AP Euro WWII

Treaty of Versailles

the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans

league of nations

an international organization formed in 1920 to promote cooperation and peace among nations

Locarno Pact, 1925

set of agreements among European countries sought to reduce tensions between Germany and France

Manchuria, 1931

Japenese imperialists lunged into Manchuria in September, 1931.

Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928

Pact of Paris signed with the French Ministry and it ratified by 62 nations. \-- made war illegal as a tool of national policy, allowing only defensive war. The Treaty was generally believed to be useless.Defensive wars were still permitted; causing one to wonder what scheming aggressor could not make an excuse of self-defense.

Francisco Franco

Fascist leader of the Spanish revolution, helped by Hitler and Mussolini

Rome-Berlin Axis

1936; close cooperation between Italy and Germany, and soon Japan joined; resulted from Hitler; who had supported Ethiopia and Italy, he overcame Mussolini's lingering doubts about the Nazis.

Rhineland, 1936

Hitler defied the Versailles Treaty when he invaded this demilitarized zone

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.

appeasement

Accepting demands in order to avoid conflict

pacifism

A belief that disputes should be settled by nonviolent means.

Neville Chamberlain

1938; gullible British Prime Minister; declared that Britain and France would fight if Hitler attacked Poland.

Polish Corridor, Danzig

Region in Poland that Hitler desired.

German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

The non-aggression pact was an agreement between Hitler and Stalin not to attack each other. This allowed for German victories in the west without worries of the east.

invasion of Poland

Germany invaded, breaking their agreement, so Britain and France declared war, starting World War II

Blitzkrieg

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

fall of France

June 1940 France and most of Europe was conquered by Germany. Left Britain alone against Hitler. Hitler began to sweep through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg as part of a strategy to conquer France. Then, the Battle of Dunkirk began, and left France in ruins and also in the hands of Germany and the Vichy government. People such as Charles De Gaulle started an underground rebellion

Vichy FranceS

outhern Pro-Nazi French; govern themselves as loyal to nazis; traitors to the Free French in N. France

Charles de Gaulle

French general and statesman who became very popular during World War II as the leader of the Free French forces in exile (1890-1970)

Tripartite Pact, 1940

Signed between the Axis powers in 1940 (Italy, Germany and Japan) where they pledged to help the others in the event of an attack by the US

Battle of Britain: RAF vs. Luftwaffe

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.

radar

(Radio's All Dimension Audience Research) A radio audience measure process in which radio audience listening characteristics are collected twice a year based on interviews with radio listeners.

"lebensraum"

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

"Great Patriotic War of the Fatherland"

USSR's name for WWII. Powerful unifying force for the Soviet people who might as well defeated Germany without western help

Atlantic Charter

1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII amd to work for peace after the war

Lend-Lease

Approve by Congress in March 1941; The act allowed America to sell, lend or lease arms or other supplies to nations considered "vital to the defense of the United States."

Pearl Harbor

7:50-10:00 AM, December 7, 1941 - Surprise attack by the Japanese on the main U.S. Pacific Fleet harbored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii destroyed 18 U.S. ships and 200 aircraft. American losses were 3000, Japanese losses less than 100. In response, the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany, entering World War II.

Grand Alliance

An alliance between the English, Dutch, Austrians, and Prussians against the expansionist wars of Louis XIV.

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Jewish ghettos

Areas where only Jews lived in Germany prior to their movement to concentration camps. They were stepping stones in the Final Solution formula

Wannsee Conference

A meeting in which the "Final solution" and use of concentration camps were decided in 1942, Heydrich was the chief executor of the "Final Solution". Held in Wannsee, Berlin

"Final Solution"

Hitler's program of systematically killing the entire Jewish people

Auschwitz

Nazi extermination camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there.

El Alamein

Combined German and Italian forces were beaten near Alexandria, which lead to the Allied taking of Morocco and Algeria

Stalingrad

City in Russia, site of a Red Army victory over the Germany army in 1942-1943. The Battle of Stalingrad was the turning point in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union. Today Volgograd. (p. 793)

D-Day

(FDR) , June 6, 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France. General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the operation a crusade in which "we will accept nothing less than full victory." More than 5,000 Ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion, and by day's end on June 6, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy.

Battle of the Bulge

December, 1944-January, 1945 - After recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944, Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki

nuclear attacks during World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States of America at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman

Tehran Conference, 1943

WWII conference between Stalin, FDR, and Churchill; its purpose was to develop a strategy for war against the Axis (open a second front)

Yalta Conference, 1945

FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta. Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese Wa

Potsdam Conference, 1945

The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdamn, outside Berlin, in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin discussed the future of Europe but their failure to reach meaningful agreements soon led to the onset of the Cold War.

Anschluss, 1938

Hitler moved into Austria and forced the chancellor to put Nazis in control of government. The very next day they moved in and demanded that the Sudetenland be given over to Germany. Appeasement prevailed and the German chancellor gave over the land.

Sudetenland

an area in western Czechoslovakia that was coveted by Hitler

Munich Conference

1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.