Chapter 16 - World War Looms
Blitzkrieg
"Lightning war"; Germany's newest military strategy including intial strikes by luftwaffe followed by invasion of fast tanks and infantry in order to quickly destroy another nation.
Lebensraum
"Living space"; One thing Nazis wanted to obtain
Joseph Stalin
"Man of Steel"; took control of the communist Soviet Union after the death of Lenin. Made harsh reforms to restructure Russia including abolishing private ownership of farms and businesses and outlining a plan to make Russia into a leading industrial nation
Kristallnacht
"Night of Broken Glass"; November 9-10, 1938; Day Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish businesses, homes, and synagogues across Germany killing and injuring hundreds of Jews and arresting around 30,000
Sitzkrieg
"Sitting war"; mocking name for the fact that after France and Britain declared war on Germany, nothing happened for weeks
Third Reich
"Third German Empire"; what Hitler replaced the Weimar Republic with once he was appointed chancellor
Anschluss
"Union"; In order to take over Austria, Hitler simply announced a union with the country since most of its population favored unification anyway
The St. Louis
A German ocean liner filled with Jewish refugees, 740 (of 943) of whom had US immigration papers who were turned away from America and ultimately forced to return to Europe; more than half of its passengers were later killed in the Holocaust
Vichy France
A Nazi-controlled puppet state in Souther France established by Hitler and headed by Marshal Philippe Petain
What initally prevented Hitler from invading Poland?
A fear that invasion would provoke the Soviet Union.
Sigfried Line
A few miles away from the Maginot Line, location where Germans concentrated their troops along their western border awaiting French and British action
Ardennes
A heavily wooded region of Northeast France that Hitler invaded through in order to bypass the Maginot Line (was believed to be impassable)
Cash-and-Carry
A provision FDR persuaded Congress to pass to get around the Neutrality Acts that would allow warring nations to buy US arms as long as they paid cash adn transported them in their own ships; seemed like too little, too late and FDR would later begin providing "all aid short of war"
Maginot Line
A strongly defended area on the eastern border of France where British and French concentrated their troops in the early days of WWII, anticipating a German attack
Nonaggression Pact
An agreement not to go to war; In particular, one signed between Hitler and Stalin that allowed Hitler to invade Poland without fear of reprisal from the Soviet Union if he agreed (in a second secret pact) to divide Poland between them.
Why did Hitler want Austria to join his Third Reich?
Austria had only been created as a nation by the Paris Peace Conference following WWI and the majority of the small nation's population were German.
"Shoot on sight"
Before an actual declaration of war by the Americans, the Senate repealed a ban against arming merchant ships so they could combat German u-boats that were sinking many ships
What was one thing the Japanese had in common with Hitler's Nazi party?
Both wanted more living space and resources.
Which nation did Hitler's blitzkreig not succesfully invade?
Britain
Neville Chamberlain
British minister who, along with French primier Edouard Daladier, practiced a policy of appeasement toward Hitler
Death Camps
Built by Nazis to carry out the mass extermination of Jews through gas chambers along with other brutal methods; included Chelmno and Auschwitz; many would have crematoriums built to hide the evidence of this mass murder
Hideki Tojo
Chief of staff of the Japanese Kwantung Army and later prime minister who was responsible for the Manchurian invasion and spearheaded the Japanese push to expand throughout the Pacific during WWI
Manchuria
Chinese province seized by Japanese militarists in 1931 without the consent of the offical Japanese government
Soviet Union
Communist state established in Russia in 1922 led first by Lenin and later by Stalin
Countries invaded by Hitler during April and May of 1940
Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, & Luxembourg
US preparations for war
Despite being officially neutral, after 1940 the US begain to increase its spending on defense and passed the first peacetime military draft
Countries annexed by the Soviet Union in late 1939
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and also invaded Finland
Nationalism
Extreme pride in and devotion to one's country, often even over one's individual interests
Rome-Berlin Axis
Formal alliance between Mussolini and Hitler initiated by their mutual support of Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War
September 3, 1939
France and Britain declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland
Charles de Gaulle
French general who fled to England after the fall of Paris and set up a government-in-exile
Munich Agreement
Gave Hitler his supposed "last territorial demand" (the Sudetenland) to avoid war
Luftwaffe
German air force
Rhineland
German region on the French and Belgian border that hitler reoccupied despite it being demilitarized by the Treaty of Versailles.
Axis Powers
Germany, Italy and Japan
Appeasement
Giving up principles to pacify an aggressor
Abraham Lincoln Batalion
Group of 3,000 Americans who traveled to Spain to fight Franco's fascism
Militarists
Group that seized power in Japan from the imperial government
Other groups targeted by the Holocaust
Gypsies, freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, homoxexuals, the mentally deficient, the mentally ill, the physically disabled, and teh incurably ill
Anti-Semitism
Hatred of the Jews which had been prevelant in Europe since long before the Holocaust
How did FDR get around the Neutrality Acts with respect to Japan?
He argued that Japan hadn't officially declared war on China, so he could send arms and supplies to China
How did FDR break tradition?
He decided to run for a third term and won nearly 55% of the popular vote
How did Hitler obtain the Sudetenland?
He made claims that the Czechs were abusing Sudeten Germans and built up troops on the border to prepare for invasion. In order to prevent an actual war and the complete fall of Czechoslovakia, the French and British agreed to give Hitler this region.
What happened to the rest of Czechoslovakia?
Hitler invaded the remainder of this nation in March 1939.
Schutzstaffel
Hitler's elite "security squadron" (SS)
Hitler's "Final Solution"
Hitler's policy of genocide as a way to rid Europe of its Jews
Nye Committee
Investigated the claim that America had been dragged into WWI by greedy bankers and arms dealers who wanted to profit
Reasons Germans resented the Treaty of Versailles
It blamed them completely for starting the war, it took away their colonies and border territories, it banned them from maintaining a strong army
What was Italy's role in the fall of France?
Italy invaded Paris from the South as Germany invaded from the North
Hirohito
Japanese Emperor
Albert Einstein
Jewish physicist who was among the 100,000 Jewish refugees accepted by the US; the US primarily accepted refugees of exceptional ability like him
Battle of Britain
Knowing they could not compete with Britain's powerful navy, the Germans tried to invade Britain by launching a massive air campaign that kept Britain under siege every night for two months and continued through the summer and fall
Concentration camps
Labor camps the Nazis forced Jews into; had been originally set up to imprison political opponents, but were turned over the the SS to house people like the Jews; in these camps people were staved, worked to death, and suffered from countless diseases
Wannsee
Location of a meeting in 1942 of Nazi leaders where the decision to begin using death camps was made
Dunkirk
Location where the Germans trapped almost 400,000 British and French soldiers on the French side of the English Channel (to which the British began ferrying people across the Channel to safety), to prevent them from protecting Paris
Lend-Lease Act
March 1941; FDR's plan to lend or lease arms to the Allies, even if they couldn't immediately pay for them; FDR compared to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house was on fire to avoid it spreading to your home
Tripartite Pact
Mutual defense treaty that joined the Axis Powers; Meant that if the US engaged in war with Germany, they would be fighting a two-ocean war with Japan as well
Mein Kampf
My Struggle; Hitler's book outlining the basic beliefs of the Nazi Party
Black Shirts
Name for Mussolini's followers (from the uniforms they wore)
Jewish Refugees
Nazis tried to speed up Jewish emigration, but other nations were hesitant to accept these people
Spanish Civil War
Occured 1936-39 when a group of army officers overthrew the Spanish republic; Over 3,000 Americans joined the fight to support the republican government, but it ultimately fell to fascism with the support of Mussolini and Hitler
Ethiopia
One of Africa's few independent nations at the beginning of WWII that was siezed by Mussolini's Italy
What happened to the League of Nations after Japan withdrew?
Other nations began to test its power and Germany also withrdrew
After taking Czechoslovakia, what nation did Hitler want to invade next?
Poland
Fascism
Political ideology that stresses nationalism and placed the interests of the state over those of individuals; includes power centralized with a single strong leader and a small group of party members
Isolationism
Political philosophy that Americans tried to stick to as WWII approached
Winston Churchill
Political rival of Chamberlain who regularly spoke out against the policy of appeasement toward Hitler
Chancellor
Prime Minister of Germany, position Hitler was appointed to in 1933 when his Nazi party was the most powerful in Germany
Aryan
Race Hitler considered "superior"; characterized by blond hair, blue eyes, etc.
Ghettos
Segregated Jewish areas in certain Polish cities where Jews were forced to migrate to; Were sealed off with barbed wire and stone walls; Terrible living conditions
Neutrality Acts
Series of acts passed by Congres beginning in 1935 that were aimed at keeping the US out of war; included outlawing sales of arms to nations at war or nations engaged in civil wars
Francisco Franco
Spanish army General who led a group of officers to rebel against the Spanish republic
"Five-year plans"
Stalin's plans to make Russia into an industrial leader through complete government control of all economic activity
Nuremberg Laws
Stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property
Radar
Technology that helped Britain's Royal Air Force combat the German luftwaffe starting in the Battle of Britain
Nazism
The German brand of facism based on extreme nationalism
Der Fuhrer
The Leader; nickname for Hitler
How did Hitler's "final solution" begin?
The Nazi SS rounded up Jews in Poland and executed them on the spot
Holocaust
The Nazis' systematic murder of 11 million people across Europe, more than half of whom were Jews
Genocide
The deliberate and systematic killing of an entire population
Weimar Republic
The democratic government set up in Germany after WWI that proved to be unable to contend with Germany's growing problems
National Socialist German Workers' Party
The formal name for the Nazi Party of Germany; despite this name the Nazis did not have ties to socialism
Pearl Harbor
The largest US naval base in the Pacific; attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941 which pushed the US to declare war on Japan and enter WWII
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
The reason the US was willing to supply the Soviet Union after Hitler broke their non-aggression pact
The Atlantic Charter
The result of a secret meeting between FDR and Churchill where both countries pledged collective security, disarmament, self-determination, economic cooperation, adn freedom of the sees; became the basis for Declaration of the United Nations
What was the Soviet Union's response to the German invasion of Poland?
They attacked Poland from the east to ensure that they received their fair share of territory
What happens to many new democracies set up by the WWI peace settlement?
They collapsed and totalitarian dictators were able to take power
What was the League of Nations' response to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria?
They condemned Japan who simply quit the League in response; they took no direct military intervention
What position did the Western Democracies take during the Spanish Civil War?
They remained neutral despite Germany and Italy offering official military support.
The Final State of Hitler's Final Solution
This began in early 1942 and included mass exterminations of Jews
Allies
Those nations that fought the Axis Powers (included Britain, The Soviet Union, and eventually the United States)
Japanese expansion
Took European colonies like French Indochina and began to move through the Pacific; The US responded by embargoing oil trade, an essential resource
Adolf Hitler
Took advantage of the instability in Germany by joining the Nazi party, getting appointed chancellor, and siezing absolute control of the country
Benito Mussolini
Totalitarian leader of Italy who played on Italy's weak economy, unstable government, and fear of communism to create a fascist state
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Treaty signed by 62 countries that denounced war, but had no provisions for how to deal with nations that broke the pact
Goals of Nazism
Unite all German-speaking people under a great German empire; enforce racial "purification"; national expansion (lebensraum)
German wolf-packs
Use of groups of up to 40 submarines to patrol areas of the Atlantic and attack convoys at night to prevent US supply ships from reaching Europe; US warships had permission to attack these wolf-packs
Sudetenland
Western border region of Czechoslovakia where about 3 million German-speaking people lived; a second target of Hitler's lebensraum
The Great Arsenal of Democracy
What the US tried to be in WWII by being the supplier of the Allies without actually declaring war
Totalitarian
a political system in which the government exer4cises complete control over its citizens' lives`
