AP Euro WW2

Lebenstraum

German term meaning "living space"; the term is associated with Hitler and his goal of carving out territory in the east for an expanding Germany

League of Nations

International organization founded in 1919 to promote world peace and cooperation but greatly weakened by the refusal of the United States to join. It proved ineffectual in stopping aggression by Italy, Japan, and Germany in the 1930s and turned its head to the demands of dictators.

Axis Powers

"Rome, Berlin, Tokyo." Alliance of Italy, Germany, and Japan during World War II that pledged mutual cooperation.

ghettos

Often the most run-down section of a city, where Jews were forced to live. In many, barbed wire or walls enclosed the inhabitants, and they needed special permission to leave.

blitzkrieg

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

Nonaggression Pact

Secret 1939 agreement between German leader Hitler and Soviet Leader Stalin not to attack one another and to divide Poland.

gestapo

the secret police force of the German nazi state, notorious for its terrorism and brutality

Battle of Britain

an aerial battle fought in World War II in 1940 between the German Luftwaffe (air force), which carried out extensive bombing in Britain, and the British Royal Air Force, which offered successful resistance.

Luftwaffe

The German air force before and during World War II

Royal Air Force

The British air force, inflicted heavy losses on the German air force because its planes were aided by a newly developed radar and an excellent systems of communications

Atlantic Charter

1941 pledge signed by US President FDR and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to restore government conquered by Germany and Italy (ie not to take over themselves), free trade and access to resources, freedom from tyranny and want, freedom of thought/religion.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Located in Poland, largest death camp built by the Nazis; over 12 million people died there by means of starvation, diease, and gassing - Jews, Roma, Africans, gays, handicapped; Birkenau is often referred to as Auschwitz II.

Erwin Rommel

"The Desert Fox." Commander of the Axis forces with his "Afrika Corps" in North Africa.

Big Three

Allies during WWII; Soviet Union - Stalin, United Kingdom - Churchill, United States - Roosevelt. Formed alliance in 1941.

D-Day Invasion

Led by Dwight D. Eisenhower in Normandy, June 6, 1944. Successful in lessening Nazi domination of the continent, turning point of WWII, first time Allied forces successfully set foot in Europe.

Yalta Conference

February 1945 meeting of The Big Three to draw up a plan for postwar settlement in Europe. Provisions: The USSR agreed to declare war on Japan in return for concessions in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War. Eastern Europe would be set up w/governments until free elections held, United Nations established.

United Nations

An organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security.

Potsdam Conference

July 26, 1945 - Allied leaders Truman, Stalin and Churchill met in Germany to set up zones of control and to inform the Japanese that if they refused to surrender at once, they would face total destruction.

superpowers

The US and the USSR were the only powerful countries not devastated by WWII, so once it ended they became superpowers because of their economic strength, military forces, and atomic bomb possession.

Third World

Term applied to a group of developing countries who professed nonalignment during the Cold War; Asian, African, Latin American countries that were newly independent with the collapse of colonial empires.

Iron Curtain

a political barrier that isolated the peoples of Eastern Europe after WWII, restricting their ability to travel outside the region

Cold War

The ideological struggle between communism (Soviet Union) and capitalism (United States) for world influence, 1945-1991. The Soviet Union and the United States came to the brink of actual war during the Cuban missile crisis but never attacked one another.

Marshall Plan

A US plan for aiding the European nations in economic recovery after World War II in order to rebuild their countries, in the form of loans that had to be spent on American goods, fueling capitalism. Communist countries did not accept this aid, leading to greater disconnect between the economies of Western and Eastern europe.

Causes of WWII

1. Failure of the Treaty of Versailles to fix pressures/inequities; 2. Economic insecurity eg The Great Depression; 3. Rise of nationalist, industrialist, and imperialist single-party states; 4. Hitler's personal will; 5. Policy of appeasement of democratic countries.

The Japanese Occupation of Manchuria

Japan invaded Manchuria (China) in 1931 and the government surrendered to Japan in 1932. The League of Nations did not intervene and the occupation lasted until the end of WWII.

Instances in which Hitler Defied the Treaty of Versailles

1) Rebuilding German forces in 1935 2) Occupation of the Rhineland in 1936 (demilitarized zone between France and Germany by Treaty); 3. Joining Austria and Germany.

Appeasement

The policy of the France, England, and the US during WWII of ignoring the demands of dictators. Examples include allowing Hitler to rebuild the Germany army, to occupy the Rhineland, to join Austria and Germany

Spanish Civil War

In 1936 a rebellion erupted in Spain after a coalition of Republicans, Socialists, and Communists was elected. General Francisco Franco led the rebellion. The revolt quickly became a civil war. The Soviet Union provided arms and advisers to the government forces while Germany and Italy sent tanks, airplanes, and soldiers to help Franco. Franco won and became Europe's longest reigning fascist dictator, leading until 1975.

Rape of Nanking

For six weeks following the Japanese defeat of the Chinese capital city of Nanking in 1937, Japanese troops brutalized, raped, and murders hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians. This act was part of the Sino-Japanese war, led to long term tensions between China and Japan, and contributed to western sanctions on Japan.

Chiang Kai-shek

General and leader of Nationalist China after 1925. Military dictator whose major goal became to crush the communist movement led by Mao Zedong.

Munich Conference

1938 meeting between British, French,and German leaders in which Germany was given control of the Sudetenland (part of Czechoslovakia) in exchange for German leader Hitler's promise to make no more claims on European territory. He did not follow through on that promise.

Hitler's Invasion of Poland

September 1, 1939. Hitler broke the Munich Conference Agreement by invading Poland, to regain the Polish Corridor ceded by the Versailles Treaty and to persecute Jews, using blitzkrieg technique. England and France declared war days afterwards. Poland fell in October 1939.

Wansee Conference

Held in Berlin in 1942; purpose was to inform senior Nazis and governmental administrators of plans for the "final solution to the Jewish question" ie all Jews would be sent to death camps.

Maginot Line

Line of defense built by France to protect against German invasion. Stretched from Belgium to Switzerland and isolated France from German attack until June 1940, when France fell.

Vichy Regime

Under Marshal Philippe Petain, a puppet government regine under German control, that ran the south 1/3 of France and the North African colonies. The regime promoted anti-Semitism, fear of foreigners, and promoted the ideals of Nazism among French sympathizers. The division of the government following victory of the Allies led to future quarrels in French government for decades later.

Charles De Gaulle

This French general fled from France to London after Germany took over France. In London, he set up a government-in-exile committed to re-conquering France. He went on to organize the Free French military forces that battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944.

Casablanca Conference

Site of 1943 meeting between Roosevelt, Churchill, and representatives of Stalin, in which they agreed to demand an unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki

The sites of the first and second atomic bombs dropped in Japan by the US in 1945. Led to Japanese surrender in September of 1945.

German Surrender (WWII)

May 8, 1945. Russia's Red Army entered Germany from the West, while America crossed via the Rhine River. Cornered, Hitler committed suicide. Berlin was seized and Germany surrendered unconditionally.

Tehran Conference

1943; First major meeting between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war.

Soviet Bloc (or Eastern Bloc)

USSR and its satellite governments in Eastern and Central Europe, which came into formation after WWII.

Western Bloc (or Free World)

US and other democracies/capitalist countries that came into formation after WWII.

The Sitzkrieg

The period of relative military inaction in Europe between the fall of Poland and the fall of France.