US History Chapter 24.1 & 24.2
Nazi Party
Hitler's political party; National Socialist German Workers' Party; nationalistic and anticommunist
Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
In 1922, the Bolshevik Party renamed these territories the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Gerald P. Nye/Nye Committee
Nye Committee, senator from Nebraska / condemned the "Merchants of Death"
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
How and why did Japanese militarists gain control of Japan in the 1930s?
Military arranged the assassination of the prime minister & to expand to get natural resources
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
Why did many Americans support isolationism?
Because involvement seemed useless/worthless
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
Black Shirts/March on Rome
Fascist militia / Mussolini threatened to march on Rome in 1922, claiming he was coming to defend Italy against a Communist revolution
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
lebensraum/Aryans
German term = "Living Space" / blond hair, blue eyed, German
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."
What was Hitler's political philosophy and what were his goals for Germany?
Germans=master race, Jews were responsible for Germany's defeat, & Germany needed ro expand East
Blitzkrieg
Germany term for "lightning war"; military tactic that used large numbers of massed tanks to break through and rapidly encircle enemy positions
Axis Powers
Germany, Italy, and Japan became known as that
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.
Fuhrer
Hitler gave himself the new title of fuhrer, or "leader"
Francisco Franco
Spanish general who rebelled against Morocco; leader of the Nationalists; supported Hitler and Mussolini
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.
What was the significance of the Nye Committee?
The Nye Committee, which had a congressional investigation, documented the huge profits that arms factories had made during the war.
isolationism/isolationists
US tried not to become involved in the war
Vladimir Lenin/Bolshevik Party
Vladimir Lenin led the Bolshevik Party, established Communist governments throughout the Russian empire
Dunkirk
a small town in northern France near the Belgian border
Neutrality Act 1937
act continued the ban on selling arms to nations at war, but it also required warring countries to buy nonmilitary supplies from the United States on a "cash-and-carry" basis
Fascist Party/Fascism
aggressive nationalism; believed that the nation was more important than the individual; argued that individualism made countries weak and that a strong government led by a dictator was needed to impose order on society; believed a nation became great by expanding its territory and building up its military; strongly anticommunist
Sudetenland
an area of Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population
Rome-Berlin Axis
axis powers between Hitler and Mussolini.
Spanish Civil War 1936-38
civil war between the Republicans, who were loyal to the democratic Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. The Nationalists won.
Adolf Hitler
dictator of Germany; leader of German party, the Nazi Party
What was Fascism and what was its appeal to Italians and Germans?
extreme nationalism
Benito Mussolini
former schoolmaster and journalist returned from WWI who founded Italy's Fascist Party, Fascism in 1919. Was fascist, was for military expansion. Believed in private property with strong government controls, he was also anticommunist
Manchuria
invaded by Japan in 1931; resource-rich province of Manchuria in northern China
II Duce
means "The Leader" in Italian, name Mussolini gave himself during WWII
Mein Kampf
means "my struggle" in German; Hitler's autobiography
Munich Conference 1938
meeting between Germany, Italy, Great Britain, & France that gave Hitler part of Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland)
Anti-Comintern Pact
pact that required the two countries, Germany and Japan, to exchange information about Communist groups
Winston Churchill
replaced Britain's Neville Chamberlain as prime minister; peace was not an option for him; he would not surrender
Russian Revolution
revolution against the Czar government in Russia
Joseph Stalin
ruler of the Soviet Union by 1926
Neutrality Act 1935
the act made it illegal for Americans to sell arms to any country at war.
Hermann Goering
the head of the German air force
Reichstag
the lower house of the German parliament
How did postwar conditions contribute to the rise of dictatorships in Europe?
the treaty of versatile & economic depression
internationalism
trade between nations creates prosperity amd helps prevents war
Why did FDR support internationalism?
trade=prosperity=peaceful & that the US should perserve peace in the world
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.