Chapter 36 World History
blitzkrieg
"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland n 1939
einsatzgruppen
"action squads" that killed Jews, Roma, and Slavs in new territories
V-1/V-2 rockets
"flying bombs", missiles launched overseas into Britain by Germany. 1st screeched, 2nd silent
Mukden Incident
1931 Japanese soldiers disguised as Chinese attack a Japanese railway; used this as excuse to invade Manchuria
Occupation of Rhineland
1936: Hitler sends troops into Rhineland, a demilitarized area between Germany and France; forbidden by Treaty of Versailles but France/Britain do not act (avoid conflict)
Munich Conference (appeasement)
1938-Meeting between British,French,and German leaders in which Germany was given control of the Sudetenland in exchange for German leader Hitler's promise to make no more claimes on European territory
WWII began which year
1939
Truman doctrine
1947, President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology, mainly helped Greece and Turkey
Pearl Harbor
7 Dec. 1941, Japanese destroyed this American naval base in case they decided to join the war. They did, after this
Winston Churchill
A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.
Nazi-Soviet Pact
A secret agreement between the Germans and the Russians that said that they would not attack each other and divided Europe and Poland amongst themselves
V-J Day
August 15, 1945, Victory over Japan day
Italy's relationship with Germany
BFFs
Allies
Britain, USSR, France, China, US
Neville Chamberlain
British prime minister at Munich who declared "peace for our time"
Operation Barbarossa
Codename for the June invasion of the USSR by Germany, failed due to "General Winter"; the Germans were so confident that they didn't prepare for the Russian winter
COMECOM
Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, soviet alternative to Marshall plan to increase trade in USSR and Easter Europe
Enigma Code
Cracking of this code alerted the allies where the next German attacks would come. When the allies cracked it, they didn't want the Germans to know, so they had to let some attacks through. It may have led to the eventual victory of WWII.
Alan Turing
English mathematician who conceived of the Turing machine and broke German codes during World War II (1912-1954)
Marshall Plan
European Recovery Plan to rebuild Western Europe through capitalism and trade
Stalingrad
First large-scale Soviet victory
Luftwaffe
German air force
Erwin Rommel
German military commander, "th, ('The Desert Fox') was the most famous and admired of German generals and was recognized as the most skilled tank commander in WWII. He commanded Hitler's security unit during early campaigns of the war and a stream of successes against Britain's 8th Army earned him the name "The Desert Fox". He was implicated in a plot to kill Hitler in 1944 and was given two choices: face charges of high treason in the People's Court, or commit suicide. If he chose the latter, his family would remain unharmed and he would be given a state funeral. He took poison. "the war has practically become a lightning Tour de France!"
the "Final Solution"
German plan to evacuate all Jews to camps in Eastern Poland to be worked to death
Axis Powers
Germany, Japan, Italy
Japan's Pacific conquerings
Guam, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, much of Philpines
Japanese opposition
Guerrilla warfare by Chinese communists; captured loyalty of the Chinese peasants
SS
Hitler's elite military that carried out the most criminal tasks like mass murder
Manchukuo
In 1932 Japan established this puppet state in their conquered territories of Manchuria. In 1933 the League of Nations reprimanded Japan, and so the nation withdrew from the organization, which was at the same time as Germany withdrawing as well
Italy's relationship with Ethiopia
Italy conquered Ethiopian in 1935-36 and made their overseas empire between it and Libya, excessive force infuriated the other nations
Importance of Manchuria to Japanese
Japan maintained Manchurian railroad Japan had economic interests in Manchuria, and China's unification threatened them
Rape of Nanjing
Japanese attack on Chinese capital from 1937-1938 when Japanese aggressorts slaughtered 100,000 civilians and raped thousands of women in order to gain control of China
Persecuted groups of the Holocaust
Jews, Slavs, gypsies, gay people, Jehovah's Witnesses, Communists, cripples
Potsdam Conference
July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction. Truman initiated harder-line stance of the US
D Day
June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.
V-E Day
May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day
1st country invaded in World War II
Poland
Countries that fell to Nazis
Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, France
Vichy
Southern Pro-Nazi French; govern themselves as loyal to nazis; traitors to the Free French in N. France
Warsaw Pact
Soviet countermeasure to NATO, admitted military alliance of 7 communist nations
Lebensraum
The "living space" that Nazis believed they needed, which justified their plan to expand into Eastern Europe and Russia.
Battle of Britain
The Blitz; German air force bombed heavily populated areas, particularly London; Royal Air Force staved off defeat
Anschluss
The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.
Unterseebootee
U-boats (submarines)
Lend-Lease program
US "lent" destroyers and war goods to British, Soviets, and Chinese before becoming officially involved in WWII
firestorms
US bombing raids on Japan
Battle of Midway
US finally won against Japan, the last US-controlled island in the Pacific
WAVES
Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service in the US navy
Zyklon B
a fast-acting gassing agent used in Auschwitz
Sudentenland
a region of Czechoslovakia where many Germans lived; demanded by Hitler in 1938 to have control of this land; when Czechs refused, Hitler threatened war. Hitler annexed it.
Bletchley Park
an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England. During World War II, it was also known as Station X and was the site of the United Kingdom's main decryption establishment, the Government Code and Cypher School. Ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted there, most importantly the ciphers generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines.The high-level intelligence produced here, codenamed Ultra, provided crucial assistance to the Allied war effort.
"Magic"
code-breaking operation that let the US discover Japanese plans for Midway
Spanish Civil War
honed German army and air force's skills, Germany sided with fascist leader
Marco Polo Bridge
in 1937, Japan militarists touched off an explosion here that led to an all-out invasion of China
Italy's relationship with Spain
intervened in Spanish Civil War on side of the fascists
Auschwitz
largest Nazi death camp
Yatla Conference
last Big 3 Conference, ensured the Red Army would dictate the future of states liberated by Soviets
"wolf packs"
method of U-boat travel that negated the protection of convoys of aircraft and destroyers
Dresden
on of the largest massacres of the war, Britain firebombed and cooked civilians in Feb. 1945
Italy's relationship with Libya
part of the Italian empire, made overseas empire with Ethiopia
Cold War
period of hostility between US and USSR, 1947-1990
Fireside Chats
radio broadcasts to Americans by FDR on the state of the war
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
regional military alliance started by US against Soviet aggression.
United Nations
supranational organization dedicated towards world peace
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
the Japanese mission to help Asians escape western colonial rule; actually a cover for Japanese expansion into East Asia
comfort women
women from Japanese colonies & occupied territories (mainly from Korea & China) forced to serve in military brothels ("comfort houses" / "consolation centers") during WWII; many were war casualties; either killed or had to live w/ deep shame after war