World War 2

Once in power, what did Hitler do with Germany’s military that was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles

he builds it up… tripled the size of his army and created a German air force.

What is the definition of appeasement?

an effort to avoid war at all costs

What is the Rhineland and why was it significant?

region of western Germany along the Rhine River that borders the Netherlands, Belgium France. Germany couldn’t station troops there but Hitler ordered his army to invade and re occupy this area but he got no rejections from any other countries.

Why was the lack of response from England and France to the reoccupation of the Rhineland significant in the rise of Hitler?

it allowed Hitler to speed up his timetable for the conquest of Europe.

What was the Anschluss?

Hitler occupies Austria without a firing a shot.

What is / where is the Sudetenland?

land in Czechoslovakia that was taken from Germany at the end of WW1- had many important natural resources. Hitler threated to invade.

Why did Hitler claim that the Sudetenland belonged to Germany?

many people who lived there were ethnically German and still thought of themselves as German

What was the purpose of the Munich Conference? 

In response to the crisis brewing in the Sudetenland, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain called for a meeting of diplomats from Germany Italy France and England

What was the outcome of the Munich Conference?

Agreed to let Hitler annex the Sudetenland in return for his agreement not to invade the rest of Czech. Hailed as a great success for managing to avoid war

What British Prime Minister is most associated with the policy of “appeasement?”

chamberlain

With what nation did Hitler negotiate a “non-aggression” pact?  Why?

 Stalin not a formal peace treaty, but an agreement not to fight one another. Hitler understood the need to avoid a two front war.)

With what action did Hitler begin WW2?  When did it happen?

September 1, 1939 Hitler sends his armies into Poland

How did England and France respond to the invasion of Poland?

England and France declare war on Germany

What territories, held by the US, were threatened by Japanese expansion in the Pacific?

Hawaii, Midway, Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines

Why did the Japanese feel the need to expand territorially?

wants new sources of raw materials especially oil and iron and to find new markets to keep its economy rolling

What did the US do to try and end Japanese expansion/militarism?

imposes an embargo on materials that Japan needed to maintain its military and war efforts primarily oil and steel

What did the Japanese decide to do as their best option?

estroy the U.S. navy so they will have time to defeat the Chinese and others in Asia to take the resources they need.

Where did the Japanese attack the U.S.?  On what date?

Peral Harbor- December 7, 1941

What failure in the attack on Pearl Harbor would be costly for the Japanese?

they missed the 3 aircraft carriers

Who was Prime Minister of England during the fighting of WW2

Churchill

What nations were invited to the munch conference attend?  Notably, which nation was not invited to attend?

France and England… no CzechsWhat two nations did Hitler attack in order to cut off England from access to the Baltic Sea?

What two nations did Hitler attack in order to cut off England from access to the Baltic Sea?

Denmark and Norway

How was the invasion of France basically a “variation on the Schlieffen Plan?”

they had the same strategy where they were going to hook through Belgium. they did this plan to try to avoid the border of France

Where were the British and French forces trapped and nearly annihilated before a dramatic rescue across the English Channel?

Dunkirk

What humiliation did Hitler put on the French when they surrendered to Germany?

Hitler forces the French to surrender documents in the same rail car used at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles

What was the Vichy government?

This is a puppet state of Hitlers Germany. They are forces to work with Germany's war efforts in Asia and North Africa

What was the code name for Germany’s planned invasion of England?

operation sea lion

What significant advantages did the English have in the “Battle of Britain?”

the radar. knew when and from what direction the Germans were coming could intercept them with their fighter planes

What was “the Blitz?”

bombing of cities and population centers to terrorize the citizens

What Axis power started the fighting in North Africa?

Italy- German troops were sent later

Why was the Suez Canal so strategically important?

is the shortest maritime route from Europe to Asia

Who was Erwin Rommel? 

(desert fox) is an excellent tank commander begins defeating the British in battle after battle

Why was Erwin Rommel sent to North Africa?

to help the French European African theater

What was the code name for the U.S. entry into the war in North Africa?  What was the plan’s strategy?

operation torch… land in morocco, take pressure off the British in East, Fought against some French troops who were fighting under Nazi orders.

Where did Hitler decide to invade when the plan to take England failed?  What was the code name for this invasion?

soviet union… Operation Barbarossa

What were the three main targets for the invasion of the Soviet Union?

Leningrad, Moscow, and the oil field of the caucuses mountain region

Why did the invasion of the Soviet Union fail?  How many German soldiers died during it?

Hitler tries to get the oil fields but Germans fail to capture the city of Stalingrad. there were 800,000 German casualties (killed and wounded).

what two examples of Germany’s anti-Semitism before the war made it clear that the Nazis were going to attack Jews

Nuremberg laws and Kristallnacht

why weren’t Jewish people all able to leave Germany before the Holocaust

many who did get out fled to countries that Hitler would later conquer and would find themselves again under his control

about how many Jews lived in Germany prior to WW2

600,000

what were concentration camps used for other than just killing

were slave labor camps held to make war materials

who was Josef Mengele

doctors that did medical experiments in concentration camps

what were the ghettos in the cities inside Nazi territory

segregated parts of the city only Jews lived in… crowded and given little in way of resources, Jewish collaborators were recruited to help police the ghettos

what happened at the Wannsee conference

meeting of high level Nazi officials to create a "final solution”. published a protocol that clearly laid out the plans for removal and disposal of the Jewish populations of territories held by Germany

were did the first systematic attempts to kill Jews take place

in the ghettos by a mobile killing squad

what were the first methods used by the Nazis to systematically kill jews

machine guns and burried in a mass grave, mobile killing squads,

why did Nazi leaders adopt the gas chamber method for killing jews

it was quicker and could kill more people in a faster amount of time

what was the biggest and worst of the concentration camps

Auschwitz

how many jews were killed in the holocaust

6-7 million

how many children were killed in the holocaust

1 million

what other groups besides Jews ere also exterminated in the holocaust

Gypsy, mentally ill, or physically disabled

what was the rape of Nanking

after capturing the city, the japanese went on 6 week rampage ultimately killing up to 300,000 people- ½ of the city population.

how did Japanese soldiers feel about anyone who allowed themselves to be captured by an enemy

to be captured alive was considered a terrible disgrace to oneself and ones family

most known Japanese war crimes were perpetrated on whom

POWs

what was the Bataan death march

forces surrendered to the Japanese. troop had nearly starved to death during the siege of Corregidor. were forced to march 65 mile through the jungle to POW camps. many were starved to death beaten or killed if too weak to walk during the journey

how were prisoners mistreated by the Japanese

denied food and medicine. often murdered by Japanese prisoner guards

how did the war in the pacific go for the Japanese in the early months… why

where did a naval battle take place that was a major defeat for the Japanese. what was the significance of this defeat

battle of midway- this was the first major U.S. victory

what was the fighting like for the island of Okinawa

what was the Manhattan project. why was it so important to the US government

secrete project to develop the atomic bomb before germany

what U.S. president made the division to use atomic weapons. why was it him instead of Roosevelt

FDR died and truman had to take over.

where were the two atomic bombs dropped

Hiroshima, Nagasaki

what was the operational code name for the allied invasion of Normandy

d-day

when did d day happen

june 6th 1944

what are two things were unique about the Normandy invasion

first use of paratroopers in modern warfare, and they came in from water

what was the significance of the battle of bulge

Germans were pushed back and were never able to mount any further attacks

what allied nation captured berlin

Soviet Union

how did Hitler die

commits suicide

where were war crimes trials held after WW2… why there

Nuremberg because they reference Nuremberg laws

what were the Nazis accused of in the war crimes trials

crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity

how many people total were killed in WW2

72 million

what was the cost of WW2 in todays dollars

4.2 trillion

why do England and U.S. and France not trust the soviet union

they only joined allied efforts when they were attacked by Hitler

what was decided at the Potsdam conference

Soviets occupied and control of most of eastern Europe. Are allow to keep control and install communist gov in many countries there. Divide Germany into zones of control. Also divide city of berlin into sectors

what two countries emerged as leaders of the world following WW2

United States and USSR

what nations became communist client states of the USSR

Czechoslovakia Poland Hungary Romania Yugoslavia and Bulgaria

what was problematic about the situation in Berlin

The division of berlin had made it relatively easy for east Germans under harsh rule to escape into western Germany. East German gov decided to build a wall in berlin to prevent passage in 1961

what was the berlin airlift… why did it happen

flew supplies over the berlin wall into East Berlin

what three proxy wars were fought on behalf of the US and USSR after WW2

Korea (1950-1953)

Vietnam (1955-1975)

Afghanistan (1979-1989)

when does Germany surrender

V-E day, May 8th 1945