Final - WWII Flashcards
(17 cards)
Blitzkrieg
Lightning War
large-scale night air-raids
Miracle at Dunkirk
Germany makes a mistake and lets 400,000
troops escape at Dunkirk (north of France)
What did the NAZI’s believe
Germany and its people were the chosen race - Aryans
The sole purpose of Germanys people was to serve the state
Value authority and order - this appeals to many Germans after the chaos and depression that followed WWI
NAZI’s use Treaty of Versailles to paint Germany as a victim of the rest of the world - Duetchland Ubber Alles - Germany Above All
Hitler is the unquestioned conscience of the German people - Saw his rise as people’s approval of his views
Hitler destroys his enemies in 1934 - It is the sacred duty of the German people to report disloyalty, if they don’t they are guilty as well
Reason and intellectualism are useless, emotion is more useful to the state. Emotion causes action. Hate(and fear) = willingness to kill/die for Germany
Believed they were creating the “Third Reich” (empire) 1st- Holy Roman Empire, 2nd Otto Von Bismarck, 3rd NAZI’s would last 1000 years
The NAZI’s saw politics as a religion. Hitler was looked upon
as someone greater than Jesus
Women were encouraged to have as many children as possible - for the state. Abortions were illegal
War is the ultimate expression of loyalty to the state
NAZI’s believed anyone who was weak, or a burden to the State should be (and be willing to be) exterminated to make Germany stronger. Elderly, Disabled, Mentally Deficient
Believed in sterilization of certain groups
America was a nation of mongrels and criminals
Believed in strong families - to breed for the State
Blamed Jews for German decline. Saw them as an infestation that must be destroyed. Those who were not willing to do this, were not serving Germany and were therefore useless
Who were the Axis Powers
Germany, Italy, Japan
D-Day
June 6, 1944 - normandy
Operation Torch
joint British-American invasion of French-held North Africa in November 1942 during World War II. Originally named Operation Gymnast, it was the first major Allied amphibious assault against Axis forces
Rosie the Riveter
Women working in the factories
Island Hopping
General Douglas MacArthur leads US troops (mostly Marines) in “Island Hopping” campaign to take back islands captured by Japan
Douglas MacArthur
General Douglas MacArthur leads US troops (mostly Marines) in “Island Hopping” campaign to take back islands captured by Japan
1. Battles for the Philippines, Guadalcanal, many others
2. Iwo Jima – Marines raise the flag on Mt. Suribachi
3. Japanese refuse to surrender and often booby-trap themselves
Manhattan Project
US Government began a top- secret project in 1938 using atoms to
create a very powerful bomb
Oppenheimer
develops the top secret atomic bomb
Nuremburg Trials
put 24 surviving Nazi leaders on trial for crimes against human-
ity, crimes against the peace, and war crimes.
Yalta Conference
decide what to do with Germany once it had been defeated
Enola Gay
1st bomb - August 6, 1945 – “Enola Gay” piloted by Paul Tibbets drops bomb “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, killing 70,000
instantly
2nd bomb 3 days later
August 9, 1945 - Second bomb, “Fat Man” drops on Nagasaki killing 80,000
Japan surrenders September 2, 1945
aboard the USS Missouri, ending WWII – V-J Day
atomic bomb ends the war
Allied Powers
France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union
Pearl Harbor
Japan attacks us - us enters war
Japan hoped for a short war, seeking to quickly weaken US naval strength and capture strategically vital oil supplies
Operation Overlord
On June 6, 1944, in Operation Overlord, the Allied forces landed troops on Normandy beaches for the largest amphibious assault in history, beginning the march eastward to defeat Germany.0
