Unit 7: Global Conflict (c. 1900–1945)

Question 1

Total War

Answer 1

A war that requires the full mobilization of a nation’s economy, people, and resources. Civilians were targeted and industries shifted to war production.

Event: World War I and II both featured total war strategies — e.g., rationing, war bonds, propaganda, and conscription.

📝 Use to show how modern conflicts blurred the lines between civilian and military spheres

Question 2

Trench Warfare

Answer 2

Dominant strategy during World War I, particularly on the Western Front. Led to stalemates, disease, and mass death.

Event: Battle of the Somme (1916) resulted in over 1 million casualties.

Question 3

Treaty of Versailles

Answer 3

(1919)
Peace treaty ending WWI that blamed Germany, imposed reparations, and redrew borders. It sowed resentment that would contribute to WWII.

Event: Germany lost colonies and was forced to accept war guilt.

📝 Strong evidence for LEQs on the causes of WWII or failed peace efforts.

Question 4

League of Nations

Answer 4

International organization founded after WWI to promote peace. Lacked enforcement power and failed to stop aggression in the 1930s.

Event: Italy invaded Ethiopia (1935) and faced no real consequence

Question 5

Great Depression

Answer 5

Global economic crisis triggered by the U.S. stock market crash. Led to mass unemployment, political instability, and the rise of extremism.

Event: Germany’s economy collapsed, helping Hitler rise to power.

Question 6

Fascism

Answer 6

Authoritarian, ultranationalist ideology that emerged in Italy (Mussolini) and Germany (Hitler). It emphasized militarism, racial purity, and anti-communism.

Event: March on Rome (1922) brought Mussolini to power.

📝 Use in comparison to communism or liberalism in 20th-century ideologies essays.

Question 7

Benito Mussolini

Answer 7

Italian fascist leader who founded the first fascist state. Promised to revive the Roman Empire and eliminate communism.

Event: Invasion of Ethiopia (1935) tested the weakness of the League of Nations.

Question 8

Adolf Hitler & Nazism

Answer 8

Leader of Nazi Germany who used anti-Semitism, nationalism, and propaganda to establish a totalitarian regime.

Event: Nuremberg Laws (1935) institutionalized discrimination against Jews

Question 9

Stalin’s Five-Year Plans

Answer 9

Soviet economic plans to rapidly industrialize and collectivize agriculture under Joseph Stalin. Resulted in famine and repression.

Event: Holodomor (1932–33) – A man-made famine in Ukraine caused millions of deaths

Question 10

Collectivization

Answer 10

The Soviet policy of forcing peasants onto large, state-run farms. Aimed to increase efficiency but led to food shortages and resistance.

Event: Over 5 million people died during famines and purges linked to collectivization.

Question 11

Spanish Civil War

Answer 11

(1936–1939)
Conflict between fascist nationalists and socialist republicans. Became a proxy war for European powers before WWII.

Event: Germany bombed Guernica (1937) — an early example of civilian-targeted air war

Question 12

Japanese Invasion of Manchuria (1931)

Answer 12

Japan seized the Chinese region of Manchuria to secure natural resources. This marked the beginning of Japanese imperial aggression in East Asia.

Event: Establishment of puppet state Manchukuo.

📝 Use as evidence of early Axis expansion and League of Nations failure.

Question 13

Manchukuo

Answer 13

Japan’s puppet state in Manchuria to serve as a buffer between Japan and China

Question 14

Second Sino-Japanese War

Answer 14

(1937–1945)
Japan’s brutal campaign to conquer China. Featured mass atrocities and strengthened Chinese nationalism.

Event: Nanjing Massacre (1937) – Japanese troops murdered and raped thousands of civilians

Question 15

Appeasement

Answer 15

Western policy of giving in to Axis demands to avoid war. Emboldened fascist aggression.

Event: Munich Agreement (1938) – Britain and France let Hitler annex the Sudetenland

Question 16

Blitzkrieg

Answer 16

“Lightning war” — German strategy of rapid attacks combining air and ground forces.

Event: Invasion of Poland (1939) triggered WWII in Europe

Question 17

Holocaust

Answer 17

Systematic genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others (Roma, disabled, LGBTQ, political opponents) by Nazi Germany.

Event: Wannsee Conference (1942) formalized the “Final Solution.”

📝 Use as evidence of the destructive power of authoritarian ideologies

Question 18

Firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo

Answer 18

Allied aerial campaigns that targeted civilian areas to destroy enemy morale and infrastructure.

Event: Tokyo firebombing (March 1945) killed over 100,000 civilians — deadlier than Hiroshima

Question 19

Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945)

Answer 19

First and only use of nuclear weapons in war. Ended WWII in the Pacific but raised moral and geopolitical questions.

Event: Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 (V-J Day)

Question 20

United Nations (1945)

Answer 20

Founded to replace the League of Nations and prevent future global conflicts. Gave more power to major victors of WWII through the Security Council.

Event: UN Charter signed in San Francisco, 1945.

Question 21

Decolonization Post-WWII

Answer 21

Colonized peoples used wartime rhetoric of “freedom and democracy” to demand independence from European powers.

Event: Indian independence movement intensified under Gandhi during WWII, achieved in 1947.