Unit 6: The Impact of War (1939-1945) Flashcards
phases 1-4 of the war (19 cards)
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
1939 - Hitler youth compulsory
- Boys aged 14-18 had to attend the Hitler Youth (taught how to be soldiers)
- Girls aged 14-18 had to attend the German League of Young Girls (taught how to be mothers and housewives)
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
September 1939 - Invade Poland
- Initiated on September 1, 1939, marking the start of World War II.
- Led to a joint assault by Germany and the Soviet Union, following the Nazi-Soviet Pact.
- Involved over 66,000 Polish soldiers and civilians.
- Had profound implications for Poland and the war course.
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
October 1939 - Euthanasia approved
Allowed the euthanasia of the mentally and physically disabled.
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
1940 - Madagascar Plan
- Proposed by Franz Rademacher in June 1940.
- Adopted in early 1940; abandoned in late 1940.
- Plan involved resettling one million Jews annually over four years to Madagascar, a police state run by the SS.
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
1940 - Ghettos set up
- Set up after WWII invasion of Poland.
- Segregated Jews and Romani people into small towns/cities.
- Enhanced exploitation of these groups.
September 1939-June 1941 - Phase 1:
1941 – Einsatzgruppen
- Deployment groups of Nazi Germany.
- Responsible for mass murder during WWII.
- Primarily shot Untermenschen dead before more effective methods were devised.
- Operated in German-occupied Europe.
June-December 1941 - Phase 2:
June 1941 - Invade USSR
- Operation Barbarossa.
- German invasion of Russia.
- Height of the German population’s support for the Nazis.
June-December 1941 - Phase 2:
December 1941 - Germany declare war on USA
- Four days after the Pearl Harbor attack.
- Three days after US declaration of war against Imperial Japan.
- Responds to US’s “series of provocations” during neutrality.
January 1942- January 1943 - Phase 3:
1942 - Total war measures
- Total War declared by Goebbels: welcomed but too late.
- Morale declined as the ‘Hitler Myth’ was shattered.
January 1942- January 1943 - Phase 3:
20th January 1942 - Wannsee Conference
- Organization of the Final Solution.
- Led by Heidrich with 15 senior Nazis in attendance.
January 1942- January 1943 - Phase 3:
1943 - Start of sustained bombing against German cities
- Met with resilience by the German people and support for the regime.
- Production was maintained, in fact reaching its peak in 1944.
January 1942- January 1943 - Phase 3:
January 1943 - Defeat of Germany at Stalingrad
- Germany suffered major defeat.
- German Sixth Army surrendered to Red Army.
- End of five-month siege marked significant turning point.
- Massive casualties on both sides.
- German Sixth Army suffered massive losses before surrender.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
1944 - Start of death marches
- Soviet offensive in eastern Belarus overruns Nazi concentration camps.
- Heinrich Himmler orders evacuation towards Reich interior.
- Evacuations start in summer/autumn 1944.
- SS guards kill prisoners who can’t walk or travel.
- SS guards brutally mistreat prisoners during death marches.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
6th June 1944 - Second front opens with the D-Day landings
- Operation Overlord, involving American, British, and Canadian troops.
- Landings on five beaches in Normandy: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.
- Opened new front in war, contributing to Germany’s failure.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
July 1944 - Operation Valkyrie
- Developed for German Territorial Reserve Army in case of national civil order breakdown due to Allied bombing or foreign forced laborer uprising.
- Modified by General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
- Aimed to control German cities, disarm the SS, and arrest Nazi leadership post-Hitler’s assassination.
- Failed because of Hitler’s unexpected survival.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
January 1945 - Liberation of Auschwitz
- Russian soldiers overrun Auschwitz, the largest extermination and concentration camp.
- Only a few thousand prisoners remained after liberation, most of whom were taken away on death marches.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
March 1945 - Britain and America enter Germany
- Significant advances by British and American troops included the crossing of Rhine River and the Battle of Remagen.
- Capture of major areas (Ludendorf Bridge).
- Aimed for European victory.
- Led to Germany’s surrender on May 8, 1945.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
April 1945 - Hitler’s suicide
- Yipee!
- Obliteration of the Hitler Myth.
February 1943-May 1945 - Phase 4:
8th May 1945 - Germany surrenders
Hooray! The course is over! You can go home now!
