History

WW1:

• Countries in the Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia

• Countries in the Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

• Militarism: The belief in building up strong armed forces that led countries to compete in armament, increasing tensions and risk of war.

• Stalemate: A deadlock where neither side can win, common in trench warfare.

• Life in trenches: Was difficult — mud, rats, diseases, fear, boredom. Soldiers faced constant danger and poor living conditions.

The Inter-War Years:

• Reichstag Fire (1933): An event where the German parliament building was set on fire; used by Hitler to justify crackdown on communists.

• Fascist leaders: Benito Mussolini, Hitler

• Communist leaders: Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin

• Terms of the Treaty of Versailles: Blamed Germany, reduced military, lost territory, paid reparations, and accepted guilt.

• Wall Street Crash: 1929 economic collapse that triggered the Great Depression.

• Hyperinflation: Rapid inflation in Germany that devalued currency, leading to economic hardship and unrest

WW2:

• Appeasement: Giving someone what they want to avoid fighting or keep peace.

• Munich Agreement: Britain, France, Italy, and Germany signed this agreement, allowing Germany to take the Sudetenland. It was considered important because it was thought to bring peace, but it was unfair for the Sudetenland people who lost part of their land and weren’t invited to the meeting.

• Britain and France did not want to start another war because of their participation in WW1 which depleted their resources and strength to fight in another war.

• WW2 officially began in 1939 when Poland was invaded but the British had not done much and it was called the phoney war

• The reason France failed to keep the Germans back was because of the maginot line. The maginot line was a wall to keep the German infantry out but they went around it and there were weak spots on the north side.

• The Germans also used a tactic called the blitzkrieg where they surprised and attacked the French really quickly. Germany also had better planes and equipment which gave them an advantage. Another reason Germany broke through France’s defence was because of good leadership and coordination which the French did not have.

• The BEF were sent to defend the Belgian border but the Nazis pushed them back which left them stranded in Dunkirk

• On May 27th 1940 a huge evacuation took place and 700 ships were used to save the British some of them were fishing boats and over the next week, around 350,000 soldiers were evacuated back to England and the German soldiers stood back but the German airforce regularly attacked.

• In the summer of 1940, the Nazis tried to take over British airspace as they wanted to prepare for an invasion by gaining control of the skies, however, the RAF were brave and well trained; they stopped the German attack and Britain had an advantage as they had new radars known as the chain home network to detect enemy planes 100 miles away and take them down before reaching key points and targets. The British used spitfires and hurricanes and the Germans used messerchimmits and bombers. The British had better planes as the British planes were agile and had more armament.

• The help from civilians also helped them as they fixed airfields and repaired bomb damage which kept the RAF flying and boosted morale

• Germany bombed RAF airfields and towers but instead hitler decided to bomb cities as the RAF bombed Berlin which embarrassed him.

• On Sunday 7th December 1941 the US was attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

• The Japanese recognised that the base at pearl harbour was the center of military power in the Pacific ocean and the Japanese thought that destroying the harbour would make America pull out of that region leaving it free for the Japanese expansion.

• This led America into the war against Japan and Germany.

• When hitler failed to take Britain he turned his attention towards the East and was going to attempt to invade Russia, this was called Operation Barbarossa. Hitler uses the Blitzkrieg tactic and it is working which makes the Germans progress into Russia.

• The Autumn is wet and slows down the German infantry and Stalin has ordered all food and railways to be destroyed so this makes it harder for the Germans.

• When winter arrived the German army had not captured Moscow and troops were not ready for the weather.

• Stalingrad ( A city named after Stalin) was hit the worst and had been destroyed but did not fall.

• And then Hitler is men were on the retreat for the first time.

• The big three met at Tehran in 1943 to discuss the war. Stalin hoped the US and UK would invade France to form a second front.

• It was agreed that an attack against Hitler would take place in the summer of 1944 but Hitler built his Atlantic wall defence

• The operation was headed up by the American president and would be known as the operation overlord.

• Phase One: over 13,000 paratroopers were parachuted behind enemy lines to take out strategic points. They destroyed many railways, roads, communication lines, ammunition stores and guns.

• After that, the allies used fake equipment to trick the Germans into believing the attack would come at Calais

• Phase 3: The bombardment and invasion began. About 300 planes dropped 13 thousand bombs on German defences.

• Phase 4: The Attack began with 156 thousand soldiers supported by 6,939 vessels, it was the largest water attack ever, they attacked the beaches and cliffs and moved further inland to link up with the paratroopers.

• The D-DAY was a surprise attack on the Nazis through France. It was in June 1944 and happened in Normandy. British, American soldiers as well as some Canadians

• Within a year of D-DAY Germany was surrounded and surrendered on 7 may. Hitler shot himself on 30th of April.