-
Hitler's rise to power
Hitler proved to be such a powerful public speaker and organizer that he
quickly became the party’s leader. Calling himself Der Führer—“the Leader”—he
promised to bring Germany out of chaos. -
Mussolini/Fascism
Fascism (fBshPGzQEm) stressed nationalism and
placed the interests of the state above those of individuals. Italy -
Stalin/Totalitarian government
tried
to exert complete control over its citizens. In a totalitarian state, individuals have
no rights, and the government suppresses all opposition. -
Mein Kampf
Hitler's book that put forward Nazi beliefs. Means "my struggle" -
Storm troopers
Many men who
were out of work joined Hitler’s private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts).
The German people were desperate and turned to Hitler as their last hope. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Hitler a belief in the need for more
living space for a growing population. Ignoring the protests of more moderate
Japanese officials, the militarists launched a surprise attack and seized control of
the Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. -
Third Reich
Once in power,
Hitler quickly dismantled Germany’s democratic Weimar Republic. In its place he
established the Third Reich, or Third German Empire. According to Hitler, the Third
Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
Hitler sent troops into
the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized
as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Hitler's military buildup
In 1935, he began a military
buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. A year later, he sent troops into
the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized
as a result of the Treaty of Versailles -
Mussolini invades Ethiopia
His first target was Ethiopia, one of Africa’s few
remaining independent countries. By the fall of 1935, tens
of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on
Ethiopia. The League of Nations reacted with brave talk of
“collective resistance to all acts of unprovoked aggression.”
When the invasion began, however, the League’s
response was an ineffective economic boycott -
Francisco Franco
a group of
Spanish army officers led by General Francisco Franco,
rebelled against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke out all
over Spain, and the Spanish Civil War began -
Rome-Berlin axis
The Spanish revolution forged a close
relationship between the German and Italian dictators, who
signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. -
Hitler's Anschluss
Germany announced that its
Anschluss, or “union,” with Austria was complete. -
Munich agreement
In their
eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. On
September 30, 1938, they signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the
Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
After Germany attacked Poland, France and Britain decided to declare war on Germany -
Nonaggression pact
As tensions rose over Poland, Stalin surprised everyone by signing a
nonaggression pact with Hitler -
Blitzkrieg
the German
air force roared over Poland, raining bombs on military
bases, airfields, railroads, and cities. At the same time, German tanks raced across
the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. -
Phony War
France’s eastern border (see map on p. 538), sat
staring into Germany, waiting for something to happen. On the
Siegfried Line a few miles away German troops stared back. The
blitzkrieg had given way to what the Germans called the sitzkrieg
(“sitting war”), and what some newspapers referred to as the
phony war -
Hitler's invasion of Norwayh and Denmark
Hitler launched a surprise invasion
of Denmark and Norway in order “to protect [those countries’] freedom
and independence.” But in truth, Hitler planned to build bases along the
coasts to strike at Great Britain -
Hitler's invasion of Netherlands
Next, Hitler turned against the Netherlands,
Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony
war had ended -
The battle of britain
Every night for two solid months, bombers pounded
London.
The Battle of Britain raged on through the summer and
fall. Night after night, German planes pounded British targets -
Germany/ Italy attacks France
The German offensive trapped almost 400,000 British
and French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on the French side of
the English Channel. Fleet of makeshift boats from citizens carried victims to safety. France lost the battle but not the war. -
Marshall Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of
France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed
by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up at Vichy,
in southern France. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
Japan's attack on the US that brought the US officially into world war two. -
Lend-Lease Act
Roosevelt compared his plan to lending a garden hose to a neighbor whose
house was on fire. He asserted that this was the only sensible thing to do to prevent
the fire from spreading to your own property. Isolationists argued bitterly
against the plan, but most Americans favored it, and Congress passed the LendLease
Act -
Women's Auxiliary Army Corps
Under this
bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions.
Despite opposition from some members of Congress
who scorned the bill as “the silliest piece of legislation” they
had ever seen, the bill establishing the WAAC became law
on May 15, 1942. The law gave the WAACs an official status -
Battle of the Atlantic
Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along America’s east coast. The German
aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from
reaching Great Britain and the Soviet Union. -
U.S. Convoy system
Way of delivering resources overseas with ships escorting it to protect the goods -
Internment
The confinement of a group of people -
Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler wanted to capture soviet oil fields as well as take out Stalingrad. Germany had 9/10 of it when Soviets launched a counter attack and trapped Germany in Stalingrad forcing them to surrender. -
Unconditional Surrender
At this meeting,
the two leaders (Roosevelt Churchill) agreed to accept only the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.
That is, enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace the Allies
dictated. -
Operation Torch
. Churchill and Roosevelt didn’t think the Allies had enough
troops to attempt an invasion on European soil. Instead, they launched
Operation Torch, an invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by
American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Bloody Anzio
One of the hardest battles the Allies encountered
in Europe was fought less than 40 miles from Rome. This battle, “Bloody
Anzio,” lasted four months—until the end of May 1944—and left about 25,000
Allied and 30,000 Axis casualties. During the year after Anzio, German armies
continued to put up strong resistance. The effort to free Italy did not succeed until
1945, when Germany itself was close to collapse -
Korematsu v. United States
Supreme court decided the internment of japanese citizens was justified by way of military necessity -
D-Day
Shortly after midnight, three divisions
parachuted down behind German lines. They were followed
in the early morning hours by thousands upon
thousands of seaborne soldiers—the largest land-sea-air
operation in army history. -
The Battle of the Bulge
The battle raged for a month. When it was over, the
Germans had been pushed back, and little seemed to have
changed. But, in fact, events had taken a decisive turn.
The Germans had lost 120,000 troops, 600 tanks and
assault guns, and 1,600 planes in the Battle of the Bulge -
Death of Hitler
I myself
and my wife choose to die in
order to escape the disgrace of
. . . capitulation,” he said. The
next day Hitler shot himself
while his new wife swallowed
poison -
Harry S. Truman
the president
had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman
became the nation’s 33rd president -
V-E day
Victory in Europe Day
