WWII

Question 1

1 Weimar Republic (changes)

Answer 1

(from) Pre-WWI - Imperial Military Autocracy
Changes
(to) Post WWI - Parliamentary Democracy
Why - what caused the change?
Electors: Pre-WWI - Men over 25 vs Post WWI - Men and Women over 20
Government made up of: Pre-WWI - Hereditary Monarch with total control over Chancellors, Elected government and the Army.

Question 2

2Weimar Republic (changes)

Answer 2

Government made up of: Post WWI - Electors choose President (Executive Branch)- who controls the military and they also choose the Reichstag (legislative branch) who selects the Chancellors. Both Branches can call for new elections (Peaceful overthrow the government)

Question 3

1 Weimar Republic - Background

Answer 3

Government was elected by proportion - meaning each party earned an equal share of representatives in their Parliament as the popular vote.
Communist got 6% of the vote - they would elect 6% of the Parliament members. Social Democrats had 32% - they would elect 32% of Parliament.

Question 4

Weimar Republic

Answer 4

Causes of Weimar Republic Failure
Economic Problems
Political Polarization 
Disdain for Democracy
International Isolation

Question 5

the Mandate System

Answer 5

Great Britain and France agreed to create the Mandate System - divide large portions of the Ottoman Empire the “mandate system” gave Great Britain and France control over the lands.

Question 6

Causes of worldwide depression

Answer 6

German reparations
Expansion of production tariffs
expansion of credit
Stock Market Crash of 1929

Question 7

Impact of worldwide depression

Answer 7

High unemployment
Bank failures and
Collapse of prices
Nazi Party’s growing importance in Germany; Nazi Party’s blame of European Jews for economic collapse

Question 8

USSR during the Interwar Period — Stalin

Answer 8

Stalin’s goal was to rapidly industrialize the USSR. He went back to the command economy and began the 5-Year Plan (2 prongs)
Agriculture: the peasants farming collectively to provide food.
Industry: turn the Soviet Union into an industrial power with the majority of people working in factories.

Question 9

5 Year plan

Answer 9

Agriculture: Peasant farmers forced to pool together into collective farms of about 75 households.
Unrealistic quotas were collected and redistributed to the cities. Quotas and drought led to the starvation deaths of 6 million peasants in 1932-33.
The collective farms never achieved success and the USSR continued to have difficulty with food production.

Question 10

2 Under the 5 year plan

Answer 10

Industry: By 1939, 20 million country people had left the country for the cities to work in industry.
Factories also worked on quota systems
Industry was focused on both commercial production and weapons production.
Industrial 5 year plans achieved success – 1st decade under Stalin produced faster growth than any western country ever showed which accomplished what Stalin had set out to accomplish.

Question 11

Stalin’s Reign of Terror

Answer 11

Stalin’s “Reign of Terror” led to the “Great Purge” to eliminate any political opposition.
Like Lenin’s Red Terror, Stalin’s secret police (KGB) were used to prevent any rebellion and sent any suspects to the gulags.
KGB encouraged citizens to turn on each other. This strategy continued under future Soviet leaders leading to a culture of suspicion within Russian society.

Question 12

Gulags

Answer 12

Some “enemies” were sent to gulags – labor camps in Siberia where mines and factories could use inmates for free labor.
By 1938, there were 2 million gulag inmates.
Average life expectancy 2 years.
90% of inmates died (worked to death)
Estimated that 20 million Soviets died during Stalin’s Reign of Terror.
The term Stalinism is still used to describe brutal totalitarian rule.

Question 13

Italy and Mussolini

Answer 13

Italy surrendered to allied forces on September 8, 1943
Mussolini escaped prison started started a separatist state until he was captured, shot, his dead body kicked and later stoned, then buried in unmarked grave.
He was later dug up by supporters and his party tried to revive it’s fascist ideas.
Body moved around Italy until it was finally apprehended.

Question 14

Germany during the Interwar Period — Adolf Hitler

Answer 14

Democratic government weakened - a fire in the Reichstag was blamed on the Communist. Nazi party uses it to gain more power.
Anti-Semitism - German dislike of Jewish population grows during the Weimar Republic
Extreme nationalism - Treaty of Versailles unifies the German people
National Socialism (Nazism) - Gives nationalist a voice in Government

Question 15

7 Spain during the Interwar Period — Francisco Franco

Answer 15

Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic
dictator, assuming the title Caudillo
Fought civil war against 2 groups of Communists - Trotskyists and Stalinists. Soviets sent troops to assist with rebels
His dictatorship’s use of forced labor, concentration camps, and executions led to between 30,000 and 50,000 deaths. Combined with wartime killings, this brings the death toll of the White Terror to between 100,000 and 200,000.

Question 16

Economic and political causes of World War II

Answer 16

Aggression by the totalitarian powers of Germany, Italy, Japan
Nationalism
Failures of the Treaty of Versailles
Weakness of the League of Nations
Appeasement
Tendencies towards United States isolationism and pacifism in Europe Pacific Ocean

Question 17

Major events of the war

Answer 17

Molotov Ribbentrop Pact - non-Aggression Pact August 23, 1939
German invasion of Poland September 1, 1939
Evacuation from Dunkirk May 27, 1940
Fall of France June 22, 1940
Battle of Britain July 10, 1940
German invasion of the Soviet Union June 22, 1941
US Joins the war December 8, 1941
Battle of Stalingrad Aug 23, 1942
Invasion of Africa and Italy November 8, 1942 and September 3, 1943
D-Day (Allied invasion of Europe) June 6, 1944
Battle of the Bulge December 16, 1944

Question 18

Molotov Ribbentrop Pact - non-Aggression Pact August 23, 1939

Answer 18

The USSR and Germany signed a non-Aggression Pact in August of 1939 - one week before Germany would invade Poland.
The USSR would invade Poland a month later and together would force the unconditional surrender of Poland.
England and France did not come to their allies’ assistance, but did declare war on Germany on September 1, 1939.
Many parts of the Polish Army would continue to fight within the British armed forces.

Question 19

Operation White Case (Invasion of Poland)

Answer 19

German invasion of Poland September 1, 1939
Germany faked an attack, by the Poles on Germany, to instigate the attack.
The USSR attacked the next month.
Poland fell to a combined German/USSR Invasion October 6, 1939

Question 20

Battle of France (Case Yellow) and Evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)

Answer 20

Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940.
The German use of Blitzkrieg - lightning war - allowed German forces to quickly take over Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium.
Allied forces retreated to the port of Dunkirk
Evacuation from Dunkirk on May 27, 1940

Question 21

Battle of the Alps

Answer 21

Italy, unprepared for War, Declared war on France on June 10, 1940 - mustered up enough soldiers to be allowed to sit at the Armistice Table. They gained one town after the battle.

Question 22

Battle of Britain July 10, 1940

Answer 22

The successful defense of Great Britain against constant and deadly air raids conducted by the German Luftwaffe between July through September 1940, after the fall of France.
German Attacks caused over 34,000 Civilian Casualties.

Question 23

German invasion of USSR June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa)

Answer 23

Germany broke their non-aggression pact with USSR on June 22 - by invading Soviet Union.
The purpose was to move Germans into Western USSR and protect Romanian Oil Fields which had recently become part of the German territory (also including Yugoslavia and Greece.)
This was the largest Invasion in history with more than 3 million soldiers, 10,000 tanks and artillery, 2,500 airplanes and an additional 30 Divisions of Finish and Romanian troops.

Question 24

German invasion of USSR June 22, 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) #2

Answer 24

Russia had the expected 3 million troops - however they underestimated the number of reserves that could be called up to fight. Germany had anticipated another million soldiers - however the number proved to be around 4 million.
Soviet Tanks were equal to those of Germany, but USSR did not have equality in the air with most of their planes being obsolete.
The German offensive initially took the Soviets off guard along their 1,800 Mile front (border).

Question 25

US Enters the War

Answer 25

December 7, 1941 - Japanese bomb the US forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. December 8, 1941 - US declares war on Japan December 11, 1941 Germany and Italy declare war on USA December 11, 1941 US declares war on Germany and Italy. Hitler’s decision is odd - in that their actions brought the US into the European conflict.

Question 26

Stalingrad

Answer 26

The Germans attempted to take over the industrial city of Stalingrad. The attack brought Germans and Soviets into urban warfare - where fighting took place within neighborhoods, blocks and even streets. The Luftwaffe (German air force) destroyed most of the city's housing with fire bombs. The Germans attempted to take over the industrial city of Stalingrad.

Question 27

Stalingrad #2

Answer 27

``` The attack brought Germans and Soviets into urban warfare - where fighting took place within neighborhoods, blocks and even streets. The Luftwaffe (German air force) destroyed most of the city's housing with fire bombs. Eventually, the Soviet Army would encircle the Germans. Hitler sent forces to rescue his divisions, but they were not successful. Friedrich Paulus, the commander in charge, was promoted to Field Marshall and quickly reminded by Hitler that no Field Marshall had ever surrendered a battle (he told him to fight to the death.) ```

Question 28

Stalingrad #3

Answer 28

On January 31, 1943 - Paulus and 22 Generals, along with the remaining 91,000 starving German soldiers surrendered to the Soviets. n all - 800,000 Axis soldiers died (from Germany, Italy, Romania) and 1.1 Million Red Army soldiers died. Also 40,000 civilians of Stalingrad perished. After the war (Ten years after the war) only 5,000 Prisoners of War remained (of the 91,000) and were sent back to their homelands. Most had died in Soviet Gulags.

Question 29

Operations Torch (North Africa and Husky (Sicily/Italy)

Answer 29

United States, United Kingdom and Free French combine to defeat the Nazi’s first in the Vichy French (puppet government of Nazis) colonies in North Africa and then later in Sicily and then Italy. Allied forces refuse to fire upon French soldiers in North Africa (unless fired upon.) French dessert the Nazi Puppet Vichy Regime in France and join with the allied troops. The Italian government had a vote of no-confidence in Benito Mussolini and removed him from power - replacing him with the King Victor Emmanuel. Mussolini was arrested and imprisoned.

Question 30

Operation Overlord - D-Day - June 6, 1944

Answer 30

Combined Allied Forces launch an amphibious attack on Normandy Beach in France. (156,115 Troops - 73,000 US, 61,000 UK, 21,000 Canadian) Airborne troops are also deployed behind German lines. (23,400) 7,000 French, Dutch, Norwegian, US and UK ships transported the soldiers and equipment. 4,000 landing craft ferried the soldiers onto the beaches. Allied casualties (Wounded and dead) were around 10,000 Soldiers Axis casualties were around 9,000 Casualties. The weather, tide and moon were all deciding factors in the attack.

Question 31

Liberation of Paris

Answer 31

Allied forces take back most of France by the fall of 1944

Question 32

Operation Watch on the Rhine | Battle of the Bulge

Answer 32

Battle of the Bulge was a counter-offensive by the German military in the winter of 1944. The US Casualties were around 89,000 people (killed or wounded) while Germany lost over 100,000 soldiers and most of their military forces, tanks and support in Western Europe. Germany had hoped to stall the offensive and seek a peace with the US and England. USSR started their invasion weeks early to take advantage of the loss by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge.

Question 33

Yalta Conference

Answer 33

Pre-Cursor - Tehran Conference: Big three met in Iran in 1943 to discuss the opening of another front in France (invasion) as well as the USSR’s invasion of the Pacific (to aid with the war against Japan.) US, UK and USSR meet in the Soviet city of Yalta in the Crimean Peninsula on February 4, 1945. Discussion was about post war Europe, what would happen with Germany and the date USSR would declare war on Japan (90 days after VE Day - will take time to get troops to Pacific.) The United Nations was also agreed upon.

Question 34

Dresden - Fire Bombing

Answer 34

1,200 US and UK bombers bombed “strategic” targets in the City of Dresden in Saxony. They dropped 3,900 tons (7,800,000 pounds of explosives) The attack and subsequent fires that raged through the city killed over 25,000 civilians. The allies defended the attack saying that the city was a railway, factor and communication hub for the entire war machine. Germans declared it was a war crime.

Question 35

Race for Berlin

Answer 35

The Allies discovered many things when they invaded German held territories Berghof - “Eagles Nest.” This was Hitler’s Bavarian Alps mansion. Art, gold, plundered treasures from all over Europe were found at his palace. On August 6, 1945 the US dropped an Atomic Bomb Fat Man on Hiroshima Japan. On August 9, 1945 the US Dropped a 2nd Atomic Bomb (Little Boy) on Japan at Nagasaki sts killed over 150,000 lives. On August 9, 1945 - exactly 90 days after VE Day - the USSR declared war on Japan - as it was planned during the Yalta Conference. On August 10, 1945 - Japan surrendered - Ending WW2

Question 36

The Holocaust

Answer 36

Terms to know genocide: The systematic and purposeful destruction of a racial, political, religious, or cultural group War Crimes Trials in Nuremberg Elements leading to the Holocaust Totalitarianism combined with nationalism History of anti-Semitism Defeat in World War I and economic depression blamed on German Jews Hitler’s belief in the master race Final solution: Extermination camps, gas chambers