World War II and Asian Conflict Lecture Notes

These vocabulary flashcards cover key treaties, military operations, political movements, and post-war systems from the World War II era in both Europe and the Pacific as described in the lecture notes.

Treaty of Versailles

Created on $June 28, 1919$, this agreement held Germany responsible for starting the war and forced them to lose $13\%$ of their territory.

Appeasement

The $1930s$ policy where British PM Neville Chamberlain tried to negotiate settlements with the Nazi party, such as at Munich, to avoid war.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Also known as the Nazi-Soviet Anti-aggression pact formed on $August 23, 1939$, where Germany and the USSR promised not to go to war and agreed to divide Poland.

Blitzkrieg

A strategy involving tanks and planes used by the Axis to quickly take over territory, notably used during the invasion of $1.5$ million troops into Poland on $Sept 1, 1939$.

The Phoney War

The period between $Sept 1939$ and $April 1940$ after the invasion of Poland where seemingly no combat happened between the Western Allies and Germany.

The Blitz

German Luftwaffe terror bombing of major British residential and industrial areas, such as ports, following the failed air campaign against the RAF.

Operation Barbarossa

The Axis invasion of the USSR on $22 June 1941$, involving nearly $10$ million combatants, aiming to conquer territory up to the A-A Line.

Marshal Plan

A $1948$ support program providing low interest loans to European nations to assist with reconstruction after WWII.

Nuremberg Trials

The UN's first big project starting in $Nov 1945$ designed to prosecute high-ranking German officials for war crimes.

Treaty of Kanagawa

A treaty signed on $31 March 1854$ between the USA and Japan that opened Japan to the outside world.

Convention of Peking

An $October 1860$ agreement that forced China to legalise the opium trade and cede northern Manchuria to Russia.

Nanjing decade

A period of prosperity and state building in China occurring between $1928$ and $1937$.

Marco Polo Bridge Incident

A $July 1937$ event that served as the pretext for Japan's second invasion of China.

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

A $1940$ vision for a single economic and political power of Asian states under Japanese control, promoted with the slogan "Asia for Asians".

Pearl Harbor

A surprise Japanese attack on a US military base in Hawaii on $Dec 7, 1941$, involving two waves of bombers.

Battle of the Coral Sea

A $May 1942$ naval engagement between aircraft carriers that resulted in a draw but prevented a likely invasion of Australia.

Battle of Midway

A $June 1942$ strategic victory for the Allies where the US attacked the Japanese fleet while they were refueling carriers.

Island hopping

A US strategy of strategically attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others to cut off shipping routes and move faster toward Japan.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The largest naval battle in history ($Oct 1944$), involving $280$ warships and the first use of Kamikaze bombers by Japan.

Manhattan Project

A top-secret project started in $1942$ that employed over $120 000$ workers and cost $\$2$ billion to develop the first atomic bomb.

IMTFE

The International Military Tribunal for the Far East established in $1946$ to indict $28$ high-ranking officials for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

Bretton Woods System

A system established in $1944$ by $44$ Allied nations that froze exchange rates relative to the US dollar, making it the main currency for international trade.