WWII Review Flashcards

Modern World History Honors

Blitzkrieg

"Lightning War" Poland was conquered in a few weeks; attack with overwhelming force

Dunkirk

Beach on the coast of France, Dunkirk beach, and they were taken to England- anyone with a boat (fishermen, just anyone with a boat) sailed to Dunkirk to rescue French soldiers; important because The soldiers were able to live to fight another day

De Gaulle

Leader of the French resistance against Germany and became the French president after WWII

Luftwaffe

German Air Force

RAF

Royal Air Force (England)

Battle of Britain

Between England and Germany, air force battle, all major cities were destroyed, people hid in the subway system so that they were safe from the bombs

Operation Barbarossa,

Name for the invasion of the Soviet Union, invaded because he wanted living space to increase the German population, mistake for Hitler because he is going to lose

Stalingrad,

Major turning point, city in Russia; winter hit and Hitler kept his forces stuck in cold Russia and the russians encircled Nazis and forced them to surrender

El Alamein

another turning point, in north africa, victory for England in present day lybia

Operation Torch,

Invasion of Italy, lead by Patton (nicknamed old blood and guts) Mussolini and his mistress were killed

D-Day,

aka Operation overlord, Normandy Invation, bloodiest battle, Allies win forcing germany to fight a two front war (what caused their defeat in wwi) happeneed in france, so bloody because germans were hidign in bomb shells and humans had to go in first before tanks could

Battle of the Bulge-

There was a bulge in the German's occupied territory, Hitler's last chance to keep power

Which of the above 2 battles were considered turning points?

Stalingrad and El Alamein

What were the positive and negative effects of the Dunkirk evacuation?

Soldiers were able to live to fight another day but the Nazis were able to take over northern France

The term "blitzkrieg" would be most associated with Hitler's invasion of _______________

Poland

Who was the leader of England throughout most of WWII?

Winston Churchill

After Hitler invaded and controlled Northern France, Southern France became known as ___________

Vichy France

What country lost the most soldiers as a result of the fighting in WWII?

Soviet Union

Order of battles - D-Day, Operation Torch, Invasion of Poland, Stalingrad, Battle of Britain, Battle of the Bulge

Invasion of Poland, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, Operation Torch, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge