History 311 WWII CSUF Exam 2

Barbarossa Decree

March 30, 1941, Hitler declared that war against Soviet Russia would be a war of extermination, in which both the political and intellectual elites of Russia would be eradicated by German forces, in order to ensure a long-lasting German victory. Hitler underlined that executions would not be a matter for military courts, but for the organized action of the military

Barbarossa

operation of Blitzkrieg that Hitler unleashed to invade the Soviet Union; named after medieval German emperor Friedrich Barbarossa; after Russia's inability to secure their objectives in Finland during the Winter War, Hitler perceived the Soviet army as disorganized and easy to take over; Hitler wanted to attack Leningrad in the North and Kiev in the South; the objective was to destroy the Red Army through attacks that encircled the enemy, "Kesselschlact"; the Germans invaded Russia on 22 June 1941 and Stalin was not aware of the invasion; resulted in total failure for the Germans

Order 227

Issued by Stalin in 1942. Famous for the line "not a step back". Talked about how the Russians needed to defend Russia to their utmost capabilities. Said "every granule of Soviet soil must be stubbornly defended to the last drop of blood"

Commissar Order (Kommissarbefehl)

Issued by Adolf Hitler before Operation Barbarossa. Demanded that any Soviet commissars captured during the invasion be executed. It instructed the Wehrmacht that any Soviet political commissar identified among captured troops be summarily executed as a purported enforcer of the "Judeo-Bolshevism" ideology in military forces. It is one of a series of criminal orders issued by the leadership

General Georgi Zhukov

Soviet General who oversaw the defense of Leningrad and led the counter attack on the German advance on Moscow; bolstered as an expert military strategist and leader

Leningrad

During World War II, this city, named after the great Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin, was surrounded and besieged by the German Wehrmacht; all supplies going into the city were cut off, trapping three million people inside and the Nazis tried to starve them to death; the city was beseiged for 900 days; the city was originally manned by Nikita Khruschchev until his command was relieved by Zhukov

Severity Order (Reichenau Order)

was the name given to an order promulgated within the German Sixth Army on the Eastern Front during World War II by Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau on 10 October 1941; "the most important objective of this campaign against the Jewish-Bolshevik system is the complete destruction of its sources of power and the extermination of the Asiatic influence in European civilization"

Stalingrad (1942)

city in Russia, site of a Red Army victory over the Germany army in 1942-1943. This part of the war in the east was dramatically different to the early years; urban warfare, tight corridors, close quarters combat, snipers, etc.; food was very scarce; It was a turning point in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union

Legend of Zoya

started at the young age of 18 to become a Partisan for the Soviet Union; she was captured November 1941 trying to burn village where Nazi's were headquartered at; she was savagely tortured before she was hanged; "There are two hundred million of us! You can't hang us all!"

Friedrich von Paulus

Field Marshal of the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. Though initially successful in his advance, it ultimately ended in encirclement and surrender. After he was captured, he became a critic of the Nazi Regime

Richard Sorge

codename "Ramsay," operated in Japan; he was a German journalist who was a communist sympathizer and he warned Stalin of German's plans of invading Russia (Operation Barbarossa 1941); he also informed the U.S.S.R. that Japan was not going to attack Russia which allowed Siberian troops to be transported to the front, effectively halting the German advance

28 Panfilov Men

the men, from a larger division led by Major General Ivan Panfilov; they were all killed, but were able to destroy 18 out of 30+ German tanks before they fell. The 28 men were immortalized - posthumously decorated as Heroes of the Soviet Union and had statues erected in their honor at the road to Moscow; Soviet children learnt about their last stand in school. Yet historians say the story is not true

Operation Typhoon (Sep 30, 1941 - Apr 20, 1942)

the German's plan to capture Moscow; Hitler debates with his officers over the need to capture the city immediately and diverts some forces north to Leningrad and south to Kiev. The assault on Moscow did not begin until September, and it was stopped by a Soviet counterattack in December

Konstantin Roskossovky

following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, he played key roles in the defense of Moscow and the counter-offensives at Stalingrad and Kursk. He was instrumental in planning and executing part of Operation Bagration—one of the most decisive Red Army successes of the war—for which he was made Marshal of the Soviet Union.

Walther Model

German general at Battle of Kursk, his assault from the north was a failure, as Ninth Army quickly became enmeshed in the elaborate Soviet fortifications. If he had hoped to gain an advantage by waiting for reinforcements, he had made a critical error: the Red Army's strength in the salient was in fact growing much faster than that of the attacking force. Nor did his tactical plan of attack meet with great success

Operation Citadel

("Battle of Kursk" code name) a German offensive in 1943 designed to destroy the salient (bulge in the line) at Kursk in order to stabilize the front and consolidate the German hold on conquered territory; it was the LARGEST TANK BATTLE IN HISTORY; intended for April but was postponed several times until finally ordered to begin in July; by then Russians knew from their own and British intelligence when and where the attack would occur; the Germans were about to win the battle but Hitler was prompted to pull off the assault and send his forces to Sicily when the Americans invaded; if Manstein could convince Hitler to keep up the initiative, they could've won at Kursk; it drained a significant portion of German forces from the East

Operation Bagration (June 1944)

by June of 1944, the most ambitious Soviet offensive of the war begins; the Soviets launched a massive attack which effectively destroyed Army Group Center and cleared an advance onto Poland

Battle of Kursk (July 1943)

the largest tank battle in human history, resulted in the German's foolishly pulling the forces back under Hitler's desire to send backup to Italy; the best German SS units were used for the battle; Germans never regain initiative in East and it essentially allowed the Soviets to get into Poland and establish a communist government

Erich von Manstein

German field commander and one of Hitler's top general who was in charge of that counterattack that encircled Russian forces following defeat at Stalingrad (1943); proposed a tactical retreat to further trap Russian forces that was rejected by Hitler; devised a plan to destroy a large amount of Russian military armaments and personnel; believed the Germans could give a devastating blow of the Russian army and then prepare for the invasion in the west by the Allies, he would then ship his forces back to the east and win; came up with Operation Citadel.

Prokhorovka

climax of battle; on July 12, the Soviet 5th Guards and Hoth's units were heavily damaged. Historically depicted as death knell of Wehrmacht. Newer evidence shows they inflicted colossal casualties on the Red Army and that the Germans might have won; the Soviets were depicted, on a mythological scale, that both the Soviets and Nazis shared equal losses; in reality, the Nazis were on the verge of victory but pulled off; Hitler pulled back because American forces landed in Italy; Operation Citadel: the operation around Kursk, was closed

Night Witches

was a German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, of the Soviet Air Forces; flew over 23,000 Capt. Maria Dolina, Rufina Gasheva, Nataly Meklin, and fighter pilot Lydia Litvak; bi-planes were the only planes available to them and an attack technique the night bombers utilized was idling the engine near the target and gliding to the bomb-release point with only wind noise left to reveal their presence. German soldiers likened the sound to broomsticks and hence their name

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

the Russian sniper that was nicknamed "Lady Death" and by the end of the war she racked about 300 confirmed kills, she was the top female sniper of all time; she later became friends with Eleanor Roosevelt

Battle of Kiev

a battle in 1941 between Germans and U.S.S.R. troops; the Germans planned destroy the Red Army through a series of great encircling "cauldron" battles or "Kesselschlacht"; ended with the Germans creating the largest encirclement in the history of warfare

Olga Berggholts

a Soviet and Russian poet, writer, playwright and journalist. She is most famous for her work on the Leningrad radio during the city's blockade, when she became the symbol of city's strength and determination

Reichs Commissariat for Strengthening of Germandon

was an office in Nazi Germany, which was held by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler; Hitler appointed Himmler to carry out the following duties: overseeing of the final return to the Reich of the Volksdeutsche and Auslandsdeutsche (Reichsdeutsche who live abroad), prevention of "harmful influence" of populations alien to the German Volkstum, creation of new populated areas settled by Germans, mostly by the returning ones.

The commissioner was therefore responsible for the return, repatriation, and settlement of ethnic Germans who lived abroad, into Nazi Germany and German held territories

Tiergarten 4 Program

Nazi German effort (framed as a euthanasia program) to kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled, emotionally distraught, and elderly people. Adolf Hitler initiated the program in 1939, and, while it was officially discontinued in 1941, killings continued covertly until the military defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945; known as "zoo", resulted in the murder of 70k mentally handicapped starting in 1939

Nuremberg Laws

placed severe restrictions on Jews, prohibiting them from marrying non-Jews, attending schools or universities, holding government jobs, practicing law or medicine or publishing books; these laws embodied many of the racial theories underpinning Nazi ideology. they would provide the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany.

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor

Firm in the knowledge that the purity of German blood is the basis for the survival of the German people and inspired by the unshakeable determination to safeguard the future of the German nation; the Reichstag had unanimously resolved marriages between Jews and citizens of German or some related blood are forbidden, such marriages are invalid, even if they take place abroad in order to avoid the law; sexual relations outside marriage between Jews and citizens of German or related blood are forbidden; Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens of German or related blood who are under 45 years as housekeepers; Jews are forbidden to raise the national flag or display the national colors however, they are allowed to display the Jewish colors, the exercise of this right is protected by the State; anyone who disregards will be punished with imprisonment up to one year or with a fine, or with one of these penalties

Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring

also known as the "Sterilization Law", was a statute in Nazi Germany enacted on July 14, 1933, (and made active in January 1934) which allowed the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who in the opinion of a "Genetic Health Court" suffered from a list of alleged genetic disorders (many of which were not, in fact, genetic); the elaborate interpretive commentary on the law was written by three dominant figures in the racial hygiene movement: Ernst Rüdin, Arthur Gütt and the lawyer Falk Ruttke. The law itself was based on the American Model Eugenical Sterilization Law developed by Harry H. Laughlin

Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code

was a German statute that criminalized sexual relations between men; it did not criminalize sexual relations between women; it predated the Nazi regime; however, the Nazis revised it in 1935 to make it broader and harsher; it was one of the main tools that the Nazis used to persecute gay men and men accused of sexual relations with other men

General Government

was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovakia and the Soviet Union in 1939 at the onset of World War II. The newly occupied Second Polish Republic was split into three zones; the administration was composed entirely of German officials, with the intent that the area was to be colonized by Germanic settlers who would reduce the local Polish population to the level of serfs before their eventual biological extermination

Einsatzgruppen

task forces or special action groups that were units of the Security Police and SD (the SS intelligence service) that followed the German army as it invaded and occupied countries in Europe; often referred to as "mobile killing squads," they are best known for their role in the systematic murder of Jews in mass shooting operations on Soviet territory.

Kristallnacht

(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews; Nazis attack Jewish homes, synagogues and businesses; organized by Minister of Propaganda Josef Goebbels; first time anti-Semitic violence is organized as an official act, despite denial

Korherr Report

the head of the SS statistic department, Richard Korherr, sent in regular reports on the number of Jews killed during Operation Reinhard, the plan to kill Jews between late 1941 and Summer 1943. The Holfe Telegram, a message intercepted by British intelligence (confirmed 3-4 million)

Babi Yar

nazi killing of Jews, the Einsatzgruppen murdered over 33,00 Ukrainian Jews point blank and buried them in a mass grave in a deep ravine outside the Ukrainian city of Kiev over the course of two days (September 29-30, 1941

Operation Reinhard

the codename given to the secretive Nazi plan to mass murder European as well as most Polish Jews in the General Government district. The operation marked the deadliest phase of the Holocaust with the introduction of extermination camps. As many as two million people, almost all of whom were Jews, were sent to Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka which were set up specifically for the operation, to be put to death in gas chambers built for that purpose. In addition, mass killing facilities were developed at the Majdanek concentration camp, and at Auschwitz II-Birkenau near the existing Auschwitz I camp, at about the same time

Reinhard Heydrich

gestapo deputy chief who set out to gain the final solution to the Jewish Question

Heinrich Himmler

German Nazi who was chief of the SS and the Gestapo who oversaw the genocide of six million Jews (1900-1945) and is arguably the most responsible for the Holocaust

Wansee Conference

a high-level meeting of 15 senior Nazi government and SS officials held on January 20, 1942, at a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee. Chained by SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, the meeting's purpose was to coordinate, streamline, and secure the cooperation of various state ministries and agencies in implementing the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question"—the systematic, state-sponsored mass murder of Europe's estimated 11 million Jewish people.

Heinz Guderian

(17 June 1888 - 14 May 1954) was a prominent German army general (Generaloberst), military theorist, and the primary architect of modern armored warfare. Frequently referred to as the "father of the Blitzkrieg" (lightning war), he revolutionized 20th-century combat by pioneering the concept of the independent panzer division.

Philippe Petain

was a French military commander, hero of World War I, and later the head of state of the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II.

Dunkirk

(codenamed Operation Dynamo and widely known as the Miracle of Dunkirk) was a massive World War II military rescue that safely evacuated over 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, between May 26 and June 4, 1940.

Operation Sea Lion

was Nazi Germany's code name for the planned amphibious and airborne invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in World War II. The RAF defeated the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, and the Kriegsmarine could not guarantee safe passage across the Channel. Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely on September 17, 1940, and it was never executed.

Conventy Controversy

the historical debate and conspiracy theory that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had precise advance warning of the November 14, 1940, German bombing of Coventry but intentionally allowed the city to be destroyed to protect the secret that the Allies had cracked the Nazi Enigma code.

Alfred Naujocks

was a notorious German SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) and intelligence operative. Best known as "the man who started World War II," Naujocks was a high-profile "dirty tricks" agent under the command of Reinhard Heydrich in the Sicherheitsdienst (SD)—the Nazi Party's intelligence wing. He is historically defined by orchestrating the Gleiwitz incident, the fabricated, false-flag operation used by Adolf Hitler to justify the invasion of Poland.

J.F.C Fuller

was a pioneering British military strategist whose interwar theories on massed armored mobility directly laid the conceptual foundation for World War II Blitzkrieg tactics. Despite his groundbreaking influence on how WWII was fought, his extreme fascist political views and public admiration for Adolf Hitler prevented him from actively serving in the conflict

Winter War

was a 105-day military conflict fought between the Soviet Union and Finland from November 30, 1939, to March 13, 1940, during the early stages of World War II. The war ended with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty on March 13, 1940. Finland was forced to cede about 11% of its territory (including the Karelian Isthmus and Viipuri), but it successfully preserved its independence, sovereignty, and democratic government.

Maginot Line

an extensive system of concrete, steel, and underground fortifications built by France between 1929 and 1938 along its borders with Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, named after French Minister of War André Maginot.

Dowding System

the world's first large-scale, integrated air defense network, developed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) under Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding just before World War II. It proved decisive in winning the 1940 Battle of Britain by allowing an outnumbered RAF to track and intercept German Luftwaffe raids.

Danzig

a strategic Baltic port city that served as the immediate geopolitical flashpoint and catalyst for the outbreak of World War II. In early 1939, Adolf Hitler used the status of Danzig as his primary pretext for aggression, demanding that the city be formally annexed into Greater Germany and that an extraterritorial highway and railway be built across the Polish Corridor. Poland refused to capitulate. This standoff—known as the Danzig Crisis—escalated through the summer of 1939 until diplomatic channels collapsed.

Armament in Breadth

a military economic strategy where a country focuses on producing a vast quantity of immediate, finished military equipment across all branches of the armed forces, rather than investing heavily in the industrial infrastructure needed to sustain a prolonged war.

Battle of Narvik (1940)

was a surprise dawn ambush launched by five British destroyers under Captain Bernard Warburton-Lee against a superior force of ten German destroyers occupying Narvik harbor. Striking under the cover of a blinding snowstorm, the British task force caught the German fleet completely off-guard, instantly sinking two German destroyers—including the flagship of Commodore Friedrich Bonte, who was killed—and destroying up to eight merchant cargo ships. However, as the British forces attempted to withdraw down the Ofotfjord, they were intercepted by five remaining German destroyers emerging from neighboring fjords; the ensuing chaotic gun battle resulted in the loss of two British destroyers (including the flagship HMS Hardy) and the death of Captain Warburton-Lee, leaving both sides with heavy, matching casualties in the war's first major surface fleet engagement. Allies evacuated and German forces gained control. (April 10, 1940)

Vichy France

the collaborationist, authoritarian French government (officially the French State) that ruled the southern, nominally "free" zone of France from July 1940 to September 1944.

Chain Home

the world's first operational military radar network and early warning system. Developed by British physicist Robert Watson-Watt, the system built a defensive ring of high-frequency radio towers along the English and Scottish coastlines starting in the mid-1930s.

Gleiwitz Incident

a staged, false-flag attack orchestrated by Nazi Germany on August 31, 1939, where SS operatives disguised as Polish soldiers attacked a German radio station to create a fabricated pretext for the invasion of Poland the following morning, effectively triggering World War II