ww11 test #2

winston churchill

A close friend of American presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, Churchill hoped to join the Americans in building a postwar order that limited Soviet leader Josef Stalin's ability to dominate European affairs.In January 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Casablanca, Morocco to plan attacks on all war fronts, to invade Sicily and Italy, to send forces to the Pacific, and to better aid the Soviet Union.

Bataan death march

After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of the Bataan Peninsula on the main Philippine island of Luzon to the Japanese during World War II (1939-45), the approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops on Bataan were forced to make an arduous 65-mile march to prison camps. The marchers made the trek in intense heat and were subjected to harsh treatment by Japanese guards. Thousands perished

order of invasion of countries by hitler

Austria, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland

Who were the dictators involved in with World War II? How did they come to power?

Benito mussolini-italy, gained control of the press, prime minister, He won over nationalists by promising to turn Italy into a new Roman Empire Josef Stalin-rose to power by ruthless murderous politics, and that was just his beginning as he did lots more of that after he rose to power Adolf Hitler-combination of support by American businessmen like Henry Ford etc, American support to prevent communism gaining power in Germany and all over Europe, plus election plus coalition with other politicians/parties and then wiping his partners out - read about "Night of the long knives" etc...then he outlawed elections and German people were stuck with him as he thereafter started his worst deeds of starting the holocaust and leading Europe into WW2

FDR

Franklin Roosevelt served as president of the United States for all but four months of World War II, leading the country through one of the most consequential periods in its history. Under Roosevelt's leadership, the nation rebounded from the devastating surprise attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, nearly achieving victory in both Europe and the Pacific by the time Roosevelt suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 12 April 1945. He was succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman. Roosevelt was one of the most influential presidents of all time.

douglas macarthur

General of the Army an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II, was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air force on December 8, 1941, and the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. MacArthur's forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family and his staff left Corregidor in PT boats, and escaped to Australia, where MacArthur became Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. For his defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor. After more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, he fulfilled a promise to return to the Philippines. He officially accepted Japan's surrender on September 2, 1945.

nuremberg trials

Held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949. The defendants, who included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) committed suicide and was never brought to trial. Although the legal justifications for the trials and their procedural innovations were controversial at the time

Adolf Hitler

In September 1938, leaders of France and Great Britain met Adolf Hitler to discuss his demands, ultimately granting the German leader control over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. In return, Hitler promised to leave the rest of Czechoslovakia alone, and to abandon all further ambitions of territorial expansion. When Hitler broke his pledge and took the rest of Czechoslovakia and then invaded Poland in 1939, France and Great Britain declared war. Hitler's forces invaded Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, and defeated France within the first year of war. Ultimately, however, Nazi Germany would fall to Allied forces, surrendering on 2 May 1945, one day after Adolf Hitler's suicide.

battle of berlin

It was fought between April and May 1945, and the Russian victory saw the end of Hitler's Third Reich and the occupation of the city by the Red Army before it was divided into four as a result of the wartime meetings between the Allies.fought between German and Soviet forces throughout April and May 1945. It proved to be the final battle of the European Theater of World War II. The battle contained some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Soviet T-34 tanks rolled through the streets, knocking over buildings and anything in their way as Germans and Soviets battled in house-to-house combat.

rise of us as a superpower

It was one of the few countries which didn't have its homeland suffer the outrages of war, it was one of the few industrial economies to be working at full tilt and able to make the switch to peace time production, first country to develop operational nuclear weapons and the only country to have demonstrated their use in war. Add to this the fact that the United States had the singular strongest military navy and the largest maritime peacetime navy, center for production of civilian goods as well as the preferred country to which others desired to their youth for higher education, the United States became the site of the new United Nations and the fact that the United States clearly had no desire to rule the world (which it very easily could have done) and other countries naturally turned to the United States as world leader.

Saipan

June 15, 1944, allies and japan has a fierce battle for this island us won the island, but there were many casualties on both sides, us had 16,00 casualties and 3,400 dead

united nations

On this day in 1945, the United Nations Charter, which was adopted and signed on June 26, 1945, is now effective and ready to be enforced, born of perceived necessity, as a means of better arbitrating international conflict and negotiating peace than was provided for by the old League of Nations. The growing Second World War became the real impetus for the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union to begin formulating the original U.N. Declaration, signed by 26 nations in January 1942, as a formal act of opposition to Germany, Italy, and Japan, the Axis Powers.

how did the treaty of versailles lead to the outbreak of ww11?

The main reason is that the reparations on Germany were so heavy and strong. They lost a lot of their land. Hitler wanted to get Germany's Lebenstraum (living space) back. All the other countries also thought that the reparations were very bad, blaming everything on germany. So they weren't too bothered about Hitler taking land back, invading Austria and the Czech republic and Norway etc.

douglas macarthur "i shall return"

The promise would become his mantra during the next two and a half years, and he would repeat it often in public appearances.

Josef Stalin

Under his leadership, the Soviet Union played a major role in the defeat of Hitler's Germany during World War II, Several years into World War II, Russian dictator Josef Stalin demanded the immediate assistance of the Allied nations, believing—rightly so—that his nation bore the brunt of the war against Germany. Stalin realized that without help, Germany would triumph. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to limited cooperation with Stalin, concluding that Nazi Germany was, in fact, far worse a threat than Communist Russia. In return, Stalin pledged his aid in the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated.

Hideki tojo

Wartime leader of Japan's government, General Tôjô Hideki (1884-1948), with his close-cropped hair, mustache, and round spectacles, became for Allied propagandists one of the most commonly caricatured members of Japan's military dictatorship throughout the Pacific war. Shrewd at bureaucratic infighting and fiercely partisan in presenting the army's perspective while army minister, he was surprisingly indecisive as national leader.

italian campaign

a series of Allied beach landings and land battles from Sicily and southern Italy up the Italian mainland toward Nazi Germany. The campaign seared into history the names of such places as Anzio, Salerno and Monte Cassino, as Allied armies severed the German-Italian Axis in fierce fighting and threatened the southern flank of Germany. The Allied advance through Italy produced some of the most bitter, costly fighting of the war, much of it in treacherous mountain terrain.

nonaggresion pact

agreement made between the soviet union and germany saying they would not attack each other

munich pact

agreement that hitler could have the Sudetenland but wouldn't take anymore land

tripartite pact

agreement which formed the italy-germany-japan alliance in ww11

Okinawa

april 1- june 21, 1945, 350 miles from japan, last battle of the war, us troops attacked by kamikaze pilots, bloody battles, 50,000 us casualties, 110,000 Japanese deaths, Japanese generals choose suicide over surrendering

battle of Stalingrad

august 1942- february 1943, order 227, Germany surrenders in 1943, was the successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in the U.S.S.R. during World War II. Russians consider it to be the greatest battle of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the greatest battle of the entire conflict. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked the turning of the tide of war in favor of the Allies. The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the bloodiest battles in history, with combined military and civilian casualties of nearly 2 million.

describe several turning points of World War II and their impact on the war.

battle of Stalingrad-after Germany's failure to take Stalingrad, their Eastern front army was practically destroyed and they were forced to flee the Soviet Union. This turned the War in putting the Russians on the offensive, which directly aided in the destruction and conquering of Germany by the Allied Forces throughout 1944 and 1945. Germany was, essentially, surrounded with the Americans and British in the West, and the Russians in the East. battle of midway-Japanese lost 4 of its major aircraft carriers at this battle. The Japanese never won any Naval Battle after losing Midway. In fact, Japan was forced to go on the defensive after Midway and began losing all of the territory they won prior to Coral Sea and Midway., weakened Japanese forces

harry truman

becomes president after FDR dies, has to decide if the us should drop the atomic bomb, japan seemed willing to fight until there were no troops left

d-day invasion

began on June 6, 1944, when some 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of the heavily fortified coast of France's Normandy region. The invasion was one of the largest amphibious military assaults in history and required extensive planning. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe, Utah beach, Omaha beach, gold beach, juno beach, sword beach

RAF

british air force

soviet union political/economic nature

communism

battle of the bulge

december 1944, the german counterattack, allies crossed the german border, the germans counterattack with the battle, this is the last major battle between the allies and the germans, germans captured 120 american pows, took them to a field and shot them with machine guns and pistols, 43 survived

first battle of the Philippines

december 22, 1941-may 1942, general douglas macarthur, 200,000 invading Japanese vs 80,000 GI's, allies held out for 4 months and abandoned Philippines, Bataan death march, "i shall return"-Douglas macarthur

pearl harbor date

december 7, 1941

manhattan project

develop an atomic bomb before Germany, top secret, july 16, 1945- field test of world's first atomic bomb in new Mexico

Hiro Hito

emperor of Japan from 1926 until his death in 1989. He took over at a time of rising democratic sentiment, but his country soon turned toward ultra-nationalism and militarism. During World War II (1939-45), Japan attacked nearly all of its Asian neighbors, allied itself with Nazi Germany and launched a surprise assault on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. Though Hirohito later portrayed himself as a virtually powerless constitutional monarch, many scholars have come to believe he played an active role in the war effort. After Japan's surrender in 1945, he became a figurehead with no political power.

lebensraum

extra living space, hitler wanted it for germany

yalta conference

february 1945, FDR, Churchill, Stalin, goal is to plan for victory, decide to occupy and divide Germany, agree to develop the United Nations

iwo Jima

february 1945, island 750 miles from Tokyo, battle lasted 6 weeks, not much cover to hide behind, in 36 days of fighting, 25, 851 us casualties, 4000 marines killed, 20,000 Japanese soldiers killed, only 200 survivors

Erwin Rommel

field marshall, Sent with a small German force to help the Axis against the British after the Italians had suffered severe defeat, Rommel-reaching Tripoli in February 1941-was soon master of Cyrenaica and imposing his will on the enemy. For two years the opposing forces alternately advanced or withdrew over the desert, and Rommel's name became legendary-a master of mobile operations who was rapid, courageous, and audacious.

What were the reasons for and against using the atomic bomb?

for: saved american lives, saved japanese lives, shortened the war, japanese were given a fair warning against: bomb was made for defense only, bomb was illegal, bomb was racially motivated, there were other alternatives

battle of coral sea

fought between the Japanese and Allied navies from May 4 through May 8, 1942, Occurring only five months after Pearl Harbor and a month before the decisive battle at Midway, was one of the first naval battles fought in the Pacific during World War II. The battle, roughly a draw, was an important turning point in the Pacific campaign. Japanese trying to take over Australia, US aircraft carriers vs Japanese- first sea battle in which the ships don't see each other, draw, marked a shift in momentum- first time the Japanese didn't win in the Pacific

luftwaffle

german air force

blitzkrieg

german military strategy, also called lightning war, based on a surprise attack of countries

George Patton

he reached the high point of his career during World War II, when he led the U.S. 7th Army in its invasion of Sicily and swept across northern France at the head of the 3rd Army in the summer of 1944. Late that same year, Patton's forces played a key role in defeating the German counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge, after which he led them across the Rhine River and into Germany, capturing 10,000 miles of territory and liberating the country from the Nazi regime. Patton died in Germany in December 1945 of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

us political/economic nature

isolationism

japanese surrender

japan is shocked into unconditionally surrendering, Japanese emperor Hiro Hito was allowed to remain on the throne, but had to publicly state he was not a god, formal surrender signed on august 15, 1945, v-j day, Hiro Hito says the role of the emperor has changed and he is not divine

battle of midway

june 4-7, 1942, us naval base in the pacific, Japanese lost a lot-4 carriers and 250 planes, americans had "avenged pearl harbor", turning point because it was the first Japanese loss in the pacific

dunkirk

massive evacuation effort of british army from this french city

appeasement

method of satisfying an aggressor to avoid war

sudetenland

part of Czechoslovakia taken from germany during ww11 where many german speakers lived in 1937

List events that involved civilians in World War II

pearl harbor, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Leyte gulf

philippines, october 23-26, 1944, 178,000 allied troops, macarthur returns, Japanese use kamikaze, devine wind, 424 planes, 26 ships sunk, 80 damaged, devastating for japan 3 battleships, 4 aircraft arrears, 13 cruisers, may have been the largest naval engagement ever, allies retook Philippines

Dwight d eisenhower

prior to his presidency, Eisenhower was a lifelong military man, commanding the D-Day invasion while serving as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, In the winter of 1942, General Eisenhower led U.S. troops to defeat Axis forces in North Africa. Eisenhower also prepared U.S. military forces in England for the D-Day invasion of German strongholds in France.

use of atomic bomb

reasons truman decided to drop the bomb: japan refused an unconditional surrender, Japanese could still cause an estimated 1 million us casualties, the bomb was thought to be quicker with fewer us casualties, the us wanted to show the USSR we had the bomb and would use it

lend-lease act

said that the us would give supplies to the allies during the war

neutrality act

said that the us would not take a side, the us would sell weapons to countries in the war if they paid cash and carried their weapons in their own ships

island hopping

strategy employed by the United States to gain military bases and secure the many small islands in the Pacific. led by General Douglas MacArthur, Commander of the Allied forces in the South west Pacific, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-chief of the Pacific fleet. The US troops targeted the islands that were not as strongly defended by the Japanese. They took control of those islands, and quickly constructed landing strips and small military bases. Then they proceeded to attack other islands from the bases they had established. Slowly the US army moved closer to Japan, taking control of many of the surrounding islands.

operation barabarossa

summer 1941, Adolf Hitler launches armies eastward in a massive invasion of the Soviet Union: three great army groups with over three million German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks smashed across the frontier into Soviet territory, By this point German combat effectiveness had reached its apogee; in training, doctrine, and fighting ability, the forces invading Russia represented the finest army to fight in the twentieth century. Barbarossa was the crucial turning point in World War II, for its failure forced Nazi Germany to fight a two-front war against a coalition possessing immensely superior resources, nazi objectives- seize soviet fields in Caucus Mtns, capture Stalingrad (industrial center on the Volga River), stalin- "not a step back", if boys die, send more, soviet have oil, germans don't, preemptive attack, surround, close in, reduce, 900 miles in 3 months, soviets burned as they retreated, scorched earth- destroying their own items so germans won't use them, germans not equipped for soviet winter,

Benito Mussolini

the fascist prime minister of Italy, with dictatorial powers, from 1922 until he was overthrown in 1943, In May 1938, Mussolini promised to fight alongside Adolf Hitler in any war against the democracies of the world. His armies, however, poorly led and ill-prepared for war, were defeated quickly by Allied forces. Italian resistance to his dictatorship ultimately led to his fall from power and to his death; Mussolini was overthrown in 1943, and in April 1945, Italian insurgents captured the ex-dictator, murdered him, and mutilated his body—a disgraceful end for a man who considered himself to be the savior of the Italian nation

Tuskegee airmen

the first black servicemen to serve as military aviators in the U.S. armed forces, Though subject to racial discrimination both at home and abroad, the 996 pilots and more than 15,000 ground personnel who served with the all-black units would be credited with some 15,500 combat sorties and earn over 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their achievements. The highly publicized successes of the Tuskegee Airmen helped pave the way for the eventual integration of the U.S. armed forces under President Harry Truman in 1948.

operation torch

the invasion of North Africa. Churchill and his military advisers were concerned to remove the Vichy French authorities from the territories they controlled on the North African coast before they fell into German hands. Torch was an American led operation under Eisenhower with substantial UK support. the invasion of North Africa, represented a series of firsts for the Allied crusade against Nazi Germany and her Allies. It was the first amphibious landing undertaken by the US Army in the European theater. It was the first combat operation commanded by Dwight Eisenhower.

maginot line

the line of fortifications built along the eastern border of france to defend against germany

interventionists

those americans who believe the us should put pressure on the axis powers and prepare for war

isolationists

those americans who felt the us should avoid alliances with other nations and stay out of the war

allied bombing in Tokyo

us bombed major cities in japan to weaken morale of the Japanese civilians and military, one of the worst bombings, firestorms destroyed much of the city

u-boats

used by germany to attack and sink us ships carrying supplies to britain

V-E day

victory in Europe day, may 8, 1945

battle of britain

when the british air force beat the german air force