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73 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Where and when did World War Two (in Europe) start?
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Poland, on September 1st, 1939
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How many German troops invaded Poland?
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over 1 million
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How long did Poland last against Germany?
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All organized resistance was gone in a month.
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When did the Soviet Union invade the eastern half of Poland?
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two weeks after the Nazis invaded
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What part of Poland did the USSR invade?
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the part of Russia lost to Poland in 1920
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What did the Soviets do to the Baltic states in 1939?
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They fortified bases there.
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Why did the USSR attack Finland in 1939?
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Finland was too close to Leningrad, and the Soviets wanted more breathing room.
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When was the Winter War, and who was it between?
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November 1939 to March 1940, between the USSR and Finland
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What were the consequences of the USSR invading Finland?
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The British and French sympathized with the Finns, and the USSR was kicked out of the League of Nations.
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What were the two defensive structures mounted on the French-German border?
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the Maginot Line in France and the Siegfried Line in Germany
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What was the "phony war"?
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Between September 1939 and April 1940, Germany was at war with Great Britain and France but no one was fighting.
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After Poland, when and where did Germany invade first?
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Norway, on April 9th, 1940, overrunning Denmark as well
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When did Germany attack the low countries and France?
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May 10, 1940
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Give two errors the Allies made in defending France.
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They thought the Germans would invade through Belgium (as in 1914), while Germany went through the forested Luxembourg; the French never extended their Maginot Line to the sea, and the Germans were able to get around it.
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What fates did Belgium and the Netherlands reach?
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The Belgian king sued for an armistice, and the Dutch capitulated to the Germans.
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Where and when did the British and French evacuate France?
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at Dunkirk, on the week ending June 4, 330k troops were evacuated
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On what dates did Hitler occupy Paris and Verdun?
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June 13 and June 15, 1940
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When did the French sign an armistice with Germany?
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June 22, 1940
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List four problems France had in dealing with Germany.
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They were obsessively defensive militarily; their armies were not prepared for mechanized warfare; the people were split into factions, and their leaders were open defeatists.
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What did some of the England-fleeing French do?
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They established a Free French movement under General Charles de Gaulle
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What became of France after the armistice?
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It was only the southern 1/3, capital at Vichy, and it became an authoritarian regime headed by Marshal Petain and Pierre Laval.
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What did Vichy France do?
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It worked alongside Hitler to integrate France into the new order in Europe.
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Where did Mussolini first invade?
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France, as soon as it was defeated by Hitler, Greece, and British Africa.
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What similarities do Hitler's and Napoleon's empires bear?
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They were almost exactly the same geographical area and only Britain remained at war with the conqueror of Europe. Despite this, both chose to invade Russia, with whom they had an uneasy peace treaty and where they were eventually defeated.
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What did the Germans do in the areas they had conquered?
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They exploited their subjects heavily, impressed millions, garrisoned Europe (Festung Europa), and appointed Fascists like Vidkun Quisling of Norway to positions of power.
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How many non-Germans fought against the USSR in the Waffen SS divisions?
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a half million
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When did Churchill replace Chamberlain as prime minister of Great Britain?
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May 1940
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What were the two factions in the US regarding the war?
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the isolationists and the interventionists
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What did the US isolationists believe?
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Europe was hopeless; the US couldn't save it; the US would be too slow, or Hitler posed no danger to the US.
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What did the US interventionists believe?
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Hitler was a menace; fascism must be destroyed;, or the Nazis would meddle in Western Hemisphere affairs.
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Was Roosevelt an isolationist or interventionist?
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an interventionist
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What was Roosevelt's overall policy concerning the war?
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The US would help the Allies with "measures short of war."
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What did Roosevelt call the US?
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"the great arsenal of democracy"
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When did Roosevelt lift the ban on the sale of arms?
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November 1939
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When did the US send Britain a small shipment of arms?
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June 1940
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What did Destroyers for Bases do?
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The US gave the British 50 old destroyers for the right to have bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, and the British Caribbean.
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When was Lend-Lease adopted?
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1941
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When was Destroyers for Bases?
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late 1940
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What did Lend-Lease do?
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provided arms, raw materials, and food to Axis-opposers
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What did the US do in 1940-1 to build up its military?
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Conscription was introduced; the army and air force were built up, and the navy was split into the two oceans.
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Why did Germany not immediately invade Britain in 1940?
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They hadn't planned on such easy successes, didn't control the air, and Hitler hoped the British would sue for peace or even ally with Germany.
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When did the Germans bomb Britain?
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beginning in summer 1940 and climaxing in autumn 1940
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What was the result of the Battle of Britain?
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The British Royal Air Force won the battle, but Coventry was wiped out, life disrupted, and 20k died in London alone.
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How was the RAF able to win the Battle of Britain?
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Radar allowed detection of enemy planes, and the British and Poles broke the German communications code, the Enigma, early in the war.
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Why did the Soviets and Nazis enter into the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939?
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to gain time and space
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Big picture: Why did the Nazis invade the USSR?
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squabbles over Eastern Europe, where both wanted to dominate
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What did the Soviets do in June 1940 that dismayed the Germans?
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They Sovietized the Baltic republics, uprooting Germans, and seized a province in Romania.
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Which Eastern European nations did Hitler get to ally with him when?
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Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria in early 1941
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What did Hitler do in Yugoslavia and Greece?
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He occupied Yugoslavia and helped Mussolini, who was losing ground in Greece.
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When did Hitler launch Operation Barbarossa?
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June 22, 1941
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What did Stalin think up to and including Germany's invasion of the USSR?
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He could avoid war with Germany, and was thus caught by surprise and couldn't muster a defense.
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How many men did Germany invade Russia with?
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3 million
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What advances did the Nazis make in Russia by autumn 1941?
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They had overrun Byelorussia and most of the Ukraine, were sieging Leningrad and Sebastopol and were within 25 miles of Moscow.
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How was Stalin able to fight off the invading Germans in 1941 to prevent the fall of Moscow?
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He replaced commanders and rallied the people to defend. During an excessively harsh winter (luck), the Red Army launched a counteroffensive to give Moscow some breathing room.
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How did Hitler respond to the stalemate he found himself in in Russia in 1941?
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He took over direct control of the military and shifted the focus to the south. He also mobilized Germany fully into wartime mode, putting Albert Speer in charge of organization.
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What advances were the Germans able to make in Russia in 1942?
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They took Sebastopol and were sieging Stalingrad.
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What did the Russians do to make sure their resources did not fall into enemy hands?
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They moved machinery and equipment to the Urals and Siberia, and practiced a scorched earth policy, destroying crops and livestock when they were overrun.
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Besides Russia, where did the European Axis invade in 1942?
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North Africa
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What progress were the British able to make against the Italians in North Africa?
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They repelled the invasion of Egypt and overran Italian Ethiopia.
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Who turned the tide in the Axis' favor in North Africa when?
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German General Rommel and his Afrika Korps
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Where were the British able to repel Rommel's invasion of Egypt?
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at El Alamein, 70 miles from Alexandria
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When did the three axis powers form the three-power axis?
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1940
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When did the USSR and Japan sign the neutrality pact?
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1941
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How did the Japanese get Indochina?
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Vichy France gave it to them.
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Who was the prime minister of Japan in 1941?
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General Hideki Tojo
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What did Tojo believe about the war?
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He said the British and American influence was to be eliminated from the Pacific.
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When was the Pearl Harbor air raid?
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December 7, 1940
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Where did Japan invade at the same time as they bombed Pearl Harbor?
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the Phillipines, Guam, Midway, Hong Kong, and Malaya
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What consequences did the US face at Pearl Harbor?
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2500 were killed, and the naval fleet was temporarily disabled
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Who declared war after Pearl Harbor?
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On December 8, the US and Great Britain declared war on Japan, and on December 11, the Axis states declared war on the US.
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Where did Japan take over in the months after Pearl Harbor?
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They took over Singapore, the Phillipines, Malaya, the Netherlands Indies, and Burma, and were attacking New Guinea.
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How were the Japanese so easily able to take over Asian countries?
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They found allies in anti-imperialists, and proclaimed their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere under Japanese rule.
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While the Axis powers took vast stretches of land, why were they unable to win the war?
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They didn't have a concerted strategy, as the Allies did, so they couldn't concentrate their efforts and achieve goals.
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