Test Review:
World War II
Events
1938 Kristallnacht Pogrom
- "Night of Broken Glass"
- Two-day outbreak of anti-Semitic violence and persecution throughout Germany
- Encouraged by the Nazi government
- Many historians now view Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust
1939 German Invasion of Poland
- Act that led France and Great Britain to declare war against Germany
- In 1938, Hitler had made a deal with France and Great Britain, promising no further territorial expansion if they allowed him to annex part of Czechoslovakia
- Hitler broke his promise by invading Poland
1940 Selective Training and Service Act
- Made all American men between ages of 18 and 45 eligible for military draft
- Signed by President Franklin Roosevelt 1.5 years before the U.S. joined in World War II
1941 German Invasion of USSR
- In June, Hitler's armies invaded Soviet Union, opening Eastern Front in war
- Most WWII deaths occurred on Eastern Front; 30 million Soviets would die in war
- Marked beginning of uneasy anti-Nazi alliance between Communist Russia, U.S. and Britain
1941 Pearl Harbor
- Japanese bombers attacked U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7 December
- Attack killed thousands and destroyed much of U.S. Pacific fleet
- One day after attack, U.S. declared war on Japan, then Germany and Italy (allied with Japan) declared war on U.S.
1944 D-Day
- On 6 June, some 3 million Allied troops with thousands of planes and ships attacked Nazi positions on Normandy beaches in northern France
- Largest amphibious invasion in history
- After fierce fighting, Allied forces succeeded in establishing beachhead, began pushing toward Germany
- Major turning point in the war, marked beginning of end for Nazi Germany
1945 German Surrender
- Hitler committed suicide as Allied troops approached Berlin, 1 May
- Germany officially surrendered one day later
- Officially ended European war, but did not end World War II, as Japan kept fighting
1945 Hiroshima
- U.S. bomber Enola Gay dropped atomic bomb on city of Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August
- Atomic bombing authorized by President Harry S. Truman
- Resulted in destruction of the city and the instant death of estimated 100,000 people
- First of two nuclear attacks that effectively ended World War II
1945 Nagasaki
- U.S. bomber Bockscar dropped atomic bomb on Nagasaki in southern Japan, 9 August
- Unlike Hiroshima, Nagasaki was old city with wooden buildings packed closely together
- Total destruction more far-reaching than in Hiroshima; instantly killed one-third of total population in Nagasaki
- Post-attack landscape described by Japanese report as "a graveyard with not a tombstone standing"
- Second of two nuclear attacks that effectively ended World War II
Places
Auschwitz, Poland
- Site of largest Nazi concentration camp in Holocaust
- More than 1 million Jewish prisoners killed at Auschwitz, many in gas chambers
Hiroshima, Japan
- Large city in western Honshu, Japan
- Headquarters of Japanese Second Army during WWII
- First city in world to suffer atomic bomb attack, August 1945
Normandy, France
- Northwestern region of France, borders English Channel
- Site of largest amphibious invasion in history, 6 June 1944
- 3 million Allied troops landed on Normandy beaches, overwhelming German defenders
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
- Location of primary naval base of U.S. Pacific fleet
- Suffered surprise attack by Japanese aircraft, 7 December 1941
People
Winston Churchill
- Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940-45, again from 1951-55
- Led Britain through period of lonely resistance to Hitler's expansion before U.S. and U.S.S.R. entered war in 1941
- Frequently met with U.S. President Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Stalin to plan Allied war strategy
Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Republican elected President of the U.S. in 1952 and again in 1956
- Served as Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during WWII
- Oversaw successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, 1944
Adolf Hitler
- Nazi Party leader who became German dictator in 1933
- Unchecked militarism pushed Europe into war
- Authorized the Holocaust, mass murder of 6 million Jews
- Committed suicide in 1945, one day before Germany surrendered to Allies
Benito Mussolini
- Fascist Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 until 1943
- Adopted the title "Il Duce," which meant "the noble leader"
- Promised to fight alongside Hitler in war against Allies, but his armies were poorly led and ill-prepared and were easily defeated
- Overthrown in 1943 by Italian insurgents and assassinated two years later
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Democratic President of the U.S., first elected in 1932 during Great Depression; reelected in 1936, 1940, and 1944
- Served as President for all but 4 months of World War II
- Died of a stroke in office, April 1945; succeeded by his vice president, Harry S. Truman
Josef Stalin
- Powerful Soviet Communist dictator who rose to power in the 1920s
- During WWII, was an uneasy ally of U.S. and Britain in fight against Nazis
- Felt (not without cause) that his nation bore the brunt of the war against Nazi Germany
- Quickly became Cold War enemy of U.S. after WWII's end
Harry S. Truman
- Democratic Vice President under President Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Became President upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945, during last months of war
- Under his command, U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan V
Groups
National Socialist German Workers Party
- Better known as Nazi Party; led by Adolf Hitler from 1920s until his suicide in 1945
- Controlled Germany from 1933 to 1945
- Its government is referred to as the Third Reich
Concepts
Allied Powers
- During World War II, the alliance of nations that fought against the Axis powers
- Included Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the U.S., China
- Also included France before it was defeated and occupied by Germany
Axis Powers
- During World War II, the alliance of fascist nations that fought against the Allied powers
- Included Germany, Italy, and Japan
Blitzkrieg
- German word that means "Lightning Warfare"
- Military strategy used by Hitler's armies to overwhelm enemies; bombardment by air, followed immediately by rapid ground attacks
"The Good War"
- Romanticized phrase used to refer to World War II
- Calls to mind the meaning of Allied victory: defeat of fascism, new inclusion of blacks and women in American economy, new powerful role for U.S. in world
- Tainted by extreme destruction, particularly in Nagasaki and Hiroshima
The Holocaust
- Nazi genocide of European Jews
- Built machine-like bureaucratic system to murder 6 million innocent people
- Only ended with German defeat in war
- Allies took little special action to stop it during war
"Jap"
- Derogatory term for Japanese
- Commonly used by Americans during World War II
- Came to be associated with animalistic, savage features and behavior
- Helped justify racist government policies such as Japanese internment and extreme violence on the Pacific front
Kamikaze Fliers
- Japanese military pilots who were given suicide missions during WWII
- These pilots few bomb-filled planes into American ships, terrorizing American crews
- Responsible for many of the American military deaths in Okinawa and Iwo Jima
Lend-Lease
- Government program that supplied weapons, military vessels, and other supplies to other Allied powers in the early years of World War II
- Authorized by President Roosevelt in the years before the U.S. entered the war
- Seemed to contradict FDR's promise of American neutrality and hinted at future U.S. military involvement
"Little Boy"
- Nickname for atomic bomb dropped by Americans on Hiroshima, Japan, 6 August 1945
- First nuclear weapon ever used in war
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