WWII
lebensraum
"Living space" major motivation for Nazi Germany territorial aggression (for example: taking over Austria, Czechoslovakia & Poland)
Sitzkrieg
'Sit down war'
Non aggression pact
10 year agreement plan between hitler and stalin stating that stalin would not attack Germany from the east. Divided Eastern Europe between the Soviet Union and Germany
Lend-Lease Act
1941 legislation allowing the United States to supply war materials to Great Britain on credit.
What is blitzkrieg
A fast and concentrated attack taking enemy by surprise
Kamikaze
A suicide mission in which young Japanese pilots would intentionally fly their planes into enemy targets. The word means "divine wind" in Japanese.
Anti-Comintern Pact
Agreement between Japan & Germany prevent the spread of Communism.
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Agreement made between the United States & France in 1928 that was supposed to make war illegal.
Iwo Jima
An american victory in which Japanese soldier was killed or captured, one of the most bloody battles of the pacific
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945; the enola gay dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. 80,000 people were killed
What battle stopped Japanese expansion on the Pacific front?
Battle of Midway
Battle of Stalingrad
Between germany and USSR in 1942; soviets won which had weaken German forces. Turning point of the war becaus eof the defeat of the germans.
Why did Churchill decide to bomb German cities?
Churchill and his advisers believed that destroying German communities would break civilian morale and bring victory.
operation overlord
D-Day; June 6, 1944, 1 million allied troops landed on beaches of normandy. opened the second front in Europe. On August, 1944 the allies entered paris.
Phony war
Early phase of World War II marked by little activity in Western Europe. This period saw no fighting between the Axis & Allied Powers.
Why do you think did the Germans place the death camps outside of Germany?
Easier to conceal and deny
Who was the Desert Fox?
Erwin Rommel
What country did Mussolini take over for Italian expansion?
Ethiopia
Yalta meeting
Feb. 1945, Roosevelt, Churchill met with stalin in Yalta; agreed that germany would be divided in 4 parts after the war. Soviets agrred to go to war with japan
What happened at the bombing of Dresden?
Firestorm created by incendiary bombs
Maginot Line
French defense system built along the French/German border. A line of concrete & steel fortifications.
Why did the U.S. want to invade Japan before the USSR?
Gain Influence in Asia as tension increased
Who led Operation Torch
George Patton
Luftwaffe
German Air Force in WWII. Hitler effectively used this air force to take control of much of Europe 1942.
Rome-Berlin Axis
Germany and italy
Battle of France
Germany invaded France & the Low Countries in May of 1940, ending in June with France agreeing to an armistice. French official, Philippe Petain, led the Vichy government in southern France during the German occupation
axis powers
Germany, Italy, Japan
Expansionist Policy
Goals to expand empire; practiced by Japan in Asia
March 1938
Hitler annexes Austria. Hitler invited Neville chamberlain from GB and Édouard daladier from France to Munich to discuss what he planned
March 1939
Hitler invades Czechoslovakia
September 1, 1939
Hitler invades Poland using new tactic called blitzkrieg
March 7, 1936
Hitler invades rhineland
October 1936
Hitler makes alliance with Mussolini, creating 'axis' between Rome and Berlin. Hitler sign anti Comintern pact with Japan.
September 1932
Japan controls Manchuria
Why were Japanese cities more vulnerable to fire?
Japan's crowded cities were built of flimsy materials that were vulnerable to fire.
Potsdam meeting
July 17, 1945, Truman, Calement atlee, and stalin met at Potsdam. Planned for occupation of Germany and called for an unconditional surrender of japan
Battle of Midway
June 1942, the turning point of the pacific; japan lost many carriers
Einsatzgruppen
Led by Reinhard Heydrich then by Heinrich Himmler. jobs were to round up jews for transportation to Ghettos. Became mobile kiling squads in june 1941
What region did Japan occupy to start WWII in the Pacific?
Manchuria
V-E Day
May 8, 1945, the day of Allied victory in Europe in World War II. U.S. & Britain were concerned that if the Soviets captured Berlin, then Germany would become communist.
Munich Conference
Meeting where Great Britain and France met with Germany to talk about Hitler's demands for Sudetenland. They allowed him to have it in hopes of the invasions of other countries would stop but they did not and Hitler then went on to Czechoslovakia
Island Hopping
Military strategy of capturing only certain islands of a country & bypassing the others. America used this strategy against the Japanese in the Pacific to gain islands that had airfields & ports.
Final solution
Name given to Hitlers/Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe
battle of britain
Nonstop German air raids on Britain during 1940-1941. This was a unique battle because victory was decided in the air. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill refused to surrender to the German Luftwaffe in this battle
Operation Torch
November 1942, General Dwight Eisenhower landed British and american troops on north Africa. Eisenhower and Bernard Montgomery's troops trapped the troops of Erwin Rommel in Tunisia. Allies got to keep the Suez canal, allowed invasion of south Africa.
Pearl harbor
On December 7, 1941, Japanese attack the U.S. Hawaiian military base which led to the U.S. joining World War II. They had done it because of the embargo the US had set
Isolationism
Policy of national isolation by abstaining from alliances & other international political & economic relations
Nuremberg Trials
Post-war trials of Nazi leaders charged with crimes against peace & humanity
United States response to the Malden incident
Protesting the violations of the nine-powers act, placed embargo on oil reserves and scrap iron to Japan.
Why does Japan acquire allied controlled islands in the pacific
Raw materials and military staging areas
Economic Sanctions
Restrictions intended to enforce international law.
Manhattan project
Secret project in the isolated deserts of New Mexico focused toward the creation of the atomic bombs
Battle of Poland
September 1st-6th, 1939, Nazi Germany & the Soviet Union invaded Poland marking the beginning of World War II. France & Britain declared war later
V-J Day
September 2, 1945, the day the Japanese surrendered to the United States in WWII.
holocaust
Systematic elimination of European Jews & others by the Nazis.
Genocide
Systematic extermination of a people.
September 1931
The Mukden incident- Japanese soldiers dressed up as Chinese soldiers and bombed a Manchurian railway bridge.
Why do you think did the Germans place the death camps outside of Germany?
The Soviet Union did not have any eastern ports that did not freeze over in the winter. Important for trade
Appeasement
The act of giving into the enemy's demands in order to avoid conflict.
What are Stuka
The dive bombers that lead the attack, followed by panzer tank divisions
mobilization
The process of assembling troops & supplies for war
Allied powers
USA, Great Britain, USSR, France
Okinawa
Victory in Southern Japanese island gave the allies a staging area for bomber to attack japan
Spanish Civil War
War between Nationalist (winners) whom Germany and Italy helped support and the loyalists whom the USSR had helped. Francisco Franco was a nationalist
Why did Emperor Hirohito surrender?
Was able to maintain his position after the war
how many jews died in the holocaust
about 6 million
why did hitler attack stalingrad
accessible oil fields south of the city
Nagasaki
august 9, 1945; second atomic bomb dropped. 40,000 civilians died
Why did the Nazis want to "Germanize" areas of Europe that they had cleared of their original inhabitants?
hitler wanted an aryan racial empire so when they went to 'Germanize' those areas, they can hold the 'superior race'.
During WWII many home fronts began to increase in...
migrations and industrization
the battle of the bulge
the germans make a final counter attack, bursting a bulge in the allied lines in germany
What was Japan's ultimate goal?
to build an empire in the pacific
Why did Japan want to seize other territories and countries?
to enlarge their empire and gain natural resources
Why did Hitler rise to power?
unhappiness with poor economic conditions
