Road to World War 2

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Flashcards covering the key events and policies leading up to World War 2, focusing on Hitler's actions and the international response.

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144 Terms

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Hitler

A political figure whose rise in Germany is often debated as a potential cause of World War II.

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Wall Street Crash

The stock market crash that had a global impact and affected Germany significantly.

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Reasons for German people voting for Hitler

Reasons include restoring pride, solving unemployment, blaming Jews, fear of communists, Hitler's speaking ability, Nazi image, propaganda, and desire for a strong leader.

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Hitler’s Foreign Policy Goals

Reversing the Treaty of Versailles, creating a 'Greater Germany', and creating ‘living space’.

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Rhineland

The region remilitarized by Hitler in 1936.

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Sudetenland

Territory gained by Germany in 1938 after the Munich Crisis.

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Anschluss

The union of Germany and Austria in 1938.

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1933

The year Germany left the League of Nations.

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1935

The year conscription was re-introduced in Germany.

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Anti-Comintern Pact

The pact signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan in 1937.

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Czechoslovakia

In March 1939, German soldiers invaded the rest of __.

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Nazi-Soviet Pact

Pact between Germany and Russia agreeing not to fight each other and secretly dividing Poland.

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Poland

The nation invaded by Germany in September 1939, triggering World War II.

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Hitler

A political figure whose rise in Germany is often debated as a potential cause of World War II.

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Wall Street Crash

The stock market crash that had a global impact and affected Germany significantly.

16
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Reasons for German people voting for Hitler

Reasons include restoring pride, solving unemployment, blaming Jews, fear of communists, Hitler's speaking ability, Nazi image, propaganda, and desire for a strong leader.

17
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Hitler’s Foreign Policy Goals

Reversing the Treaty of Versailles, creating a 'Greater Germany', and creating ‘living space’.

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Rhineland

The region remilitarized by Hitler in 1936.

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Sudetenland

Territory gained by Germany in 1938 after the Munich Crisis.

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Anschluss

The union of Germany and Austria in 1938.

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1933

The year Germany left the League of Nations.

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1935

The year conscription was re-introduced in Germany.

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Anti-Comintern Pact

The pact signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan in 1937.

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Czechoslovakia

In March 1939, German soldiers invaded the rest of __.

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Nazi-Soviet Pact

Pact between Germany and Russia agreeing not to fight each other and secretly dividing Poland.

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Poland

The nation invaded by Germany in September 1939, triggering World War II.

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Treaty of Versailles

Treaty that imposed harsh terms on Germany after World War I.

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'Greater Germany'

The idea of uniting all German speakers into one country.

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Lebensraum ('living space')

The concept of acquiring territory for German expansion.

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Rhineland

A region between Germany and France that was to be demilitarized according to the Treaty of Versailles.

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Conscription

The act of re-introducing military draft, violating the Treaty of Versailles.

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Anti-Comintern Pact

A pact aimed against the Communist International.

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Sudetenland

A region of Czechoslovakia inhabited by many ethnic Germans.

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Anschluss

The political union of Austria with Germany.

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Nazi-Soviet Pact

The pact ensuring non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union.

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Poland

The invasion of this country marked the start of World War II.

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Blitzkrieg

German strategy of 'lightning war'.

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Battle of Britain

The air battle between the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air Force.

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The Holocaust

Mass extermination of Jews and other groups by the Nazis during World War II.

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Nuremberg Laws

Laws that stripped Jews of their rights and property in Germany.

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Kristallnacht

Night of Broken Glass, in which Jewish synagogues and businesses were vandalized.

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Ghettos

Segregated areas in cities where Jews were forced to live.

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Einsatzgruppen

Special action squads responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting.

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Death Camps

Extermination camps designed for mass murder.

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Auschwitz-Birkenau

Most infamous death camp, located in Poland.

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The Shoah

Systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.

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Nuremberg Trials

International military tribunal held in Nuremberg to prosecute Nazi war criminals.

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Appeasement

The act of appeasing an aggressive power to avoid conflict.

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Neville Chamberlain

Prime Minister of Britain who pursued a policy of appeasement towards Hitler.

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Munich Agreement

Conference where Britain and France allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland.

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Isolationism

Policy of remaining apart from the affairs or interests of other groups, especially the political affairs of foreign countries.

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Neutrality Acts

U.S. policy of neutrality at the beginning of World War II.

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Lend-Lease Act

Allowing the U.S. to lend or lease war materials to countries whose defense was vital to the U.S.

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Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack by the Japanese on a U.S. naval base in Hawaii, leading to U.S. entry into World War II.

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Axis Powers

Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

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Allied Powers

Alliance between Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, and other nations.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.

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Joseph Stalin

Soviet leader during World War II.

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Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister during most of World War II.

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Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. president during most of World War II.

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Battle of Stalingrad

Turning point in the Eastern Front, marking a major defeat for Germany.

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D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy, France, marking the start of the liberation of Western Europe.

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Battle of the Bulge

Last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II.

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Pacific Theater

Island-hopping campaign by the U.S. in the Pacific to get closer to Japan.

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Battle of Midway

Naval battle that was a turning point in the Pacific War.

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Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who crashed their planes into Allied ships.

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Manhattan Project

Secret American project to develop the atomic bomb.

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Hiroshima

City on which the first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945.

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Nagasaki

City on which the second atomic bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945.

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V-J Day

Formal surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945, marking the end of World War II.

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V-E Day

Victory in Europe Day, marking the Allied victory in Europe on May 8, 1945.

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United Nations

International organization founded after World War II to promote peace and cooperation.

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Cold War

Ideological and geopolitical struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies.

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Containment

U.S. policy of preventing the spread of communism.

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Marshall Plan

U.S. aid program to help rebuild Europe after World War II.

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NATO

Military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western European nations.

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Warsaw Pact

Military alliance between the Soviet Union and its satellite states.

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Iron Curtain

Dividing line between Western and Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

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Totalitarianism

A state in which the government plans and controls all aspects of economic and social life.

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Fascism

A political ideology or movement that exalts nation and race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

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Totalitarianism

Government control over all aspects of a nation's life.

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Dictatorship

A political system headed by a dictator in which the government controls all aspects of society.

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Isolationism

Policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs.

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Racism

The belief that race determines traits and capabilities.

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Antisemitism

Anti-Jewish prejudice

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Nuremberg Laws

Laws that excluded Jews from German citizenship and forbade marriages between Jews and Germans.

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Kristallnacht

A destructive rampage against Jewish communities.

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Ghettos

Areas where the Jewish population was forcibly isolated.

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Einsatzgruppen

Mobile killing units.

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Final Solution

The Nazi policy of exterminating European Jews.

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Extermination Camp

A camp where prisoners were systematically exterminated.

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Genocide

The deliberate mass murder or physical extinction of a particular racial, political, or cultural group.

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Fascism

Political philosophy that glorifies the state above the individual stressing the need for a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler.

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Totalitarian State

A government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.

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State Corporatism

A political system in which the state and government are used to mobilize resources to achieve economic modernization.

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Joseph Goebbels

Propaganda minister for Nazi Germany.

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Heinrich Himmler

Leader of the SS.

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SS (Schutzstaffel)

Elite security force of the Nazi regime.

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Gestapo

Secret police force of the Nazi regime.

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Great Depression

The economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash of 1929.