WH - Chapter 32.1 - World War II - Section 1 - Hitler's Lightning War
Nonaggression pact
A ten year agreement between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany which on the surface seemed to advocate for peace, instead the two countries made a secret pact in which Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Poland between them. They also agreed that the USSR could take over Finland and the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Why were the early months of World War II referred to as the "phony war"?
During the 1930s, Hitler played on the hopes and fears of the Western democracies. Each time the Nazi dictator grabbed new territory, he would declare an end to his demands. Peace seemed guaranteed—until Hitler moved again. Also, After they declared war on Germany, the French and British had mobilized their armies. They stationed their troops along the Maginot Line, a system of fortifications along France's border with Germany. The allies did not attack and neither did the Germans. Instead the Germans launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway.
Why was Egypt of strategic importance in World War II?
Egypt's Suez Canal was key to reaching the oil fields of the Middle East.
What does the fact that German armies were not prepared for the Russian winter indicate about Hitler's expectations for the Soviet campaign?
He believed that he could defeat the Soviet Union swiftly before the Russian winter set in.
What advantages did Britain have against the Germans?
One was an electronic tracking system known as radar. Developed in the late 1930s radar could tell the number, speed, and directionof incoming warplanes. The other device was a German code-making machine named Enigma. A complete Enigma machine had been smuggled into Great Britain in the late 1930s. Enigma enabled the British to decode German secret messages. With information gathered by these devices RAF fliers could quickly launch attacks on the enemy.
Why did President Franklin Roosevelt want to offer help to the Allies?
President Roosevelt knew that if the Allies fell-the United States would be drawn into the war. In September 1939, he asked Congress to allow the Allies to buy American arms. The Allies would pay cash and then carry the goods on their own ships. Under the Lend-Lease Act, passed in March 1941, the president could lend or lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the United States. By the summer of 1941, the U.S. Navy was escorting British ships carrying U.S. arms. In response Hitler ordered his submarines to sink any cargo ships they met.
Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly and issued a joint declaration. It upheld free trade among nations and the right of people to choose their own government.The charter later served as the Allies' peace plan at the end of World War II.
Battle of Britain
To avoid the RAF's attacks, the Germans gave up daylight raids in October 1940 in favor of night bombing. The attacks continued until May 10, 1941. Stunned by British resistance, Hitler decided to call off his attacks. Instead, he focused on the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe. The Battle of Britain taught the Allies a crucial lesson. Hitler's attacks could be blocked.
Charles de Gaulle
a French general, set up a government-in-exile in London. De Gaulle went on to organize the Free French military forces that battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.
Blitzkrieg
a German military strategy meaning "lightning war." It involved using fast-moving airplanes and tanks, followed by massive infantry forces, to take enemy defenders by surprise and quickly overwhelm them. In the case of Poland, the strategy worked.
General Erwin Rommel
commander of a German tank force called Afrika Korps sent in to help the Italians win the war in North Africa against the British. He was successful in defeating the English and earned the name "Desert Fox".
Winston Churchill
the new British prime minister, had already declared that his nation would never give in to the Nazi's.
