nonaggression pact
Joseph Stalin signed a ten-year pact with Hitler. Germany and the soviet union agreed to divide Poland between them.
France and Great Britain
declared war on Germany. After he won, Hitler annexed the western part of Poland.
blitzkrieg
Germany's new military strategy which involved fast moving tanks, airplanes, and ground forces. (Worked against Poland)
Finland
Soviets expected a quick victory but weren't prepared for winter fighting. Stalin forced the Finns to accept his surrender terms.
The phony war
Germans vs. France & Great Britain. They both waited for eachother to attack so they were equally bored. Denmark Fell and Norway surrendered, Germans used coasts to launch strikes on Great Britain.
Dunkirk
Allies retreated (outnumbered & outgunned). Great Britain set out to rescue around 300,000 soldiers.
Charles de Gaulle
French general who committed all his energy into reconquering France. Battled the Nazis until France was liberated
Winston Churchill
British prime minister declared that his nation wouldn't give in. Hitler then directed an invasion of Great Britain
Luftwaffe
(Germany's air force) began bombing Great Britain (British did not waver)
RAF
(Royal Air Force) developed two devices: radar and enigma machine, which helped launch attacks on Germany
Battle of Britain
Germany conducted night air-raid on Britain. Hitler decided to focus on Mediterranean and Eastern Europe instead which showed allies that Hitler could be blocked.
Egypt's suez canal
Mussolini wanted to control in order to reach the oil fields of the Middle East
Mussolini
(Italy) alliance with Hitler (Germany)
Erwin Rommel
(Afrika Korps) attacked British forces and caused them to retreat to Libya. Then seized Tobruk (loss for Allies)
Axis Powers
Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary joined (Yugoslavia and Greece didn't but they were defeated)
Operation Barbarossa
Hitler's plan to invade the soviet union. SU was not prepared, well quipped, or well trained. Hitler bombed their food sources to they began to starve but sill didn't give in
Neutrality Acts
laws made it illegal to sell arms or lend money to nations at war.
Lend-Lease act
made it allowed to lend or lease supplies to nations vital to the US
Atlantic Charter
Roosevelt and Churchill met secretly and declared free trade among nations and the right for people to chose their own government
Isoroku Yamamoto
Japan's greatest naval strategist who called for an attack on the US fleet in Hawaii
Pearl Harbor
December 7th 1941, Japan bombed pearl harbor (Hawaii) which led to the declaration of war on Japan and its allies
East Asia for the Asiatics
Japanese tried to gain support by conquering Asian lands (1million square miles) and treated new people with cruelty.
Battle of the Coral Sea
Allies stopped Japan's southward advance
Battle of Midway
turned the tide of war in the Pacific (American planes attacked the Japanese fleet)
Douglas MacArthur
commander of the allied forces in the pacific who wanted to seize islands not well defended but closer to Japan (island-hop)
Battle of Guadalcanal
fight on the island where Japan was setting up a base and Japanese abandoned
Aryans
Germans who were believed to be a "master race"
Holocaust
systematic mass slaughter of Jews and other "inferior races"
Jews
targeted for country's defeat, deprived of their rights
kristallnacht
"night of broken glass"- Nazi's launched a violent attack of the Jewish community and murdered around 100 jews
ghettos
overcrowded Jewish areas that they were forced into that Nazi's hoped they would die in but they hung on
Final Solution
Hitlers final plan of attack against the Jews
genocide
systematic killing of an entire people (Hitler's plan to protect the Aryan race)
subhumans
Nazi's eliminated other groups they believed were inferior such as gypsies, Poles, Russians, homosexuals, insane, disabled, and the ill.
SS
Hitler's elite security force that hunted Jews and shot prisoners
Battle of El Alamein
(British vs. Axis Powers) Axis powers had been defeated and forces fell back
Dwight D. Eisenhower
American general that led troops to land on Morocco and Algeria and officially defeated Rommel's Afrika Korps
battle of Stalingrad
Luftwaffe went on night bombing raids. Germans frostbitten and half-starved surrendered to the soviets
Invasion of Italy
Allied forces landed on Sicily and captured it and Italy surrendered
Allie's help
Americans produced weapons and equipment that would help the Allies win the war. They began to industrialize and create factories to produce supplies for the war but they were forced to ration scarce items
relocation camps
Japanese in US were sent to camps in order to prevent Japanese invasion
D-Day
"operation overlord" (invasion of Normandy) largest land and sea attack in history. British, American, French, and Canadian troops fought their way onto Normandy
Battle of the Bulge
Germans attacked allies but allies pushed back. Eventually the Nazis surrendered when Hitler committed suicide
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Japanese navy lost tremendously and in the end, Japan lost over 100,000 troops
kamikazes
suicide pilots that would crash their bomb-filled planes into Allied ships
Atomic bomb
thought it would bring the war to a quick end. They were dropped in Japan, killing over 140,000 civilians and Japan finally surrendered which marked the end of the war.
Europe post-war
Europe laied in ruins, 40 million Europeans had died, and most were left homeless in the rubble. People had no water, no electricity, and little food.
postwar government
Nazi gov brought Germany to ruins, Mussolini led Italy to defeat and old leadership was in disgrace. The Communist Party made huge gains but began to decline when Italy and France began to recover.
Nuremberg trials
Nazi leaders charged for committing crimes against humanity
demilitarization
disbanding the Japanese armed forces to ensure peace
democratization
process of creating a government elected by the people
Postwar Japanese society
new constitution created important changes and emperor was a big symbol of Japan.
Japanese new constitution
-political power rested with the people -citizens over 20 could vote -gov. lead by prime minister -Japan could no longer make war
U.S. and Soviet Union
-world's two major powers -ended war as allies