DCUSH Midterm Study Guide

This is a comprehensive list for a DCUSH (Dual Credit US History) midterm. Since you need "super in depth" notes, I have organized these chronologically and by theme to help you see the cause-and-effect relationships, which is key for higher-level history exams.

Part I: The Road to War (Rise of Dictators & Failures of Peace)

  • Treaty of Versailles: The 1919 peace settlement that ended WWI. It crippled Germany with the "War Guilt Clause," $33 billion in reparations, and massive territorial losses. This created the economic ruin and national humiliation that allowed Hitler to rise.

  • League of Nations: An international organization created to prevent future wars. It failed because it had no military power and the United States never joined, leaving it toothless against aggressive dictators.

  • Fascism: A political philosophy that exalts nation (and often race) above the individual. It features a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic/social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.

  • Benito Mussolini: The Fascist "Il Duce" of Italy. He came to power in 1922 and sought to recreate the Roman Empire, starting with the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935.

  • Joseph Stalin: The Communist dictator of the Soviet Union (USSR). While ideologically opposite to Fascism, he was a totalitarian leader who transformed the USSR into an industrial and military superpower through "Five-Year Plans" and "Great Purges."

  • Adolf Hitler: Leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who became Chancellor of Germany in 1933. He dismantled democracy, rebuilt the German military in defiance of Versailles, and preached "Lebensraum" (living space) for the Aryan race.

  • Nazism: The German form of Fascism. It was uniquely characterized by pseudoscientific racism and extreme anti-Semitism.

  • Hirohito: The Emperor of Japan. Though seen as a god-like figure by his people, the real political power shifted toward the military during the 1930s.

  • Hideki Tojo: The militant Prime Minister of Japan and Chief of Staff of the Army. He was the primary architect of Japanese expansionism and the attack on Pearl Harbor.

  • Axis Powers: The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan (Tripartite Pact).

  • Appeasement: The policy followed by Britain (Neville Chamberlain) and France in the late 1930s. They gave in to Hitler’s territorial demands in hopes of avoiding another world war.

Hitler’s Pre-War Invasions (The "Order of Aggression")

  1. Rhineland (1936): Remilitarized this buffer zone near France.

  2. Austria (1938): The Anschluss (annexation).

  3. Sudetenekand (1938): The German-speaking edge of Czechoslovakia (given to him at the Munich Conference).

  4. Czechoslovakia (1939): Hitler took the rest of the country, breaking his Munich promise.

  5. Poland (Sept 1, 1939): The official start of WWII.

Part II: The European Theater

  • Non-Aggression Pact: Signed between Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939. They agreed not to fight each other and secretly planned to divide Poland. This allowed Hitler to invade Poland without fear of a two-front war (initially).

  • Blitzkrieg: "Lightning War." A military tactic using fast-moving airplanes and tanks followed by massive infantry forces to overwhelm the enemy.

  • Dunkirk: A massive evacuation of over 330,000 British and French troops from the coast of France across the English Channel after they were trapped by the German advance in 1940.

  • Fall of France: June 1940. France surrendered in the same railway car where Germany had surrendered in WWI. This left Britain alone against Hitler.

  • Battle of Britain: An all-air battle (The Blitz). The German Luftwaffe bombed British cities, but the RAF (Royal Air Force) used Radar to hold them off. Hitler's first major defeat/setback.

  • Winston Churchill: British Prime Minister who provided the "lion's roar" of defiance against Hitler.

  • Holocaust & Concentration Camps: The state-sponsored, systematic murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others (Romani, disabled, political dissidents). Concentration camps (labor) and Death camps (extermination like Auschwitz) were used to carry out the "Final Solution."

Part III: The U.S. Moves Toward War

  • Neutrality Acts (1935-1937): Laws designed to keep the U.S. out of future wars by banning arms sales or loans to nations at war.

  • Lend-Lease Act (1941): FDR’s way around the Neutrality Acts. The U.S. would "lend" or "lease" arms to any country whose defense was vital to the U.S. (mostly Britain and the USSR). FDR famously compared it to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose house is on fire.

  • Pearl Harbor:

    • When: December 7, 1941 ("A date which will live in infamy").

    • Where: U.S. Naval base in Hawaii.

    • What: A surprise Japanese aerial attack that sank/damaged 21 ships (including 8 battleships) and killed over 2,400 Americans. It brought the U.S. officially into WWII.

Part IV: The Home Front & Military Leaders

  • Executive Order 9066: Signed by FDR, authorizing the removal of "any or all people" from military areas. This was used to target Japanese Americans.

  • Internment Camps: The forced relocation and incarceration of roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans (many of whom were citizens) into camps in the interior of the U.S. based on fear and racism.

  • Allied Powers: The "Big Three" were the USA, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union.

  • George Marshall: Army Chief of Staff who coordinated the war from D.C.; he was the "organizer of victory."

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower: Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; planned the D-Day invasion.

  • Omar Bradley: General who led the first American army into France on D-Day.

  • Tuskegee Airmen: The first African American military aviators. Their heroic performance helped pave the way for the desegregation of the military.

  • Navajo Code Talkers: Used their native language to create an unbreakable code for the U.S. Marines in the Pacific.

Part V: Turning Points & The Pacific War

  • Battle of the Atlantic: The struggle between Allied convoys and German U-boats. The Allies won using sonar and convoy systems, ensuring supplies reached Europe.

  • D-Day (Operation Overlord): June 6, 1944. The largest amphibious invasion in history. Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, opening a "Second Front" in Europe.

  • Yalta & Potsdam: Conferences between Allied leaders to plan the post-war world. At Yalta, they agreed to divide Germany; at Potsdam, Truman gave Japan an ultimatum to surrender.

  • Doolittle Raids: A symbolic 1942 air raid on Tokyo. It did little physical damage but boosted American morale and shocked the Japanese.

  • Bataan Death March: After the U.S. surrendered the Philippines, Japanese captors forced 75,000 Allied prisoners to march 65 miles with little food/water; thousands died.

  • Flying Tigers: American volunteer pilots who flew for the Chinese Air Force against the Japanese before the U.S. officially entered the war.

  • Battle of Midway: June 1942. The turning point in the Pacific. The U.S. destroyed four Japanese carriers, ending Japan’s offensive capabilities.

  • Chester Nimitz: Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

  • Douglas MacArthur: Commander of Allied ground forces in the Pacific; famously promised "I shall return" to the Philippines.

  • Island-Hopping: The U.S. strategy of bypassing heavily fortified islands to seize lightly defended ones that could serve as airfields, slowly closing the circle around Japan.

  • Manhattan Project: The top-secret project to develop the Atomic Bomb.

  • Hiroshima (Aug 6, 1945) & Nagasaki (Aug 9, 1945): The two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs, leading to Japan’s unconditional surrender.

Part VI: Non-WWII Items (The 1920s & 30s)

The Teapot Dome Scandal (SUPER IN-DEPTH)

  • The Context: Occurred during President Warren G. Harding’s administration (early 1920s). Harding was known for his "Ohio Gang"—corrupt friends he appointed to office.

  • The Players: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall.

  • The Act: Fall secretly leased Navy Petroleum Reserves (government-owned oil fields) at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California, to private oil companies.

  • The Corruption: Fall did not allow competitive bidding. In return for the leases, he received "loans" and gifts totaling about $400,000 (roughly $6 million today).

  • The Significance: Fall became the first cabinet member in U.S. history to go to prison. The scandal became the symbol of government corruption and "crony capitalism" in the 1920s.

The New Deal & The Great Depression

  • Alphabet Agencies: * CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps): Put young men to work on environmental projects (planting trees, building parks).

    • TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority): Built dams to provide electricity and flood control to the impoverished Tennessee Valley.

    • WPA (Works Progress Administration): The largest agency; employed millions to build roads, bridges, and even funded the arts.

  • Hoover’s Perception: Seen as "cold" and "uncaring." Terms like "Hoovervilles" (shanty towns) and "Hoover Blankets" (newspapers used for warmth) show how the public blamed him for the Depression because of his belief in "Rugged Individualism" (limited government help).

  • FDR’s First 100 Days: A period of intense legislative activity where FDR pushed through 15 major bills to provide Relief, Recovery, and Reform. He declared a "Bank Holiday" to stop bank runs.

  • Scopes-Monkey Trial (1925): A legal battle between Fundamentalism (literal Bible interpretation) and Modernism (Science/Evolution). John Scopes was tried for teaching evolution in Tennessee. It featured famous lawyers Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.