WWII Flashcards
satisfying demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability
appeasement
the British prime minister who boasted that the agreement made at the Munich Conference meant “peace for our time.” Hitler had promised Chamberlain that he would no more demands. Chamberlain believed him.
Neville Chamberlain
Hitler demanded that Germany be given the Sudetenland because the people there spoke German. Hitler said he was willing to risk world war. The Munich Conference allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland. He then took the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Invasion of Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia
Hitler threatened Austria with invasion so the Austrian chancellor put Austrian Nazis in charge of the government. They invited German troops into Austria to help maintain law and order. Hitler annexed Austria to Germany.
Anschluss of Austria
a conference in Munich where British, French, German, and Italian representatives did not object to Hitler’s plans but agreed to almost all of Hitler’s demands. They agreed to allow German troops to occupy the Sudetenland. (Czechs were not there)
Munich Conference
Hitler demanded the Polish port of Danzig and Great Britain offered to protect Poland in case of war. Hitler made the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact that would let Stalin control Poland and the Baltic states if he would not join Britain and France. German forces invaded Poland and Britain and France declared war on Germany.
Invasion of Poland
Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to attack each other. He promised to give Stalin control of Eastern Poland and the Baltic states.
Nazi-Soviet Non-agression Pact
“lightning war,” it used armored columns called panzer divisions, supported by airplanes. Each panzer division was a strike force of about 300 tanks with accompanying forces and supplies.
Blitzkrieg
a series of concrete and steel fortifications armed with heavy artillery along France’s border with Germany
Maginot Line
German went around instead of across the Maginot Line and threatened to bomb Paris so the French signed an armistice that allowed Germany to control all of France and it was known as Vichy France.
Fall of France
Germans went around the Maginot Line. This split the Allied troops trapping French troops and the entire British army on the beaches of Dunkirk. Winston Churchill went on the radio and asked private boats to save the British army. They evacuated 338,000 Allied troops.
Miracle at Dunkirk
a major offensive launched by the Luftwaffe on Britain. German planes bombed strategic targets. The British had a radar system that gave them advanced warning of attacks. The British air force suffered critical losses. The Luftwaffe began bombing non-strategic targets and the British air force was able to rebuild air strength. The British inflicted major losses on the Luftwaffe and Hitler decided to postpone the invasion of Britain.
Battle of Britain
Acts passed by the U.S. Congress in the 1930s in response to the conflicts in Europe and Asia. They ensured policies of isolationism and non-interventionism.
Neutrality Acts
a program under which the United States supplied Allied nations with oil, food, and other materials. The U.S. was given leases on bases in Allied territory during the war.
Lend-Lease Acts
the German air force
Luftwaffe
Hitler thought Britain was only staying in the war because they expected the supported of the Soviet Union. German forces invaded the Soviet Union. Soviet resistance halted the German advance. Germany had planned the attack for spring so they did not have winter uniforms.
Invasion of Soviet Union
Japanese aircraft attacked the U.S. naval base (Pearl Harbor) in the Hawaiian Islands. This attack led to the U.S. joining the war.
Pearl Harbor
the Afrika Korps were German forces in North Africa led by Erwin Rommel. They broke through British defenses in Egypt and advanced toward Alexandria. British forces later stopped them at El Alamein and German forces retreated back across the desert.
North African Campaign
Allies crossed the Mediterranean and carried the war to Italy. Allied troops took Sicily and then began an invasion of mainland Italy. Mussolini was removed from office and placed under arrest by King Victor Emmanuel III. The Italian government then offered to surrender to the Allies. Mussolini was liberated and set up a government in northern Italy. German forces occupied most of Italy.
Invasion of Italy
Allied forces under Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the shore of Normandy in history’s greatest naval invasion. There was heavy German resistance. Allied forces moved inland and broke through German defensive lines.
D-Day
the U.S. stopped all trade with Japan
Japanese Embargo
