?

Germany invaded Poland, breaking their agreement, so Britain and France declared war, starting World War II, September 1, 1939.

Who were the Axis Powers in WWII?

Germany, Italy, Japan

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan

Allied Powers

Great Britain, France, Russia

What two cities were the atomic bombs dropped on?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Lebensraum

Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people in Eastern Europe.

How did the overseas colonies help the Allied Powers in World War I?

Hundreds of thousands of Asians, Africans and Caribbean colonial soldiers fought for the Allied Powers in Europe during World War I.

Japanese and Italian aims in Paris Peace Conference in 1919

Japan and Italy wanted to gain overseas territories from a defeated Germany. They did not get much leading to their anger towards Great Britain, France and the United States.

Why did the US enter WWII?

Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

What was the attack on German Jews by Nazi mobs on November 9, 1938 called?

Kristallnacht

What happened at the Nuremburg trials?

Nazi leaders were put on trial/hanged

The Nuclear Attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

On August 6, 1945, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, followed seventy-six hours later on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. This forced Japan to unconditionally surrender, ending WWII.

What was one reason the Nazi programs and policies of the early 1930s appealed to many people in Germany?

People were frustrated with their current economic and political situation. Hitler and the Nazis offered a clear solution based on militarism, racial superiority and full employment.

Fourteen Points

President Woodrow Wilson's proposal in 1918 for a postwar European peace based on national self-determination.

What country lost the most soldiers in WWII?

Russia

Japanese Invasion of Manchuria (China)

Sept 19, 1931; Japanese army attacked Chinese troops in Manchuria in an attempt to gain control over the whole province to gain control of East Asia; one of the causes of WWII.

Who were the "Big three" Allied leaders that met in Yalta?

Stalin, Churchill & Rooselvelt

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty (peace agreement) placed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded heavy reparations (repayment) from the Germans. The major goal was to keep Germany down militarily.

What had Hitler and Stalin secretly agreed to in the non-aggression pact (Stalin-Hitler Pact of 1939)?

To divide up Poland peacefully. The pact prevented war between the Soviet Union from 1939 until the Germans invaded Russian in June 1941.

Treaty that Adolf Hitler broke.

Treaty of Versailles

What contributed most to the rise of totalitarian governments in Europe before WWII?

Worsening economic conditions due to the Great Depression.

In Europe during the 1930s, several national leaders, in order to preserve peace at any cost, agreed to Hitler's demands. What is this policy called?

appeasement

What type of leader was Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy) and Francisco Franco (Spain)?

fascist

What was the Final Solution?

genocide of Jews

What is anti-semitism?

hatred of Jews

What brought Great Britain and France into WWII?

invasion of Poland by Germany

What foreign policy did the US follow before WII?

isolationism

What were the Nuremberg Laws?

laws that took away the rights of Jews

Eugenics

the study of methods of improving genetic qualities by selective breeding (especially as applied to human mating)