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Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
-Joined Nazi Party --> became leader
-Powerful speaker --> promised to bring Germany out of chaos
-Militaristic expansionism
-Anticommunist -
Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
-Took leadership thru strikes caused by unemployment and inflation
-Played on fears: economic collapse, communism
-1921 - facist gov't - stressed nationalism and placed state interests over individual interests -
Mein Kampf
-Set forth basic beliefs for Naziism that were adopted by the Nazi Party
-Enforce racial "purification"
-National expansion ---> secure for the German people the
land and soil to which they are entitled on this earth,” even if this could be accomplished only by “the might of a victorious sword.” -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
-Ignoring protests, Japan launched a surprise attack on China
-When confronted by the League of Nations, they up and quit. -
Third Reich
-Hitler dismantled Weimar Republic --> Third Reich
-According to Hitler, it'd last for a thousand years -
Storm Troopers
-Hitler's private army, also called "Brown Shirts." -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
-1933 - Hitler pulled Germany out of the League
-1935 - built up army in violation of the Versailles treaty -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
-League’s response was an ineffective economic boycott
-May 1936 --> Ethiopia fell
-Haile Selassie appealed to the League --> N/A --> “It is us today, it will be you tomorrow.” -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
-Remilitarized the land
-League of Nations couldn't do anything about it -
Francisco Franco
-Led rebels against the Spanish Republic in 1936
-Caused Spanish Civil War to start
-Victory in 1939 --> became Spain's fascist dictator -
Hitler's Anschluss
Germany unites with Austria. -
Munich Agreement
Turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Nonaggression Pact
Agreement in which Russia and Germany promised to never attack each other. -
Blitzkrieg
Germany bombs Poland to test blitzkrieg warfare. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
Two days after the Blirzkrieg in Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany. -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
-After democracy attempts led to civil wars --> Soviet Union
-Stalin focused on making a model communist state
-agricultural and industrial growth the prime economic goals
-abolished privately owned farms ---> collectives
-1928 - "five year plans" - economic activity under state management
-Killed 8-13 million ppl
-Totalitarian gov't - exert full control over citizens -
Rome-Berlin Axis
-Germany and Italy --> ally --> Rome-Berlin Axis -
Phony War
-Maginot Line - French & British troops VS Germany... in essentially a staring contest.
-4/19/1940 - German "surprise attack" used to build. -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
Did it “to protect [those countries’] freedom
and independence.” But Hitler actually planned to build bases along the coasts to strike at Great Britain. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
Overrun it by the end of May after finishing up in Denmark and Norway, ending the Phony War. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
-Italy invaded France from the south as the Germans closed in on Paris from the north.
-6/22/1940 - Compiègne - Hitler handed French officers his terms of
surrender. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
-Headed the Nazi-controlled gov't set in Vichy, France. -
The Battle of Britain
-Air strike over Brit
-Goal: control the skies
-2K German planes flew overhead
-Every night for 2 months, bombs dropped
-Radar helped British defeat Germany -
Lend-Lease Act
-Lend or lease arms and other supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the United States.” -
Pearl Harbor Attack
-Raid lasted an hour and a half.
-180 Japanese warplanes & 6 aircraft carriers used.
-Spurred the US into WW2. -
Internment
-The confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans. -
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
-Under this bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. -
Manhattan Project
-Project to develop an atomic bomb. -
Office of Price Administration
-Fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods. -
Unconditional Surrender
-Enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace the Allies dictated. -
Battle of the Atlantic
-German aim: prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Britain.
-Sank 87 ships within the first 4 months.
-7 months in: 681 Allied ships sunk.
-Allies formed convoys to counteract. -
Battle of Stalingrad
-German army approaches Stalingrad via air bombings
-People considered blowing up the factories and abandoning the city, but Stalin kept them there
-9/10ths of the city was controlled by November
-Massive Soviet counterattack
-January 31st - surrender. -
Operation Torch
-An invasion of Axis-controlled North Africa, commanded by
American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
U.S. Convoy System
-Groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection, as they had done in the First World War.
-The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater.
-Accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. -
War Productions Board
-Decided which companies would convert from
peacetime to wartime production and allocated raw materials
to key industries.
-Organized drives to collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, and cooking fat for recycling into war goods -
Bloody Anzio
-4 month battle 40 miles from Rome
-approx 25k Allied and 30 Axis deaths -
D-Day
-After 7 days of fighting and heavy casualties, the Allies held the beach.
-One of the bloodiest battles in WW2 -
The Battle of the Bulge
-Germans lost 120k troops, 600 tanks + assault guns, & 1.6k planes in the battle
-One month long battle -
Korematsu v. United States
-Japanese Americans fought for justice.
-Then the gov't decided it was justified on a "military basis." -
Harry S. Truman
-Became the 33rd president after Roosevelt died. -
Death of Hitler
-Had his wife take a cyanide pill
-Shot himself
-Asked for their bodies to be burnt to avoid public humiliation -
V-E Day
-End of the war in Europe.
