Unit 3 - World War II

Appeasement

Other nations and the allies appeased and accepted Hitler's demands.

The Anschluss

• The Annexation of Austria (March 1938)

• When Austria united with Germany

German-Soviet Pact

• Non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union

• The promise that the two nations will not attack each other

• Secret protocols in the agreement allowed Germany and the Soviet Union to attack their neighbors

Invasion of Poland

• Poland was demanded to hand over Danzig, a city in Poland, and provide Germany with a land route (road and rail) to connect with Eastern Prussia through the Polish corridor

• Poland refused Germany’s demands (August 29th, 1939)

• Germany invades Poland (September 1st, 1939)

Blitzkreig

• The German way of fighting in World War II

• It meant a lightning war where the German forces would use airstrikes to attack the enemy lines

• Tanks would be used to break the front lines, and as the enemy scatters, German infantry follows from the rear and traps the enemy.

• It was a very effective and successful strategy in the early parts of the war

Invasion of France

• Germany invaded France, and Paris was not claimed by anyone.

• Germany used Blitzkrieg techniques

• German Victory

London Blitz

An event where Germany and the Nazi’s bombed and terrorized to British cities

Winston Churchill

• British statesman

• Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945) and again (1951-1955)

Tripartie Act

• Agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan

• A defense alliance with other nations and alliances (America, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, etc.)

Operation Barbarossa

• Germany's unsuccessful invasion of the Soviet Union

• Caused by Hitler’s hate for communism

Pearl Harbor

The Japanese air force bombed the United States naval harbor, starting the war in the Pacific

Battle for North Africa (North African Campaign)

• Battle against the Allies and Axis powers

• Allies won this battle

Anti-Semitism

• Hostility or prejudice against Jewish people

The Holocaust

The systematic killing of European Jews and other marginalized groups (Genocide)

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

• A nationwide Jewish riot caused by the Nazi’s

• Nazi’s assaulted, humiliated, and killed Jewish people 

• German police imprisoned 26,000 Jewish men in concentration camps

Einsatzgruppen (Mobile Death Squads)

• Person in charge: Reinhard heydrich

• Rounded up any prisoners of war and Jews and would shoot them

• First attempt at mass murder

• 1.4 million killed by this group

Commissar Order (June 1941)

• Issued by the German Armed Forces High Command

• Ordered soldiers to shoot Soviet Communist Party officials that were taken as prisoners

• Attempt at mass murder

1. Wannsee Conference (January 1942)

• The “final solution”

• The meeting to finalize the elimination/extermination of the Jewish people 

• Attempt at mass murder

Auschwitz and Extermination Camps

The worst concentration camp, Jews and other minorities were sent to labor or died from gas chambers, gunshots, or starvation, sickness, etc.

Warsaw Uprising

• Polish resistance to Germany’s army invasion lasted 63 days, and Poland’s defeat

1. Josef Mengele

Nazi who played a huge role in the mass murder by science in Auschwitz

Rape of Nanking

• Japanese went into Chinese cities and raped women, murdered men, and terrorized businesses and cities.

• Lasted 6 weeks

Battle of Stalingrad

• Successful soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad

• Turning point in the East and Europe

• German 6th Army cutoff

• Intense street fighting

Battle of Midway

• Crack the Japanese code

• Aircraft carriers

• Turning point in the Pacific

Island-Hopping Campaign

• The method the United States used to defeat Japan

• Didn’t go in one direction and was unexpected

Operation Overlord (June 6th, 1944)

• Joint-Allied Invasion of France

• Largest amphibious assault ever

• 2-front war

• Involved Great Britain, Canada, and the US

1. Yalta Conference (February 1945)

• Meeting of allied leaders

• Postwar reorganization of Europe

Potsdam Conference

• Postwar order

• Dealing with the effects of the war

Atomic Bombs (Hiroshima and Nagasaki)

• Manhattan project

• Trinity test

• Hiroshima (Aug. 6th)

• Nagasaki (Aug. 9th)

Nuremberg Trials

• Trials where Nazi leaders were tried for their war crimes 

• Taken place after the Nazi’s defeat

• Brought justice to victims and started a move towards global peace