World War 2 and Year of Crisis Study Guide

Defiance of Treaty of Versailles

; In 1936. Hitler broke the treaty by moving troops into the Rhineland demilitarized zone

Italy attacks Ethiopia

: In 1935, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia to increase Italy's empire.

Francisco Franco

: Francisco Franco was a Spanish military leader and dictator who ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975, following his victory in the Spanish Civil War.

Fascism

: Fascism is a type of government led by a dictator that controls everything and stops people from disagreeing.

Appeasement

: Appeasement is a policy of giving in to someone's demands to avoid conflict, often used to prevent war.

Munich Conference

: The Munich Conference, held in 1938, was a meeting where leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany agreed to allow Hitler to take control of part of Czechoslovakia in hopes of avoiding war.

Czechoslovakia

: Czechoslovakia was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until it peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.

Sudetenland

:The Sudetenland was a region of Czechoslovakia with a large ethnic German population, which Hitler demanded and took control of in 1938.

Anschluss

:Anschluss was the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.

Lebensraum

: Lebensraum was the Nazi policy of seeking to expand German territory, particularly in Eastern Europe, to provide more living space for the German people.

Neville Chamberlain

: Neville Chamberlain was the British Prime Minister from 1937 to 1940, best known for his policy of appeasement towards Hitler before World War II.

Isolationism

: Isolationism is a policy of avoiding involvement in the affairs or conflicts of other countries.

Non Aggression Pact

: The Nonaggression Pact was an agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, where both countries promised not to attack each other.

Third Reich

: The Third Reich was the name given to Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.

Axis powers

: The Axis Powers were a group of countries, including Germany, Italy, and Japan, that fought together during World War II.

Blitzkrieg

: Blitzkrieg was a military strategy used by Nazi Germany, involving rapid and overwhelming attacks to quickly defeat enemies.

Allied Powers

: The Allied Powers were a group of countries, including the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France, that fought against the Axis Powers during World War II.

Lend-Lease Act

: The Lend-Lease Act was a U.S. law passed in 1941 that allowed America to supply Allied countries with military aid and supplies during World War II, without directly joining the conflict.

Invasion of Poland

: The Invasion of Poland was the German attack on Poland in September 1939, which marked the start of World War II.

Phony War

: The Phony War was a period of little fighting between the Allies and Germany from September 1939 to April 1940, despite both sides being at war.

Fall of France/Vichy Government

: The Fall of France refers to the quick defeat of French forces by Nazi Germany in 1940, after which the Vichy Government, a collaborationist regime, was set up in southern France under German control.

Dunkirk

: Dunkirk was the site of a dramatic evacuation in 1940, where over 330,000 Allied soldiers were rescued from the beaches of France while being surrounded by German forces.

Operation Dynamo

: Operation Dynamo was the codename for the 1940 evacuation of Allied soldiers from Dunkirk, France, during World War II, as German forces advanced.

Winston Churchill

: Winston Churchill was the British Prime Minister during World War II, known for his leadership and speeches that inspired Britain to resist Nazi Germany.

Charles de Gaulle

: Charles de Gaulle was a French military leader and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II and later became the President of France.

Joseph Stalin

: Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953, known for his totalitarian rule and role in World War II.

Adolf Hitler

: Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, responsible for starting World War II and orchestrating the Holocaust.

Battle of Britain

: The Battle of Britain was a 1940 air campaign in which the British Royal Air Force successfully defended Britain from massive German bombing raids.

Enigma, Radar, and Sonar

: Enigma was a German coding machine used during World War II, Radar was a technology that used radio waves to detect objects like enemy planes or ships, and Sonar was a system that used sound waves to detect underwater objects, such as submarines.

The Blitz

: The Blitz was a series of intense German bombing raids on British cities, particularly London, during 1940 and 1941 in an attempt to break British morale.

Operation Barossa

: Operation Barbarossa was the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, marking the largest military operation in history.

Scorched Earth

: Scorched Earth was a military strategy where retreating forces destroy resources, such as crops and infrastructure, to prevent the enemy from using them.

Leningrad

: Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, was a city in the Soviet Union that endured a brutal German siege from 1941 to 1944 during World War II, resulting in immense suffering and loss of life.

Impact of Nazi invasion of USSR

: The Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941, known as Operation Barbarossa, led to massive destruction, heavy casualties, and a prolonged war on the Eastern Front, eventually turning the tide in favor of the Allies as the Soviet Union pushed back the German forces.

Neutrality Acts

: The Neutrality Acts were a series of U.S. laws passed in the 1930s to prevent the country from being drawn into foreign conflicts by banning arms sales and loans to nations at war.

Atlantic Charter

: A 1941 agreement between the U.S. and the UK that outlined post-WWII goals, including self-determination and international cooperation.

U-boats

: German submarines used during both World Wars, primarily for attacking Allied shipping.

Natural Resources

: Raw materials like oil, minerals, and timber that are essential for economic production and are often fought over during wars.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

: A Japanese naval officer who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor and was the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII.

Pearl Harbor

: A surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, which led to the U.S. entering WWII.

Japanese Empire

: The empire established by Japan in East Asia, which expanded aggressively through the 1930s and 1940s, including invasions of China and Southeast Asia.

Bataan Death March

: The forced transfer of 60,000-80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war by the Japanese army in 1942, during which thousands died.

Aircraft Carriers

: Large naval ships that serve as bases for aircraft and are crucial for long-range air operations during naval warfare.

Doolittle Raids (Tokyo Bombings)

: A 1942 bombing raid led by the U.S. on Tokyo and other Japanese cities, the first air strike on Japan's home islands.

Coral Sea

: A 1942 naval battle in the Pacific between the U.S. and Japan, marking the first time in history that enemy ships never sighted each other.

Battle of Midway

: A 1942 decisive naval battle where the U.S. Navy defeated a Japanese attack on Midway Atoll, turning the tide in the Pacific War.

Island Hopping

: A WWII strategy used by the Allies to capture key islands in the Pacific while bypassing others to gradually move closer to Japan.

Battle of Guadalcanal

: A 1942-1943 battle in the Pacific where Allied forces fought to capture the Solomon Islands from Japan, marking the first major Allied offensive.

Douglas MacArthur

: A U.S. Army General who played a key role in the Pacific Theater during WWII and oversaw the post-war occupation of Japan.

Manchuria

: A region in northeastern China that was invaded and occupied by Japan in the 1930s, forming the puppet state of Manchukuo.

Nanking (Nanjing)

: The site of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, where Japanese troops killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and soldiers.

John Rabe

: A German businessman in Nanjing who helped protect Chinese civilians during the Nanjing Massacre by creating a safety zone.

Kamikaze

: Japanese suicide pilots during WWII who deliberately crashed their planes into enemy ships in a desperate attempt to destroy them.

Oil

: A critical natural resource during WWII, often a target for military campaigns, especially in the Middle East and the Pacific.

Joseph Goebbels

: Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda, responsible for spreading Nazi ideology and promoting Adolf Hitler's regime.

Hermann Göring: A leading member of the Nazi Party, founder of the Gestapo, and commander of the Luftwaffe, who was second in command to Hitler.

Heinrich Himmler: Head of the SS (Schutzstaffel), responsible for implementing Nazi policies, including the Holocaust and other war crimes.

Geneva Convention (1929): An international agreement that set standards for the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians during armed conflicts.

Einsatzgruppen: Nazi mobile killing units responsible for mass shootings of Jews, Romani people, and other groups during the Holocaust.

Luftwaffe: The aerial warfare branch of the German military during WWII, responsible for bombing raids and air combat.

Panzers

: German tanks used in WWII, notably during Blitzkrieg tactics to quickly overwhelm enemy defenses.

Holocaust

: The systematic, state-sponsored genocide during WWII in which Nazi Germany killed six million Jews, along with millions of others, including Romani people, disabled individuals, and political opponents.

Nuremberg Laws

: A set of anti-Semitic laws enacted by Nazi Germany in 1935, which discriminated against Jews and stripped them of their rights.

Kristallnacht

: A violent anti-Jewish pogrom in November 1938, during which Nazi forces destroyed Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes, leading to thousands of Jewish arrests.

Ghettos

: Enclosed areas in cities where Jews and other persecuted groups were forcibly segregated and confined, often under terrible living conditions.

Warsaw Ghetto

: The largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, located in Warsaw, Poland, where hundreds of thousands of Jews were forced to live in overcrowded conditions.

Genocide

: The deliberate and systematic extermination of a particular group of people, often based on ethnicity, religion, or nationality.

Roma

: A nomadic ethnic group, also known as Gypsies, who were persecuted and killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Jewish Resistance

: Various efforts by Jews during WWII to resist Nazi oppression, including uprisings in ghettos and partisan warfare.

Erwin Rommel

: A German Field Marshal during WWII, known for his leadership in North Africa and his tactical brilliance, earning the nickname "The Desert Fox."

Operation Torch

: The Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942, which marked the first major American military operation in WWII.

Two Front War

: A military situation where a country must fight against enemies on two different fronts, often stretching resources and forces thin, as Germany did in WWII.

Battle of Stalingrad

: A brutal and decisive battle between Germany and the Soviet Union from 1942 to 1943, where the German Army was encircled and defeated, marking a turning point in the war.

Russian Winters

: Harsh, cold winters in Russia that contributed to the failure of the German invasion during Operation Barbarossa and the subsequent retreat of German forces.

Home Fronts

: The civilian sectors in countries at war, where citizens contributed to the war effort through industrial work, rationing, and supporting military operations.

Total War

: A type of war where all of a country's resources, industries, and civilians are mobilized for the war effort, with no distinction between military and civilian targets.

Propaganda

: Information, often biased or misleading, used by governments to influence public opinion and support for war efforts or political agendas.

D-Day

: The Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, which was a turning point in World War II and led to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control.

Battle of the Bulge

: The last major Nazi offensive on the Western Front in late 1944, where German forces attempted to break through Allied lines in Belgium but were eventually defeated.

Hitler’s Death

: Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945, as Soviet forces closed in on Berlin, effectively ending Nazi rule in Germany.

V-E Day

: Victory in Europe Day, celebrated on May 8, 1945, marking the official surrender of Nazi Germany and the end of WWII in Europe.

Kamikazes

: Japanese suicide pilots during WWII who deliberately crashed their planes into enemy ships as a last-ditch effort to cause maximum damage.

Okinawa

: A pivotal battle in 1945 between U.S. and Japanese forces on the island of Okinawa, which resulted in heavy casualties on both sides and brought the Allies closer to Japan.

Atomic Bomb

: A powerful nuclear weapon developed by the U.S. during WWII, which was used to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Hiroshima

: The Japanese city where the first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, killing tens of thousands and leading to Japan's eventual surrender.

Nagasaki

: The Japanese city where the second atomic bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945, hastening Japan's surrender and ending WWII.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

: The U.S. Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during WWII, who led the successful D-Day invasion and later became the 34th President of the United States.

Franklin Roosevelt

: The 32nd President of the U.S. who led the nation through the Great Depression and most of WWII, until his death in 1945.

Harry Truman

: The 33rd President of the U.S., who succeeded Roosevelt and made the decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan, leading to the end of WWII.

Yalta Conference

: A 1945 meeting between Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin, where they discussed the post-war reorganization of Europe and the establishment of the United Nations.

Tehran Conference

: A 1943 meeting between the leaders of the U.S., UK, and Soviet Union to discuss strategies for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the future of post-war Europe.

Potsdam Conference

: A 1945 meeting between the U.S., UK, and Soviet Union, where they issued an ultimatum to Japan and made decisions about the post-war reconstruction of Europe.

Nuremberg Trials

: A series of military tribunals held after WWII to prosecute Nazi war criminals for crimes against humanity, including the Holocaust.

Political Turmoil

: The instability and upheaval in many countries following WWII, as nations struggled to rebuild their governments and economies.

Famine and Disease

: The widespread hunger and outbreaks of disease that followed WWII, particularly in Europe and Asia, due to war destruction and resource shortages.

Impact on Civilians

: The immense suffering faced by non-combatants during WWII, including bombings, forced labor, displacement, and genocide.

Destruction of Territory and Cities

: The widespread physical destruction of cities and infrastructure during WWII, which left many regions in ruins, particularly in Europe and Asia.

Death

: The loss of millions of lives during WWII, both military and civilian, including the systematic genocide of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Demilitarization

: The process of reducing or eliminating a country's military forces and weapons after WWII, particularly in Germany and Japan.

Democratization

: The establishment of democratic governments in countries like Germany and Japan after WWII, with help from the Allies.

Marshall Plan

: A U.S. initiative, launched in 1948, to provide financial aid to rebuild European economies after WWII and prevent the spread of communism.