WW2

Great Depression

A time of utter economic disaster in the United States and the rest of the world; contributed to the Nazi Party's rise to power and Japanese imperialism.

Josef Stalin

Communist dictator of the USSR (Soviet Union)

Adolf Hitler

Fascist dictator of Germany.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy

Hideki Tojo

Prime Minister of Japan.

Mein Kampf

A book written by Adolf Hitler during his imprisonment in 1923-1924, in which he set forth his beliefs and his goals for Germany

Lebensraum

Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people

Manchurian Incident

In 1931, Japanese army officers blew up tracks on a Japanese owned Railroad line and claimed the Chinese did it. In "self-defense" the Japanese invaded and occupied a region of China.

Munich Agreement (1938)

An agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

Appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war.

Communism

A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Fascism

A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition

Totalitarianism

A political system in which the government has total control over the lives of individual citizens and eliminates all opposition.

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I. Forced Germany to give up land, pay exorbitant war reparations, and demilitarize.

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

Racist and anti-Semitic laws designed by Hitler 'to protect the pure German blood.' Took away German citizenship from Jewish, Romani, and Black people and banned marriage between these groups and 'Germans'; forced Jewish people to wear yellow stars in public

Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)

Nazi-organized riot against Jewish people on November 9, 1938

Nationalism

A feeling of loyalty and pride in one's country, often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries

Hyperinflation

Inflation that is out of control, resulting in ridiculously high prices (and low value of money); occurred in Germany due to Treaty of Versailles and The Great Depression and paved the way for Hitler to take power

League of Nations

An organization of nations formed after World War I to promote cooperation and peace, but ultimately proved ineffective.

Four countries invaded by the Axis Powers before WWII

Manchuria, Abyssinia, China, Czechoslovakia

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

Stab in the Back Myth

the belief that the German Army did not lose the First World War on the battlefield, but were instead betrayed by the communists, socialists and Jews on the home front.

Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that enabled those two powers to **partition Poland** between them.

Maginot Line

A fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border

Causes of WW2

treaty of Versailles, great depression, nationalism/totali

tarianism, league of nations, appeasement

How did the British escape Dunkirk?

By civilian boats

Enigma

a famous **encryption machine** used by the Germans during WWII to transmit coded messages.

The man who cracked Enigma

Alan Turig (he built a machine that could decipher it)

The name of the operation to invade the Soviet Union

Operation Barbarossa

The reason for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan was most directly threatened by the US army, they wanted to weaken the US, and they thought they could do so by attacking the US army.

Lend-Lease Act of 1941

the U.S. government could lend or lease (rather than sell) war supplies to any nation deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.

Selective Service Act of 1940

First peacetime draft in US history. Used until 1973 to fill military needs. After 1973, US military depended on volunteers to fill needs

Which people were sent to internment camps in the US?

Japanese Americans

Germany

Japan

Italy

Soviet Union

Spain

United States

Great Britain

Hitler

Hideki Tojo

Benito Mussolini

Joseph Stalin

Francisco Franco

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Winston Churchill

The pact between Japan and which world leader before the invasion of China

Tripartite Pact

The three steps of Blitzkrieg

Attack, penetrate, encircle

Wolfpacks

created by Karl Donitz

Step 1) U-Boat spots allied convoy, relaying its coordinates and secretly follow it

Step 2) Other U-Boats converge on the convoy

Step 3) U-Boats sink convoy