History II Final Study Guide

Adolph Hitler

• Leader of the Nazi Party and Chancellor of Germany

• Wrote Mein Kampf in prison and caused the Reichstag Fire to suspend civil liberties

• Germany

• 1889 - 1945

• He caused WWII, the Holocaust, and destroyed 1400 synagogues & prayer rooms

Joseph Stalin

• Totalitarian dictator of the Soviet Union

• Created a series of 5 Year Plans to overhaul the Soviet economy

• Gori, Georgia

• 1878 - 1953

• He seized control of the economy and set high production quotas on steel, coal, oil, and electricity; he was also murderous and ruthless

Treaty of Versailles

• It was created as a Major Treaty during the Paris Peace Conference

• A document that laid out the plans to keep peace and repair damages

• Paris, France

• June 28, 1919

• It ended WWI, blamed Germany, and caused anger and economic problems.

D-Day

• Allied invasion with The “Big 3” (Stalin, Roosevelt, & Churchill)

• The largest amphibious (sea-to-land) invasion in world history, officially codenamed Operation Overlord.

• Normandy, France

• June 6, 1944

• Helped open a “second front” Stalin had wanted and also opened up a base for the successful liberation of France/Occupied Europe

Pearl Harbor

• December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the US Naval Base in Hawaii

• Destroyed or damaged 20 ships, including 8 battleships

• Destroyed 300 aircraft

• Killed over 2,400 Americans, including 1,177 on the Arizona alone

• The goal overall was Japan wanted oil

Atomic bombs

• U.S. and Japan

• “Little Boy” (1) dropped on Hiroshima by Enola Gay & “Fat Man” dropped on Nagasaki (2) dropped by Bockscar

• Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Japan

• “Little Boy” - August 6, 1945 & “Fat Man” - August 9, 1945

• Did not want the U.S.S.R. to enter the battle and demonstrated U.S. superiority

Mao Zedong

• Communist leader

• He wrote “Little Red Book” and led the Communists to victory after 20 years

• China

• 1893 - 1976

• He is important because with his book, his sayings turned into a book that everyone was required to read at the time

Sputnik and the Space Race

• The Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (USA) were the main competitors in the Space Race.

• The Space Race was a competition to achieve major advances in space exploration, beginning with the Soviet launch of Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite, in 1957.

• The Space Race began in 1957 with Sputnik and continued through major achievements such as the 1969 Apollo 11 Moon landing.

• The competition took place between the USSR and the USA, with achievements occurring in outer space.

• The United States and Soviet Union wanted to demonstrate their technological and scientific superiority during the Cold War. Sputnik's launch caused concern in the U.S. that the Soviets were gaining an advantage in technology and space exploration.

Chernobyl

• The UN estimates that the explosion contaminated 60,000 sq miles of land, and 1,500 miles are heavily irradiated and abandoned. 

• Two people died in the initial explosion, and 28 emergency workers died from acute radiation syndrome

• Chernobyl, Ukraine

• April 1986

• With this explosion, Chernobyl won’t be safe for human habitation for another 20,000 years

Fall of the Berlin Wall

• Mass Protests & Activism that demanded reform and the Soviet policy of “non-intervention” marked the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine

• It occurred due to a mistaken announcement and travel restrictions were lifted “immediately”

• Germany

• November 9, 1989

• It created economic instability and loss of public confidence