WW2 Flashcards
(91 cards)
1
Q
WW2 dates
A
1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945
2
Q
What were the origins of WW2?
A
- The Treaty of Versailles
- The expansionist policies of Germany, Italy and Japan
- The weaknesses of the League of Nations, the peace-keeping body
- The failure of Britain and France’s appeasement policy
3
Q
What was the Treaty of Versailles?
A
The condition of the armistice. Germany had to form a new Government. The Weimer Government was formed
4
Q
What were the Military Restrictions?
A
- Army limited to 100,000 men
- Banned conscription
- Navy limited to 15,000 men and 6 battleships
- No submarines and airforce
- No heavy artillery, poison gas or tanks
- No troops on the Rhine Land (French Border)
5
Q
What were the Economic Restrictions?
A
- Loss of overseas colonies
- Loss of West Prussia, Posen, Upper Silesia, part of East Prussia, Alsace, Prussia and more
- No heavy artillery, poison gas or tanks
- Forbidden to unite with Austria
- Loss of 16% coal sources and 10% land
6
Q
What is capitalism?
A
A system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit
7
Q
What is socialism?
A
A theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the workers
8
Q
What is communism?
A
A theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs
9
Q
When was the Beer Hall Putch?
A
November 1923
10
Q
What was the Beer Hall Putch?
A
Hitler’s attempt to overthrow the government, which failed.
Hitler was arrested for treason and charged 5 years imprisonment. They bailed him before Christmas
11
Q
What did Hitler do after his release?
A
Worked to gain power by legal means
12
Q
Why did Hitler travel Germany?
A
To make speeches claiming that the Weimar Republic’s policies caused the Great Depression and that the Jews were responsible for Germany’s problems and that the Treaty of Versailles had been a stab in the back for Germany
13
Q
What did Hitler believe in?
A
He believed in racism, that the white people were superior to other races, and that the Jews were a lesser race
14
Q
What happened in the 1932 elections?
A
The Nazis had 196 seats and 33% of the total vote. Hitler was made Chancellor
15
Q
What happened in August 1934 in terms of Germany’s government?
A
Germany was a one-party state and Hitler was the dictator, where the German army swore oath to Hitler of personal loyalty
16
Q
What were the trade bans?
A
League members were not allowed to sell arms, rubber, tin or metals to Italy
Oil sales to Italy continued
17
Q
What was the main spark of WW2 from Hitler?
A
Hitler withdrew from the League of Nations, began over turning restrictions on the Treaty of Versailles, announced rearmament and conscription, sent troops into the Rhineland and introduced a four-year plan to get Germany ready for war. In 1938 his troops took over Austria
18
Q
What was Britain and France’s response?
A
Appease Germany. The actions in the Rhineland threatened France, but they did nothing. They gave Germany Czechoslovakia. Eventually, they had to end the appeasement and went to war
19
Q
Why did Japan leave the League of Nations?
A
The League ordered Japan out of Manhcuria, which Japan had invaded
20
Q
What was the US President’s response to Japan invading east China and French Indochina?
A
- Giving loans and military assisstance to China
- Freezing Japan’s assets in the USA
- Placing increasingly severe restrictions on trade with Japan
21
Q
How did the US enter the war?
A
When Japan bombed Pearl Harbour on December 7 1941
22
Q
Why did Australia support appeasement?
A
They didn’t want to support Britain in a European war
23
Q
Why did Australians enlist for WW2?
A
- A desire for adventure
- A sense of duty to protect Australia
- A desire to be part of the military heritage associated with Australia’s efforts in World War 1
24
Q
Why was this war called a “phoney war”?
A
There was very little fighting
25
How was France defeated?
They signed an armistice to give Germany the northern half of the country. Now only Britain remained for Germany's European enemies
26
What happened in 1940?
* June - The Soviets occupied the Baltic states
* 10 June - Italy joined the war
* 10 - 21 October - The Nazis waged war on England, known as the Battle of Britain
27
What is blitzkrieg?
* German forces coordinating aircraft, artillery, infantry, and tanks in short, quick attacks to gain control of territory before enemy forces had time to mobilise, organise defences and retaliate.
28
What was the Evacuation of Dunkirk?
When German forces surrounded British, French and Belgian troops back to Dunkirk, a big beach. They surrounded them, but halted their advance.
29
What was Operation Dynamo?
Winston Churchill called on anyone with a boat to make the trip across the English Channel and bring home the Allied troops. They rescued 338 000 soldiers
30
What was the Battle of Britain?
* Germany’s air force conducted a major bombing campain in Britain
* Its goal was to destroy the Royal Air Force and British air force to prepare to invade Britain
* The destruction would make it much easier to bomb the RAF
31
Why did Germany lose the Battle of Britain?
* More effective leadership and organisation
* Very good radar communication
* Hurricane and Spitfire fighter planes, which were better suited to the battle conditions than the German’s Messerschmitts
32
What is the Luftwaffle?
German Air Force
33
What was the Blitz?
Nightly bombings on London
34
What was the goal of the Blitz?
* Destroy civilian morale, and force the government to surrender
* Nearly 43 000 civilians died and 1 million homes were damaged.
Despite this, it failed
* 8 months later, they abandoned their plan to invade Britain
35
When was the battle of the Atlantic?
September 1939 to May 1945
36
What are corvettes?
Speedy, lightly armoured ships. Used to detect U-boats
37
What was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?
A non-aggression pact between the Soviets and Germany
38
When was Operation Barbarossa?
22 June 1941
39
What is Operation Barbarossa?
Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, contradicting the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
40
What did Operation Barbarossa involve?
3.3 million men, 3500 tanks and thousands of aircrafts
41
What was teh goal of Operation Barbarossa?
Gain land, gain agricultural and oil resources, gain a slave labour force of those Hitler considered racially inferior, and destroy the Soviets communist government
42
Explain the movement of Operation Barbarossa
Captured Minsk and Smolensk
They laid siege to Leningrad, took Kiev and captured over 6000 Soviet troops in September and even got to Moscow, the capital
43
What was the impact of Operation Barbarossa?
1 million Russians were dead, over 3 million were POW’s and the Soviets had lost control of approximately 60% of its aluminium, coal, iron and steel
44
Why was this operation Hitler's greatest mistake?
Weren't expecting the bitterly cold Russian winter. They didn't have proper clothing, their tanks were not functioning, but Hitler still redirected the bulk of his troops to Russia.
45
What was the importance of Stalingrad?
It was the Soviets key manufacturing cities and the link between the north and south
46
What caused the defeat of Germany?
One million Soviet troops came to defend Stalingrad. As winter set in, the German troops were cut off from ammunition and food supplies and, facing starvation, had no rations for their wounded soldiers. Germany surrendered
47
What was the battle of Kursk?
Germany's counter-attack on the Soviets. The Soviets, though, had vast resources and months warning
48
What happened when
Germany got bombed
Allied air forces dropped nearly 2 million tons of bombs on Germany, destroying 60 cities, killing 500,000 German citizens and 80,000 dead pilots
49
What is the Holocaust?
The Nazi-organised
killing of over six million Jews
50
What is the Nazis hierarchy of races?
Top - Aryans (tall, with light brown or blonde hair
and blue or light-coloured eyes)
Sub-human - Russians, Poles and Serbs
Not deservant of life - criminals, homosexuals, the mentally ill, gypsies and, especially, Jews.
51
Explain the Nazis and the master race
They wanted to regenerate the master race and eliminate all those who were sub-human. They taught pride in being a member of the master race
52
What were the anti-semitic beliefs?
* enforced a national boycott of Jewish businesses (marked with a Star of David emblem)
* dismissed Jews working in the civil service (1933)
* limited Jews’ access to schools and universities (1933)
* prevented Jewish lawyers from working within the legal system (1933) and Jewish doctors from obtaining medical insurance
(1934)
* excluded Jews from German citizenship under the 1935 Nuremberg Laws
* denied Jews their property rights (from 1937)
* organised Kristallnacht, a violent attack on Jews and their property
53
What did the Nazi Schutzstaffel do?
Began to systematically kill Jews by means of a series of mass
shootings
54
What are the names of the extermination camps
Chelmno, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka and Belzec
55
Why did they change to gassing?
Lowering SS morale
56
When did Japan join the Axis powers?
1940
57
Pearl Harbour result
Damaged 21 US ships, destroyed 188 aircraft, killed nearly 2400 American military personnel wounded over 1000 people (including civilians).
58
When did the US declare war on Japan?
8 December 1941. Hitler declared war on the US 3 days after
59
What was Australia's response to Japan?
Stationed a division in Malaya. Declared war on Japan on 9 December 1941. Japan also started their attack on Singapore
60
Why was Australia in trouble?
War was coming closer to Australia and
the British navy was clearly unable to
protect it. Australia’s trained troops were all serving overseas. The PM redirected some squadrons close to home. Au also changed allegiance to the US
61
Fall of Singapore
The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan invaded the Malay
Peninsula and Japanese soldiers
began their advanced towards Singapore. Australian soldiers retreated to Singapore, but Japan reached Singapore quicker
62
Why was the fall of Singapore a threat?
Britain beleived that Singapore could not be taken
63
What is the Bataan Death March?
The transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 75,000 POW's from the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando. POWs who fell or were caught
on the ground were shot
64
Why did Australia send troops to the north islands of Australia
To prevent Japan taking airfields from where it could launch attacks on the Australian mainland
65
Where did they attempt to set base at?
Rabaul
66
Outcome of Rabaul
They were unsuccessful, and Japan made it it's Pacific headquarters
67
Who is Douglas Macarthur?
Commander of the Allied forces in the south-west Pacific, when the US set up their Pacific base in Australia
68
What was the Battle of the Coral Sea?
The first time in history where
combat between two fleets took
place solely by carrier plane
69
Result of the Battle of the Coral Sea
The allies won the battle, and retained their place at Port Moresby
70
Goal of the Japanese blockade
Prevent Australia receiving supplies from the
United States
71
How did Japan plan to set up the blockade?
Establish bases in Fiji, the New Hebrides, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands
72
How did the Allies win the Battle of the Coral Sea?
Codebreakers
73
Goal of the Battle of Midway
By luring the United States into a battle here, it
would be able to destroy the US threat once and for all and, at the same time, further extend its empire
74
Result of the Battle of Midway (how did they win)
Won by codebreakers. US naval forces sank 6 ships and nearly 250 aircraft. Japan had 10x deaths compared to America. First major victory over Japan
75
The Kokoda Trail
Was the battle between Australia and Japan, trying to stop Japan from getting to Port Moresby, which was on the oppposite side of the trail
76
Difficulties of the Kokoda Trail
Only single file. Very, very steep
77
Result of the Kokoda trail
Japan was pushing Australia back, but had to retreat because of their losses in Guadalcanal. The Australians succeeded in pushing Japan back as far as the coastline, though it took until next year to claim the victory
78
What was the start of Japan's land retreat?
Kokoda Trail and repelling a Japanese invasion of the Allied base at Milne Bay on the south- east tip of Papua New Guinea
79
Objective of Guadalcanal
A surprise offensive against the Japanese
at Guadalcanal and its neighbouring islands. This would neutralise Japan’s major south Pacific
base at Rabaul and stop Japan from disrupting supply and communication links between
Australia and the United States
80
What happened in Guadalcanal
Twenty thousand US Marines landed with support from American cruisers and destroyers. They managed to seize the airfield but near midnight the following evening the Allies lost three ships during a surprise Japanese counter-
attack from Rabaul.
81
Why did the US win at Guadalcanal?
They were able to replace men and resources more easily than the Japanese, who were significantly weakened by their aircraft and shipping losses
82
What was the significance of Guadalcanal?
Was a turning point, and it convinced the Allies
that they could win the war in the Pacific. Turned the US on the offensive and started island-hopping
83
What happened to Japan after Guadalcanal?
The Japanese empire was contracting
not expanding, and Japanese forces could no longer control all of the territory they had
taken
84
Who lead the island-hopping?
General Douglas Macarthur
85
How did they plan the island-hopping?
Position within bombing range of Japan by capturing key islands one at a time, and using each newly acquired island as a base from which
to ‘leapfrog’ to the next
86
What is the Banzai charge?
The Japanese's final suicide charge, but meaning that they would not surrender. 22,000 civilians died by jumping off a cliff due to propaganda based on American barbarism
87
Goal of kamikaze pilots
To destroy aircraft carriers and other enemy shipping and inflict large numbers of casualties. This showed how far Japan would go to not surrender
88
When was the last Japanese naval threat taken care of?
April 1945
89
What caused the Pacific war to come to an end?
The Allies bombed and firebombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities in preparation for the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland and They also placed mines in Japanese ports to destroy Japanese shipping
90
How many soldiers did they save in Operation Dynamo?
338 000
91
When was Pearl Harbour
December 7 1941
