Causes of WW2 for Finals

What was the Reichstag?

German parliament

What was Mein Kampf?

a book that meant my struggle by Hitler. He wrote it in prison and it outlined his plans for Germany’s future

What was the Enabling Act? What is a result of this happening (what country is affected and why)

law that the Reichstag passed that gave Hitler personal emergency powers to govern (do whatever he wants) and when this happens germany is no longer free.

what was führer?

title of leader given to Hitler - he combined offices of chancellor and president to make his own position

What was Kristallnacht?

The Night of The Broken Glass - Naziz launched attacks on Jewish communities in Germany. many were killed, many jewish businesses were stolen from and windows were smashed

What factors encouraged a totalitarian govt. in Germany to develop?

economic instability - super inflated prices - people got poor

political diviions (ppl had diff. beliefs)
Hitler saw the opportunity to lead…

Primary leader after WW1 and name of his political party?

Hitler - Nazi party

how did Hitler gain power?

tries to present himself as a source of stability
controlled police force
made new laws to give himself power
gets rid of his political rivals
created messages that would appeal to many interested in german nationalism/racism (propaganda campaigns)
runs and participates in ILLEGAL elections

How did Hitler try and appeal to the people?

launched intense propaganda campaigns - created messages that appealed to people ready to support german nationalism (he promised ppl stuff)

created people who were targets and could just get blamed for problems

how did Hitler further control Germany?

convinced Reichstag to pass Enabling Act - all power to Nazis
attacked and took control of Jewish people

US presidents during WW2?

Roosevelt and Truman

lebensraum

living space (Hitler says Germany needs more territory)

blitzkrieg

lightning war in German

How did ww2 start? (6 reasons)

Germany invaded Poland

Hitler gets control of Germany
Economic issues in Europe
Allies declared war on germany
germany invades France, Belgium, and eventually Russia

Germany uses blitzkrieg to overwhelm other armies by surrounding them with tanks and troops in trucks

Fascism definition and significance? Countries that become fascist?

political beliefs saying that indivual ppl are less important than the nation as a whole
glorifies and believes violence is needed to prove strength
uses racism, nationalism, dictatorships
Italy and Germany become fascist

In ww2, name the two types of powers and countries that they consisted of

Axis - Germany, Italy, Japan
Allied - Britain, USSR, US, France

What did Hitler even want in ww2 (beginning)?

militarism - he started to rearm Germany which broke the Treaty of Versailles
lebensraum
Austria peacefully annexed
Sudenten land - Czechoslovakia land given to Germany by Britain and France
Hitler invaded rest of Czechoslovakia, continued on to Poland

Causes of ww2

W.A.R.
WW1 and treaty of versailles/how ww1 ended
appeasement
rise of totalitarianism

What WAS ww2?

largest war in human history
involved places all around the world , 6 out of 7 continents
over 70 mil died
LASTED FROM 1939 TO 1945

Ww1 and treaty of Versailles?

germany lost land
war reparations (punishments)
allies collect money to pay war debt
Germany has to pay 100s of billions (modern day equivalent)
Germans are embarassed, bankrupt, poordesperate people, desperate leaders

appeasement - definition and significance

giving someone smth to make them happy so they leave you alone
hitlr demanded land from other people that wasn’t Germany and others just gave it to him to make him happy

nations were trying to prevent war but it did not work
this showed Hitler he could do whatever he wanted

Rise of totalitarianism

system where leader and state have total control
the nation’s needs are viewed as way more important than the individual

- no voting rights, free speech
- govt controlled economy
- relies on police state/military presence

what are some places that had totalitarianism around ww2? what types of toalitarianism

ussr - communist dictatorshipgermany and Italy - fascist dictatorship
Japan - military dictatorship

important figures in ww2?

adolf Hitler - germany
Joseph Stalin - ussr
Benito Mussolini - Italy
Hideki Tojo and Emperor Hirohito - Japan

Japan involvement in ww2

wanted to be a world power
invaded China and hoped to dominate southeast asia

adopted total war style
after ww1, many leaders were tried for war crimes (including Tojo)