FINAL STAR TERMS

✮ First Battle of the Marne ✮

• September 6–10, 1914, near the Marne River in France, about 20 miles from Paris.

• Germany had launched its invasion of France according to the Schlieffen Plan, which aimed to defeat France quickly before turning to fight Russia in the east. By early September, German forces seemed close to victory. However, the Germans underestimated how quickly British forces could mobilize and join the French army. In an unexpected counterattack, British and French troops stopped the German advance. The German army retreated northward, and the battle ended Germany’s hope for a quick victory. Both sides dug trenches. This created a stalemate on the Western Front that lasted for 4 years.

• The battle is important because it prevented Germany from winning the war quickly and led to prolonged trench warfare, allowing allies to maintain control of WF.

✮ The Zimmerman Telegram ✮

The Zimmerman Telegram was a secret diplomatic message sent in January 1917 by Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign minister, to the German ambassador in Mexico. In the telegram, Germany proposed that if the United States entered the war against Germany, Mexico should ally with Germany. In return, Germany promised to help Mexico recover territories it had lost to the United States in the 1840s, including Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. The message was intercepted by British intelligence, who then shared it with the U.S. government. When the American public learned of the telegram, it caused outrage because Germany was encouraging a foreign nation to attack the United States. Combined with Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, the telegram helped push the United States to declare war on Germany on April 6, 1917. The Zimmerman Telegram is important because it directly contributed to American entry into World War I, which shifted the balance of power in favor of the Allies.

✮ Reichstag Fire ✮

• February 27, 1933 in Berlin

• German parliament building caught fire.

• supposedly set by a communist, and Hitler and the German government used it as a pretext to claim that communists were plotting against the government.

• Hitler convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to issue an emergency decree that gave the government expanded powers and limited civil rights.

• This led to the Enabling Act, which effectively gave Hitler dictatorial authority.

• allowed Hitler to legally gain emergency powers and eliminate political opposition, solidifying his control over Germany.

✮ Nuremberg Laws ✮

• passed in September 1935, Germany, under Hitler and the Nazi government.(in nazi germany)

• These racial laws excluded German Jews from citizenship and forbade marriage and relationships between Jews and German citizens.

• The laws defined “Aryans” as those descended from non-Jewish parents or grandparents and legally separated Jews politically, socially, and legally from the rest of German society.

• Important: they institutionalized racial discrimination and were a major step in isolating Jews, reinforcing Hitler’s emphasis on preserving the so-called Aryan race.

✮ Munich Agreement ✮

signed on September 29, 1938, in Munich by Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy. Czechoslovakia was excluded from the meeting even though its territory was being discussed. The agreement allowed Adolf Hitler to occupy the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia with many German-speaking people. Hitler promised that this would be his last territorial demand. The agreement became known as the height of appeasement because Britain and France gave in to Hitler’s demands in hopes of avoiding war. However, it weakened Czechoslovakia because the country lost important defensive land and could no longer properly defend itself.

✮ Pearl Harbor ✮

On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japanese carrier-based aircraft heavily damaged the United States Pacific Fleet and killed thousands of Americans. The attack caused the United States to officially enter World War II. The next day, the United States declared war on Japan, and three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Pearl Harbor was a major turning point because it expanded the war and brought America fully into the conflict.

✮ D-Day (Operation Overlord) ✮

D-Day, also called Operation Overlord, took place on June 6, 1944, during World War II. Allied forces crossed the English Channel from Great Britain to the beaches of Normandy in France. The invasion was led by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower and involved more than 7,000 naval ships supporting the landing of thousands of troops. Within three months, the Allies had landed about 2 million soldiers and hundreds of thousands of vehicles in France. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in history and marked the beginning of the end for Hitler because the Allies gained a foothold in France and were able to push inland through German defenses.