24-1 Flashcards
(18 cards)
Joseph Stalin
Communist dictator of the Soviet Union.
Totalitarian state (dictatorship)
Government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.
Benito Mussolini
Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany and Japan in World War II.
fascism
A political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism, glorifies war, racism and no tolerance of opposition.
Adolf Hitler
Fascist leader of Nazi Germany.
appeasement
Policy of giving into aggression in order to avoid war.
Winston Churchill
Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII.
Groups considered “undesirable” by Nazis
Jews, Slavs, gypsies, Africans and disabled
Japan
Ally of Germany and Italy during World War Two that invaded Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937.
Munich Conference
1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland(part of Czechoslovakia) to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany’s territory any further. Hitler lied to get what he wanted without fighting.
Lands taken over or remilitarized by Germany, Italy and Japan before World War Two began in September 1, 1939.
Germany- Remilitarized the Rhineland on the German-French border, Austria, Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia.
-Japan- Manchuria and parts of China
-Italy- Ethiopia
Neutrality Act of 1935
Act passed in 1935 in order to prevent American participation in a European War. Among other restrictions, they prevented Americans from selling munitions to foreign nations who were fighting.
Non-Aggression Pact of 1939
Signed between Nazi Germany and Soviet Union in August. The two sides agreed not to wage war on each other and agreed to a partition of Poland. This helped Hitler avoid a two-front war.
Invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939
German invasion that started World War Two.
blitzkrieg
“Lighting war” used by Germany during the war. It used planes, tanks and infantry to overwhelm an opponent.
Fall of France (1940)
France was defeated by Nazi Germany in six weeks and mostly left Britain and its empire to fight.
German invasion of the Soviet Union (1941)
Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union to gain more land and resources. Germany was gaining large amounts of land until fall and winter stopped the German outside of Moscow, the capital of the USSR. Now Germany had to fight on another front.
Battle of Britain
A series of battles between German and British air forces over Britain in 1940-1941. Germany wanted to invade Britain, but needed to destroy its air force first. Germany failed to do this and was not invaded. Britain was isolated on its island and needed help.
