WWII Quiz

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

Hitler’s rise to power

30 jan 1933, President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany; 27 Feb 1933 Reichstag Fire; Enabling Act; political parties banned except NSDAP; Hitler becomes Fuhrer

Hitler’s objectives

1. undo the Treaty of Versailles

2. Achieve lebensraum for the Germans

   a. “living space” → conquer territory in Eastern Europe

3. Eliminate the Jewish people of Europe

Lebensraum

“Living Space” → conquer territory in Eastern Europe for Germany to expand into and colonize and enslave the Slavic people

Reichstag Fire

27 Feb 1933; Reichstag was set on fire; people didn’t know who started the fire but the Nazi’s capitalized on it and used it to frighten the masses that a communist uprising was imminent; Result- enabling act

Heinrich Himmler

One of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and an architect of the Holocaust, Head of the SS

Hermann Goring

Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe (German air force)

Joseph Goebbels

Ran propaganda in Nazi Germany

Nuremberg Laws

Antisemitism= core of nazi ideology; a series of racial laws that redefined citizenship in the Third Reich and became the basis for racist anti-Jewish policy in Germany; no marriages allowed between Jewish people and Germans; Jews and Roma lost their citizenship

Kristallnacht

violent pogrom from 9-10 November; Nazis raided and destroyed synagogues, Jewish businesses and Jewish homes; stole from them and beat them; tens of thousands of Jewish people were sent to concentration camps; mass use of concentration camps for Jewish people began after this; about 91 Jewish people died

Appeasement

making concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid conflict

Neville Chamberlain

prime minister of GB associated with the appeasement policy

Rebuilding German military

1935: Hitler staged a massive military rally and reintroduced conscription

Remilitarization of the Rhineland

7 March 1936, Hitler sent 3,000 troops to occupy the Rhineland; not allowed according to the Treaty of Versailles; this region was to be a demilitarized buffer zone between Germany and France; Hitler gambled on Britain and France doing nothing to stop Germany

Anschluss

12 March 1936: German troops occupied Austria without resistance; Act of German aggression and a breach of the Treaty of Versailles; since most Austrians were German, Hitler wanted to include Austria into a greater Germany; France and Britain wanted to avoid war w Germany

Sudetenland

Czechoslovakia was created in 1918 by Czech nationalists post-WWI; in the western border area, there was a large German population; Hitler threatened to annex the Sudetenland; International conference held in Munich to discuss- France and GB had promised to protect Czechoslvakia

Nazi-Soviet Pact

August 1939; Germany and the USSR sign a non-aggression pact and agree how they will divide Eastern Europe up between the two of them- Poland 1st on the list

Invasion of Poland

1 September 1939; Germany used “Blitzkrieg” tactics; Polish troops were not mobilized and were quickly defeated; the USSR invaded Poland from the east on 17 September; GB sent an ultimatum to Germany to leave Poland or they would declare war → no answer from Germany

Munich conference

sept. 1938, GB, Italy, France, and Germany met; agree that Hitler can take the Sudetenland; Czechoslovakia not invited to participate in negotiations

GB and France declare war

3 sept 1939; declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland