US History Ch. 24 Sec. 2

Ace your homework & exams now with Quizwiz!

Danzig/Polish Corridor

October 1938: he demanded the return of Danzig, a Baltic Sea port with strong German roots, to German control. Although Danzig was more than 90 percent German, it had been separated from Germany at the end of World War I to give Poland access to the sea. Hitler also requested a highway and railroad across the Polish Corridor, which separated western Germany from the German state of East Prussia

Luftwaffe

June 1940, the German air force, called the Luftwaffe, began to attack British shipping in the English Channel

Maginot Line

Line of trenches dug by the French to prepare for defensive warfare

What were the three reasons European leaders agreed to a policy of appeasement?

1. Prevent another war 2. Hitler had few demands and he just wanted a German-speaking country so they tried to give it to him since it made sense. 3. No one was ready to fight in the war

Battle of Britain 1940

Air battle between German and British air forces. Luftwaffe (german air force) launched out an all-out air battle to destroy the British Royal Air Force. The British won

Appeasement

Appeasement is the policy of giving concessions in exchange for peace

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact 1939

Aug 23, 1939, Hitler & Stalin signed the pact that said that the Germans and Soviets would not fight each other/invade each other for 10 years, allowed the Germans to invade Poland soon after pact was signed

Neville Chamberlain

Britain's prime minister who participated in Hitler's appeasement

radar

British won the Battle of Britain of 1940 through the use of radar. The British were able to detect incoming German aircraft and direct British fighters to intercept them

What countries did Hitler militarily conquer by 1940?

Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Poland

Why was Britain able to resist Germany?

English Channel

Vichy/Marshal Philippe Pétain

French Puppet state controlled by Germany during World War II / the new government's figurehead leader

What was the Phony War?

French/British vs. Germany waited on their lines for an attack, but none came, called sitzkieg (sitting war) or phony war

Explain the Miracle at Dunkirk.

Germans invaded through Belgium instead of the Maginot Line and French completely unprepared, trapped at beaches of Dunkirk and civilian boats of the English Channel. The only hope for Britain and France was to evacuate their troops at sea, but German had captured one port called Dunkirk

sitzkrieg/Bore War/Phony War

Germans referred to the situation of western Europe remained eerily quiet the sitting war/The British called it the "Bore War,"/ while American newspapers nicknamed it the "Phony War"

Blitzkrieg

Germany term for "lightning war"; military tactic that used large numbers of massed tanks to break through and rapidly encircle enemy positions

Why did Stalin sign a nonaggression pact with Hitler? What was the secret deal between the two dictators?

He believed the best way to protect the USSR was to turn the capitalist nations against each other. The secret deal was to divide Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union.

Explain the significance of the Battle of Britain.

The Battle of Britain was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and was also the largest and most sustained aerial bombing campaign to that date. The Battle of Britain marked the first defeat of Hitler's military forces.

Dunkirk

a small town in northern France near the Belgian border

Sudetenland

an area of Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population

Munich Conference 1938

meeting between Germany, Italy, Great Britain, & France that gave Hitler part of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland)

Winston Churchill

replaced Britain's Neville Chamberlain as prime minister; peace was not an option for him; he would not surrender

Hermann Goering

the head of the German air force

What was Hitler's strategy for defeating France?

tried to go around the Maginot Line and take over the Netherlands, etc

Anschluss

unification of Austria and Germany


Related study sets

Mikroøkonomi: Kapitel 2 - Markedsmekanismen

View Set

Chapter 13: Neurocognitive Disorders Abnormal Psychology

View Set

Summer Reading: Secrets Lies and Algebra

View Set

Extension of the Wrist: Synergist & Antagonist Muscles

View Set

HESI Exit Practice Questions and Rationale (2)

View Set