WWII Flashcards

Flashcards about World War II revision, including key agreements, military strategies, figures, reasons for events, and extents of different factors.

Atlantic Charter

A declaration by Roosevelt and Churchill (August 1941) outlining postwar goals: no territorial expansion, self-determination, free trade, disarmament, freedom of the seas, and improved global welfare. It inspired the later formation of the United Nations.

Percentages Agreement

A secret deal in October 1944 between Churchill and Stalin dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence by percentages.

Yalta Conference agreement

The Allies agreed to divide Germany into 4 zones, allow free elections in Eastern Europe, create the UN, and have the USSR join the war against Japan. Poland’s eastern border was moved to the Curzon Line.

Potsdam Conference agreement

Germany was to be demilitarized, democratized, and denazified. Poland’s western border was set at the Oder–Neisse line. The Allies disagreed more than at Yalta due to growing Cold War tensions.

USSR’s military strategy

Massive manpower, “deep battle” tactics, industrial relocation beyond the Urals, and relentless offensives. The Red Army accepted high casualties and used overwhelming artillery and encirclement strategies.

Key Allied technological achievements

Radar and sonar, codebreaking (Enigma), strategic bombers (e.g. B-17), proximity fuses, landing craft, and the atomic bomb.

Japan’s military strategy in WWII

Rapid expansion using carrier-based strikes, surprise attacks (e.g. Pearl Harbor), strong fortifications on islands, and kamikaze pilots in late war. Japan emphasized honor and refused surrender.

Germany’s 1940 campaign

Germany launched Blitzkrieg across Belgium, Netherlands, and France. France collapsed in six weeks. Hitler bypassed the Maginot Line and forced Britain to evacuate at Dunkirk.

Battle of the Atlantic

German U-boats tried to starve Britain by sinking supply ships. Allies responded with radar, sonar, codebreaking, air patrols, and convoy systems.

Winter War

The USSR invaded Finland in Nov 1939 to secure land near Leningrad. Finland resisted fiercely using guerrilla tactics.

Jan Karski

Polish resistance courier who informed the West about the Holocaust and Warsaw Ghetto.

Witold Pilecki

Volunteered to be imprisoned in Auschwitz to organize resistance; executed postwar by communists.

Janusz Korczak

Jewish educator who chose to die with his orphan students in Treblinka.

Karol Estreicher

Art historian who helped recover looted Polish artworks after the war.

Maksymilian Kolbe

Catholic priest who died in Auschwitz by volunteering to take another prisoner’s place.

Krystyna Skarbek

Polish SOE agent and spy for the British; active in sabotage and intelligence.

Stefan Grot-Rowecki

Commander of the Home Army (AK); arrested by the Gestapo.

Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski

Successor to Rowecki; led the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.

Władysław Sikorski

Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile; died in a 1943 plane crash.

Władysław Raczkiewicz

President of the Polish government-in-exile.

Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski

Founder of Service for Poland’s Victory (early resistance).

Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. President during most of WWII; co-author of the Atlantic Charter.

Harry S. Truman

U.S. President who authorized the atomic bombings and confronted Stalin.

Georgy Zhukov

Leading Soviet general; key to victories in Moscow, Stalingrad, and Berlin.

Karl Dönitz

German admiral who led the U-boat campaign and briefly succeeded Hitler.

Winston Churchill

British PM, wartime leader, and co-architect of the Allied strategy.

Bernard Montgomery

British general who led victory at El Alamein and in Normandy.

Erwin Rommel

German general nicknamed “Desert Fox”; respected for North Africa campaign.

Alan Turing

British mathematician who cracked Enigma, aiding Allied victory.

Why did Axis attack Western Europe?

To quickly defeat France and avoid a two-front war. Blitzkrieg tactics through Belgium caught Allies off guard and helped secure ports and resources.

Why did Axis attack the USSR?

To destroy communism, seize land and resources (“Lebensraum”), and eliminate the USSR as a future threat. Hitler expected a quick victory.

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

To neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet and buy time to conquer Southeast Asia. U.S. sanctions threatened Japan’s access to vital resources.

Why did Axis attack Africa?

Italy wanted colonial expansion. Germany intervened to protect Axis interests and secure the Suez Canal after Italy’s failure.

Why did Allies win on the Eastern Front?

The USSR had vast manpower, relocated industry, and received U.S. aid. Soviet resilience and victories at Stalingrad and Kursk turned the war.

Why did Allies win in the Pacific?

U.S. had industrial dominance, broke Japanese codes, used island-hopping, and bombed Japanese cities. Japan couldn’t replace its losses.

Why did Allies win in Africa?

Britain (Montgomery) and the U.S. (Operation Torch) outmaneuvered Axis forces. Rommel was cut off and undersupplied.

Why did Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic?

Improved tech (radar, sonar), Enigma codebreaking, air patrols, and convoy systems allowed Allies to destroy U-boats and secure supply lines.

Why did Allies win in Europe?

Two-front pressure (East and West), strategic bombing, and overwhelming industrial capacity led to Germany’s defeat.

Why did the U.S. drop atomic bombs?

To force Japan’s unconditional surrender, avoid a deadly land invasion, and show power to the USSR.

Why did Allies agree at Yalta?

They still needed unity to win the war. Stalin agreed to join the war against Japan and promised free elections (which the West believed).

Why did Allies disagree at Potsdam?

The war in Europe was over, and Truman was less trusting than Roosevelt. Stalin was already breaking promises in Eastern Europe.

USSR defeated Germany thanks to Stalin – to what extent?

Stalin’s leadership helped, but early mistakes were costly. Soviet victory relied on U.S. aid and German miscalculations.

Hitler lost WWII because of the USSR invasion – to what extent?

Opening a second front and underestimating the USSR was crucial, but earlier decisions also doomed him.

Allied tensions in 1945 were caused by Truman – to what extent?

Truman’s hardline stance escalated conflict, but Stalin’s broken promises and ideological differences were already leading to Cold War division.

Allies organized postwar world according to Atlantic Charter – to what extent?

In Western Europe and through the UN, yes. But in Eastern Europe, Soviet control and political compromise betrayed Charter ideals.

Japan lost because of atomic bombs – to what extent?

The bombs forced quick surrender, but Japan was already near collapse. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria also pressured Japanese leadership.

USA was the biggest WWII winner – to what extent?

It gained global leadership, economic dominance, and nuclear monopoly. But the USSR expanded its territory and emerged as a rival superpower.