WWII Question and Answer Flashards

  • Nazi Soviet Pact 1939 

  • Non-aggression treaty between Hitler and Stalin. Divided up Poland and parts of Europe.

  • Appeasement 

  • Giving into aggressor's demands in order to keep the peace.

  • Occupation of Rhineland 

  •  1936 - Hitler ordered troops to march into Rhineland → Direct violation of TOV - was meant to stay demilitarized.

  • Annexation of Austria 

  • 1938 - Hitler invades Austria.

  • Sudetenland

  • Specific region in Czech

  • Where Hitler expands because of high German population in 1938

  • Munich Conference 1938 

  • Neville Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement, allowing Germany to take Sudetenland (appeasement). Peace treaty → Hitler says he won’t take anymore land (lies obvi).

  • Neville Chamberlain 

  • Prime Minister of Britain - carried out appeasement the most to keep peace.

  • Winston Churchill 

  • Loudest and most important critic of Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement. Believed Hitler and Germany had to be dealt with firmly. Wanted to stop Hitler from getting more land.

  • Adolf Hitler

  • Invasion of Czechoslovakia

  • Hitler invades in 1939 (year after the Munich conference). Led to the end of appeasement - Britain declared war. 

  • Before, in the Munich Conference, they agreed to give up Sudetenland in exchange for “peace” (was decided based on Munich agreement)

  • Hitler went ahead and invaded the rest of Czech anyway.

  • RAF vs. Luftwaffe

  • RAF = British Royal Air Force

  • Axis Powers

  • Germany, Italy, Japan.

  • Allied Powers

  • England, Canada(territory of UK), France, Russia, US

  • Invasion of Poland

  • Attack on Poland from soviet union and germany

  • Blitzkrieg tactics and two-front assault

  • Territory was divided between Germany and USSR

  • Blitzkrieg

  • “Lightning war”


  • Operation Sea Lion (Battle of Britain)

  • Occurred in Britain, fight between Germany and Britain

  • Signaled to Germany that Britain couldn’t be defeated so easily →   pivoted Germany’s focus to Russia

  • operation was never executed, failed air superiority. 

  • Operation Barbarossa

  • Came before Stalingrad

  • Lend Lease Act 1941

  • Allowed US to “lend” England many weapons - and later other countries like allied nations

  • Small shift from neutrality

  • “Like lending a garden hose to a neighbor” → basically tricked public (you can’t really give back destroyed weapons smh)

  • Knew this act would get signed so he authorized to send ships to Britain before hand

  • Battle of Stalingrad

  • Happened in city called stalingrad (Soviet Union)

  • First major battle hitler lost → panic in Germany

  • One of the largest and bloodiest battles

  • Allied powers morale boost

  • Germany and axis power fought soviet union and allied powers for control of Stalingrad. 

  • Battle of Alamein

  • Britain vs. Germany and Italy

  • Occurred in Egypt

  • Prevented axis powers from accessing middle east

  • Pushed axis power onto defensive side → were pushed out of Africa too

  • Battle of Bulge

  • Germany vs. US (UK, and France)

  • Considered one of the greatest American battles → most costly and deadly

  • Germany cost too many soldiers and supplies

  • Axis lost major battle between axis vs. allied

  • Lost German offensive action on western front 

  • Pearl Harbor

  • Previous tensions with Japan invading Manchuria

  • Disrupt access and trade with China → US stopped trade with Japan

  • Goal - target Hawaii’s naval base and destroy American fleet

  • US intercepted diplomatic messages but ignored them

  • Attack on December 7th 1941 Sunday → Destroyed 19 ships and killed 2400 people

  • December 8th 1941 - US declared war on Japan

  • 3 days later Germany and Italy declare war on US in support of Japan

  • D Day (Normandy)

  • US, UK, Canada vs. Germany 

  • Northwest beaches of France

  • Opened up 2nd front of war

  • Weakened German forces

  • Largest amphibious invasion (land and sea)

  • Turning point in war → allied forces won

  • FDR’s Day of Infamy Speech

  • A date that will always be famous for the wrong reasons (Pearl harbor)

  • Told US about how it was a horrible sneak attack and how Japan is now the greatest enemy

  • Declaration of war 

  • United the nation and brought back some determination after everybody was grieving pearl harbor attack

  • Battle of Iwo Jima

  • One of the most intense battles - Japan wouldn’t give up

  • Battle was fought for a month

  • Three US Marine Divisions landing on Island

  • Japan constructed elaborate tunnel network that helped with quick attacks

  • US won after 6,821 Americans lost their lives

  • Island Hopping

  • The US was ready to push towards Japan but Japan controlled lots of territory across the Pacific.

  • Instead of attacking and taking every Island, they skipped several strong points while focusing on needed islands only. 

  • Harry Truman

  • Albert Einstein warned US (Truman) about atomic bombs possible being made elsewhere - 1939

  • Truman warned Japan but they didn’t listen so…

  • August 6, 1945

  • Dropped bomb on Hiroshima → killed 70,000 instantly

  • August 9, 1945

  • Dropped bomb on Nagasaki → 40,000 killed instantly

  • Kamikaze attacks

  • Kamikaze pilots crashed explosive airplanes into American warships → suicide

  • If they didn’t, they would face execution. 

  • V-E Day (Victory in Europe)

  • Italy - Anti-fascists captured and executed Mussolini (April 28)

  • Germany - Hitler takes his own life in his underground bunker (April 30)

  • May 8th 1945 - Victory in Europe

  • Battle of Berlin

  • V-J Day (Victory in Japan)

  • August 14 and 15

  • Hirohito (emperor of Japan) intervened → forced surrender

  • September 2

  • Formal surrender on the USS Missouri/Tokyo bay

  • Victory over Japan

  • Yalta Conference

  • FDR, Churchill, Stalin (US, UK, Russia)

  • February 1945

  • Plan for a post-war world → kept agreements secret

  • Potsdam Conference

  • Truman (FDR died), Churchill, Stalin (US, UK, Russia)

  • July 1945

  • Confirms and divides up Germany

  • Asks Japan to surrender or face consequences

  • Manhattan Project

  • Produced first nuclear weapons

  • Created in 1939 and active 1942-1946

  • Trinity test

  • First detonation of nuclear weapon

  • New Mexico → testing area because it was isolated and desert land

  • Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki