AP European History: Chapter 17

"Race and Space"

Nazi goals of so-called racial purification and territorial expansion

National Socialism

an extreme focus on a country's ideal population

aryanization

taking of Jewish companies/lands to give them to "pure" Germans

German "volk"

people who shared a common German culture, history, and language

- in Nazi Germany, this was often used to describe those with Hitler's desired features (blond hair, blue eyes)

Lebensraum

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

Saar Basin

a territory rich in coal that Hitler sought to control

Silesia

area in Poland that Hitler sought to control, inhabited by a large Jewish population

Treaty of Locarno (1925)

Germany gives land to the allies, allowing Germany to become a part of the League of Nations

Volksgemeinshaft

"People's community"

- desired by Hitler

- goods produced within Germany to help the German community

Mukdan Incident

Japan stages a small explosion on a Chinese railway in Manchuria

- both countries are part of the League of Nations

- Japan blamed Chinese nationalists for the incident and used the opportunity to retaliate and invade Manchuria

- League of Nations deems Japan the aggressor; Japan refuses to accept this and leaves the LoN while staying in Manchuria

Manchuria

Province in northeast China invaded by Japan in September 1931 (Mukdan Incident)

Geneva Disarmament Conference (1933)

League of Nations discusses that they do not want another war

- reduce weaponry (especially Germany's)

- Germany withdraws from the League as a result

- no one will hold Germany accountable as a result; Germany increases its air force to 500,000

air force

section of Germany's military that is increased from 100,000 to 500,000 upon Germany withdrawing from the League of Nations, violating the Treaty of Versailles

German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact (1934)

10 year agreement in which Germany and Poland agreed to resolve disputes peacefully and avoid armed conflict

- because of this, Britain and France begin to get nervous and seek to slow Hitler's ambitions

Anglo-German Naval Pact (1935)

created by England and France in order to slow Hitler's ambitions; allows Hitler to build a navy up to 40% the size of Great Britain's

- one of the first signs of appeasement

appeasement

countries easing relations with an aggressive nation

Abyssinian crisis

Mussolini (Italy) invades Abyssinia (Second Italo-Ethiopian War), as they are salty about the first loss

- Ethiopia is a member of LoN, lead by Halie Selassie, calls LoN to help

- LoN places economic sanctions on Italy (but not on oil)

- FDR paying Italy to "develop" Ethiopia

Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936)

Italian colonial conquest of Ethiopia in East Africa; drew League of Nations condemnation and Italy's withdrawal from the organization

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Spain falls into a fascist dictatorship

- result of anti-republicanism

- Republicans vs. Fascists (Falangists)

- Falangists led by General Francisco Franco

- created a new wave of art and literature (Hemingway, Picasso)

- leads to a "Diplomatic Revolution"

Falangists

Fascists in Spain during the Spanish Civil War

- led by General Francisco Franco

- supported by Italy and Germany

Republicans

rivaled Falangists in the Spanish Civil War

- supported by US and USSR

Hemingway

prominent writer in the new wave of art and literature following the Spanish Civil War

Picasso

prominent artist in the new wave of art and literature following the Spanish Civil War

Diplomatic Revolution

occurs due to the fascist win in Spain

- Rome-Berlin Axis

- Anti-Comintern Pact

Rome-Berlin Axis (1936)

Hitler, and Mussolini allied themselves together

- signed after both countries had intervened on behalf of the fascist leader Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War

Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

treaty between Germany and Japan promising a common front against communism

- added Japan to Axis powers

Winston Churchill

before WWII, was a British parliament member

- believed Hitler was a man that could be reasoned with before Remilitarization of the Rhineland; then believed that violent action should be taken

Remilitarization of the Rhineland (1936)

Germany violates the Treaty of Versailles and Treaty of Locarno by placing troops in Rhineland

Anschluss (1938)

Germany annexes Austria

Sudetenland

invaded and taken over by Hitler in September 1938, leading to the Munich Conference

- Hitler is told that he can take over this area, but cannot expnd further

Munich Conference

held by the League of Nations in an attempt to hold Hitler accountable

- makes Germany sign a paper saying that they are allowed to keep Sudetenland but that they must stop invading further

- Hitler invades Czechoslovakia 6 months later

Czechoslovakia

invaded by Hitler 6 months after the Munich Conference (March 1939), during which he swore not to invade further

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

A secret agreement between the Germans and the Russians that said that they would not attack each other

- split Poland, leading to the Poland Invasion (1939)

Poland Invasion (1939)

Hitler invades this land, making the beginning of the war

- Hitler uses the Luftwaffe and blitzkreig

September 3, 1939

Britain and France/ League of Nations declare war on Germany

Luftwaffe

German Air Force

Blitzkrieg

"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

Katyn massacre

carried out by the Soviets--- mass murder of educated Polish people

Maginot Line

Line of defense built by France to protect against German invasion, but only fortified the German border--- left Belgium border open to attack

June 1940

time at which France "surrenders" to Germany

- to an extent, French welcomed Germany as they agreed with Nazi Germany's antisemitism

raw materials

what Japan sought, as an island nation, encouraging their aggressive expansion

Dutch East Indies/Indonesia

desired by Japan, but they knew they could not get to it because of the strong US naval base at Pearl Harbor + Philippines

- invaded after a successful invasion of the Philippines in 1942

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II

Philippines Invasion

Japanese invade Philippines following their attack onPearl Harbor; successful

Bataan Death March

Brutal march of American and Filipino prisoners by Japanese soldiers in 1942

Dunkirk Evacuation

Mass effort of British citizens to evacuate soldiers from the shores of France when surrounded by German troops

- 330,000 evacuate; seen as a major Allied loss

- US instills Lend-Lease Act after the evacuation

Battle of Britain (1940)

series of air strikes on Britain by Germany from August to November of 1940 in an attempt to gain air supremacy

Lend Lease Act (1941)

The program under which the US supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material between 1941 and 1945

- these countries were seen as important to the US' safety

Operation Barbarossa (1941)

Codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II

- opens the Eastern Front

- Hitler wanted land and to destroy communism

- German forces initially destroy Soviet air force, but end up failing

Desert Campaign

main theatre of the North African campaign; took place in the deserts of Libya and Egypt

- Italy declares war on Egypt and Libya and invades

- General Erwin Rommel leads German Afrika Korps

- Battle of El Alamein is a turning point in favor of Allies

General Erwin Rommel "Desert Fox"

Led the German Afrika Corps in North Africa; broke through British defenses in Egypt, advancing to Alexandria in 1942.

Battle of El Alamein (1942)

turning point in the desert campaign; Allies, led by Bernard Montgomery, halt Axis advance and force a retreat

Bernard Montgomery

British General who cut off Rommel from advancing into Africa and led the Allies in the Battle of El Alamein

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

led the Allied invasion of French North Africa, creating an Allied foothold in North Africa and planned and executed the D-Day invasion at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge

Major General George S. Patton

led US forces to victory (notably in the Battle of El Guettar) in the Allied invasion of North Africa

Battle of El Guettar

US victory in Tunisia against German forces led by George S. Patton

Italian Campaign

Allied forces invade and conquer Italy, aiming to knock Italy out of the war and draw German forces away from the Eastern front

Battle of Stalingrad

Unsuccessful German attack on the city of Stalingrad during World War II from 1942 to 1943, that was the furthest extent of German advance into the Soviet Union

- first major defeat of Germany on the Eastern Front; Soviet victory shifts the balance of power to the allies

- USSR implements scorched earth policy

Scorched Earth Policy

the practice of burning crops and killing livestock during wartime so that the enemy cannot live off the land

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France

- turning point of World War II--- allows Allies to establish a foothold in Western Europe

Battle of the Bulge (1944)

last major German offensive on the Western Front; Allies push German forces back to the Siegfried Line, then focus on crossing the Rhine River

Siegfried Line

The defensive line in Germany opposite the Maginot that separated and protected Germany from France

- German troops pushed back to here by the Allies in the Battle of the Bulge

Battle of Berlin (April 1945)

Soviet Red Army advances into Germany and launches major offensive against Berlin

- Soviet forces capture Berlin

- Fall of Berlin

Rosie the Riveter

symbol of American women who went to work in factories during the war

Hedy Lamarr

Austrian-American actress, inventor--- Created technologies for Bluetooth and Wi-fi

- feminist icon and trailblazer

Women's Auxiliary Army Corps

Unites States army unit created during World War II to enable women to serve in noncombat positions

WACs/WAVES

US female army and navy groups during WWII (noncombat positions)

Executive Order 8802

Also known as the Fair Labor Standards Act, this banned discrimination in the war industries on the basis of race, color, national origin, etc.

- established the Fair Employment Practices Committee

Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)

US--- established with Executive Order 8802 by FDR, prohibited discrimination in any government-related work; increased black employment

Japanese-Americans, German-Americans, Mexican-Americans

minority groups facing increased discrimination following WWII

Eisatzgruppen (1941)

elite Nazi soldiers/Schutzstaffel executed Jews and formulated concentration camps

Wannsee Conference

A meeting of senior government officials and the Schutzstaffel in which the "Final solution" and use of concentration camps were decided in 1942

Vichy

French collaborationist government established in 1940 in southern France following defeat of French armies by the Germans

- essentially a puppet for Germany

Vel D'his Roundup (1942)

mass arrest of Jewish people in Paris by Vichy French police

- Jewish people are deported to Nazi Germany and targeted for extermination

Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre

SS troops massacre 642 people before burning the French village to the ground

- 4 days after D-Day

M.S. Saint Louis

German ocean liner carrying 937 Jewish refugees from Hamburg to Havana, Cuba; was denied entry by Cuba and the US

- refugees had to return to Europe where many died in the Holocaust

Nanjing Massacre

Mass murder of Chinese civilians by Imperial Japanese troops in the capital of the Republic of China

Comfort Women

women and girls who were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied territories before and during World War II