ww2 test

what was the the molotov-ribbentrop pact?

it was a treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union where they agreed not to attack each other and defend each other when one of them were attacked by another country, and also to split poland between them

what was the event where ww2 was officially started?

when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland together from opposite sides

why was the molotov-ribbentrop pact beneficial for both the leaders of Germany and the Soviet Union

they both gained territory, were protected from agressors, and gained power

what is rhineland and what is it’s significance?

a territory in southern Germany along the Rhine river, it was significant because it was in a valuable location and helped whoever had control of it to have resources, leading to a strong military and power

what did Germany do to gain back power after WW1?

they took back the territory they lost from the Treaty of Versailles - they occupied Rhineland and took Austria, Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia without firing a shot. They also demanded back the “polish corridor” (land carved out of Germany to create Poland after ww2) and formed the Axis Powers (Japan, Italy, Germany)

how was ww2 different than ww1?

there was more advanced technology for weapons and transportation (tanks and bombs), which allowed for more powerful militaries. it was also more fast-paced within civilian areas instead of battlefield (urban instead of trenches)

What was the Blitzkrieg attack?

a surprise attacked launched by Hitler on Poland where they used overwhelming force (tanks, soldiers, planes) to get through their defense and throw their army offbalance

What was the aftermath of the Blitzkrieg attack and why did it happen?

Britain and France declared war on Germany, who did this in order to avoid a long war and just get back his land Germany used to have

what was the winter war?

Finland fought against the Soviet Union’s red army in Finland - the Soviet Union invaded Finland because they thought Finland could ne a base enemies attacked from, but Finland believed the Soviet Union just wanted to expand their territory

how did the Soviet Union justify invading Finland?

they attacked on of their towns on the border amd used that attack as an excuse to “defend themselves” (“false flag attack”)

What advantage did Finland have in the winter war?

they were very prepared for the weather conditions because they had equipment they could use to fight easier in those conditions, knew how to work through the terrain, and could camouflage into the snow

What happened during the invasion of Dunkirk?

British and French soldiers were trapped in Dunkirk, France because German troops pushed them North there, so the British navy and civilian ships helped rescue 300,000 people.

What mistake did Hitler make during Dunkirk

He called off the tank attack of Dunkirk

explain what happened around the battle for Germany to get Britain

Germany need control of the skies in order to get air superiority against Britain so that they could invade. The British had the advantage of radar technology to protect themselves, and the German air force started doing night raids with bombs in order to destroy Britain

what was operation Barbosa?

because Hitler could not invade Britain, he shifted his attention to the Soviet Union. He attacked with Blitzkreig and was able to get 500 miles in, but the Russians used scorched earth and the weather got so cold that the Germans began to suffer massively

What are the 3 rationales for bombing civilian cities?

total war (war was in all aspects of society, so cities and the factories in them are legitimate targets), ending the war (bombing civilians would maybe make the country surrender and help it end sooner), and defense (the only way stop them is by destroying them)

how were civilians in England affected?

they lived in constant fear of being attacked and had to take extreme precautions like living in the darkness, they had to live in temporary shelters but bad living conditions after losing their homes, and they had to use foods stamps so that soldiers could get food

how were civilians in Germany affected?

they lived in constant terror, many were killed during constant fires and bombs, they fled the country to avoid terror, hundreds of thousands of women were raped by Soviet soldiers

how were civilians in Japan affected?

huge atomic bombs were dropped so: their homes were destroyed, people had lifelong trauma and physical damage, many innocent people died, and fear or getting hit at any time

how was the United States involved in the war?

many americans wanted to be neutral in the war and there were neutrality acts passed to keep them out of it, but President Roosevelt know they would be brough in if Britain or the Soviet Union fell, so he passed the Lend-Lease act to lease weapons and supplies to allies (they attacked German ships and escorted British ships)

why did Japan attack America?

After Japan invaded China once they grew stronger from Western imperialism, an American boat was attacked (And they are a Chinese ally), so they attacked Japanese military resources and announced a trade embargo on oil during shortages so Japan resorted to total war

What happened once America joined the war?

they joined Britain and the Soviet Union to formed an alliance (Britain and America using planes, Soviet Union on the ground - facing Hitler and suffering casualties). The Soviets wanted to launch a naval invasion to open a second front and America tells Stalin to wait.

What was the purpose of the Nazis capturing Stalingrad?

to take control of the industry so they had major control over the city, especially their supplies/weapons

How did the Soviet Troops gain the upper hand in the Battle of Stalingrad?

they launched a counterattack on Germany to trap them there and cut off their supplies

what was the result of the battle of stalingrad?

the city was destroyed, many soldiers died, soviets had more control to push the Germans away after they surrendered

What did people face during the battle of stalingrad?

people were violently wounded and killed, and animals, keeping them from having food. They had no resources and had to deal with their families being destroyed.

describe the battle of stalingrad a little bit

Hitler was experiencing urban warfare for the first time and wanted to capture oil fields, expecting it to take 6 weeks. The soviets had the superior tank and Hitler though Von Paulus would commit suicide because no field marshals had been captured alive before

why was Hitler excited to hear about the Pearl Harbor attack?

he hoped this would divert suplies away from the Soviets and British, although he didn’t think about America’s indisutrial power and US economy supported massive wartime build up

what was the effect on US indistries as they entered the war?

factories starting producing war supplies instead of consumer goods, providing 2/3 of all Allied military equipment, causing their production to double in size

What were the US and Britain planning for D-Day?

they secretly built up a massive invasion force and opened a second front to launch a naval invasion across the English channel while tricking Hitler to belive they would invade Calais instead by creating a decoy army

What happened during D-Day?

156,000 allied troops stormed 5 normandy beaches to take the fight directly to Nazi Germany and the Soviets pushed from the first front so that Hitler could not win a 2-faced war (it ended 11 months later)

what is genocide?

a systematic killing of a specific group of people with the goal of destroying the entire grou

who were the victims other than jewish people?

Roma (gypsies), afro-germans, people with disabilities, groups that defied social norms

how did Nazis determine who was Jewish?

family ancestry, information from neighbors and officials, census records, synagogue membership list, parish records, other paperwork

what were the 3 holocaust stages?

exclusion (executing jews from mainstream life with discriminatory laws and taking away financial resources), concentration (containing them within ghettos or concentration camps), extermination (they moved them from concentration to extermination camps where they routinely murdered them - Nazis were “mobile killing untits”)

what were the names of the side 1. against japan and 2. against Nazis

pacific and european