12.2 - Axis Powers Advance

blitzkrieg

"lightning war"

Luftwaffe

German air force

General Erwin Rommel

German commander who won many battles in Northern Africa

Describe how the Axis Powers gained control of most of Europe in 1941.

Germany invaded Poland in 1939, starting the war. Then Hitler launched a blitzkrieg and captured Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Belgium. Germany invaded France at the same time Italy declared war on France and attacked from the south resulting in the fall of France. Germany and Italy were successful in taking parts of the regions of North Africa, Greece, and Yugoslavia. In addition, Bulgaria and Hungary joined the Axis.

Why did Hitler nulliify the Nazi-Soviet Pact by invading the Soviet Union?

Hitler wanted access to the plentiful raw materials and to crush communism & Stalin.

Why did Japanese leaders view the United States as an enemy?

The United States banned the sale of war materials to Japan. This hampered Japanese expansion efforts and threatened their economy.

Hideki Tojo

a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and the 27th Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II, from October 17, 1941, to July 22, 1944

Atlantic Charter

a joint declaration released by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941 following a meeting of the two heads of state in Newfoundland. The Atlantic Charter provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims.

Lend-Lease Act

act passed by Congress that allowed FDR to sell or lend war materials to "any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States"

Vichy

capital of "puppet state" Germans set up in France

Dunkirk

place where the battle of Dunkirk took place and the British won