Untitled Flashcards Set

World War II Study Guide

Rape of Nanjing (1937)

  • Japanese forces massacred around 200,000 civilians and raped about 70,000 women in Nanjing, China.

  • Survivors were often forced into slavery or sexual labor.

  • In 1940, Japan made Nanjing the capital of their puppet state in China.

Anschluss (March 13, 1938)

  • Forced union: Germany took over Austria.

  • Britain and France did nothing to stop it (appeasement).

  • Most Austrians accepted it, and there was no room for resistance.

Appeasement

  • Britain and France gave Hitler what he wanted (like the Sudetenland) to avoid war.

  • However, Hitler kept taking more territory and made pacts with other countries anyway.

The Hitler-Stalin Pact (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) (August 21, 1939)

  • A non-aggression treaty between Germany (fascist) and Soviet Union (communist).

  • Secretly agreed to divide Eastern Europe, including splitting Poland.

  • Promised not to attack each other (until Hitler later broke it).

Allied Powers

  • Britain, United States, Soviet Union, China, France.

  • Worked together to defeat the Axis Powers.

Axis Powers

  • Germany, Italy, Japan.

  • Allies in trying to expand territory and control other nations.

Blitzkrieg

  • German "lightning war" strategy: fast, surprising attacks using planes, tanks, and troops.

  • Aimed to win wars quickly before the enemy could respond.

Battle of Britain (July–October 1940)

  • Germany's first major defeat.

  • Hitler’s Operation Sea Lion plan: bomb Britain into surrender by destroying airfields, factories, and then cities (like London).

  • Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) resisted, radar helped, and Churchill rallied the people.

  • Hitler failed to gain air control and gave up.

Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941)

  • Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, breaking the Hitler-Stalin Pact.

  • Three-pronged attack:

    • Leningrad (traditional capital)

    • Moscow (current capital)

    • Stalingrad (important for oil).

  • Invaded with over 1 million soldiers.

  • Mass extermination of Jewish people started during this invasion.

  • Soviet resistance and brutal winter stalled German advances.

Winston Churchill (1940)

  • Became Prime Minister after Chamberlain resigned.

  • Refused to surrender to Hitler.

  • Ordered bombings of Berlin after London was attacked.

  • Famous for speeches that inspired British resistance.

D-Day (June 6, 1944)

  • Britain, U.S., and Canada invaded the Normandy beaches in France.

  • Aimed to liberate France from German control.

  • German commanders were unprepared, and Hitler was asleep during the attack.

  • Successful landing gave the Allies a way to move into Western Europe.

Battle of the Bulge (December 1944 – January 1945)

  • Germany’s last major counterattack in the West.

  • Created a "bulge" in Allied lines in Belgium.

  • Failed in the end, and Allies began moving toward Berlin.

  • Hitler committed suicide, and Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945 (V-E Day).

Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941)

  • Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

  • Destroyed much of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

  • U.S. declared war on Japan the next day; Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. soon after.

Midway (June 1942)

  • Turning point in the Pacific War.

  • U.S. cryptographers broke Japanese codes and ambushed the Japanese fleet.

  • Major U.S. victory, beginning the offensive toward Japan.

Firebombing (March 1945)

  • U.S. firebombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities.

  • Created huge firestorms that killed civilians and destroyed cities.

  • Avoided sending large numbers of U.S. ground troops into Japan.

Island Hopping

  • U.S. strategy of capturing key islands to get closer to Japan.

  • Skipped heavily fortified islands to save resources and lives.

Kamikaze Pilots

  • Japanese suicide pilots who crashed planes into U.S. ships.

  • First used heavily during the Battle of Okinawa.

Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 6–9, 1945)

  • U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

  • Mass destruction and radiation killed tens of thousands instantly.

  • Only time nuclear weapons have been used in war.

  • Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day).

Nuremberg Laws (1935)

  • Nazis stripped Jews of German citizenship.

  • Banned marriage between Jews and non-Jews.

  • Forced Jews to wear the Star of David in public.

Wannsee Conference (1942)

  • Nazi leaders met to plan the "Final Solution".

  • Agreed on systematic mass murder of Jews through extermination camps.

Auschwitz

  • Largest Nazi death camp in Poland.

  • Over 1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed (many in gas chambers).

“Final Solution”

  • Nazi plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe.

  • Led to mass killings in death camps like Auschwitz.

Yalta Conference (February 1945)

  • Meeting of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin.

  • Planned the post-war world, dividing Germany, and starting the United Nations.

Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945)

  • Meeting of Truman, Stalin, and Attlee after Germany’s defeat.

  • Warned Japan to surrender.

  • Set the terms for Germany’s occupation and beginnings of Cold War tensions.

United Nations (1945)

  • International organization formed to promote peace and prevent future wars.

  • Replaced the League of Nations.

  • Has a Security Council with major world powers.

Containment

  • U.S. Cold War strategy to stop communism from spreading.

  • Used military alliances and economic aid to resist Soviet influence.

Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)

  • Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro.

  • Embarrassed President Kennedy and worsened U.S.-Soviet relations.