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Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
At the end of WW1, Hitler had been a jobless soldier drifting around Germany. 1919, joined a struggling group called National Socialist German Workers’ Party, better known as Nazi Party. Proved to be powerful public speaker & organizer that he quickly became the party’s leader. Calling himself Der Führer “the Leader” he promised to bring Germany out of chaos. -
Storm Troppers
Many men who were out of work joined Hitler’s private army. Also known as the Brown Shirts. -
Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
Mussolini had established Fascist Party. Fascism stressed nationalism & placed interests of the state above those of individuals. To strengthen nation, Fascists argued, power must rest w/ single strong leader & a small group of devoted party members.Mussolini extended Fascist control to every aspect of Italian life. Achieved this efficiency by crushing all opposition and by making Italy a totalitarian state. -
Mein Kampf
Means My Struggle. Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party. Wrote in Mein Kampf, was “to 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.” -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
Stalin focused on creating a communist state. Transform Soviet Union from rural nation into great industrial power. 1928, Soviet dictator outlined the 1st of several 5-year plans, to direct industrialization. All economic activity was placed under state management. 1937, Soviet Union had become world’s 2nd largest industrial power, surpassed in overall production by U.S. -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Jap leaders shared in common w/ Hitler a belief in need for more living space for a growing population. Jap officials, the militarists launched a surprise attack & seized control of Chinese province of Manchuria in 1931. W/in several months, Jap troops controlled entire province, a large region about twice size of Texas, that was rich in natural resources. -
Third Reich
Or Third German Empire. To Hitler, the Third Reich would be a “Thousand-Year Reich”—it would last for a thousand years. -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
Hitler pulled Germany out of the League. He began a military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. The League did nothing to stop Hitler. -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Tens of thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance on Ethiopia. When the invasion began, the League’s response was an ineffective economic boycott. 1936 Ethiopia had fallen. Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor, appealed to the League for assistance. Nothing was done. -
Francisco Franco
Led a group of Spanish army officers to rebel against the Spanish republic. Revolts broke in Spain, & Spanish Civil War began. The war aroused passions throughout the world. About 3,000 Americans formed the Abraham Lincoln Battalion and traveled to Spain to fight against Franco. -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
Sent troops into the Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demili- tarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles. -
Rome-Berlin Axis
The war forged a close relationship between German & Italian dictators, who signed a formal alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis. After a loss of almost 500,000 lives, Franco’s victory in 1939 established him as Spain’s fascist dictator. Once again a totalitarian gov ruled in Europe. -
Hitler's Anschluss
The majority of Austria’s 6 million people were Germans who favored unification with Germany. German troops marched into Austria unopposed. Germany announced that its Anschluss, or “union,” w/ Austria was complete. The US and the rest of the world did nothing. -
Munich Agreement
When they arrived, the führer declared that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his “last territorial demand.” In their eagerness to avoid war, Daladier and Chamberlain chose to believe him. They signed the Munich Agreement, which turned the Sudetenland over to Germany without a single shot being fired. -
Nonaggression pact
Stalin surprised everyone by signing the pact w/ Hitler. Once bitter enemies fascist Germany & communist Russia now committed never to attack each other. Germany & the Soviet Union also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland between them. W/ the danger of a 2-front war eliminated, fate of Poland was sealed. -
Blitzkrieg
German tanks raced across the Polish countryside, spreading terror and confusion. This invasion was first test of Germany’s newest military strategy, the blitzkrieg, or lightning war. Blitzkrieg made use of advances in military technology such as fast tanks & more powerful aircraft to take the enemy by surprise & then quickly crush all opposition with overwhelming force. -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
2 days following the terror in Poland, Britain & France declared war on Germany. The blitzkrieg tactics worked perfectly. Major fighting was over in 3 weeks, long before France, Britain, and their allies could mount a defense. -
Phony war
France’s eastern border, 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 phony war. -
Battle of the Atlantic
Hitler ordered submarine raids against ships along Amer’s east coast. German aim in the Battle of the Atlantic was to prevent food and war materials from reaching Great Brit & the Soviet Union. Britain depended on supplies from the sea. The 3,000 mile long shipping lanes from North Amer were her lifeline. Hitler knew that if he cut that lifeline, Britain would be starved into submission. -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark & 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 the Netherlands
Hitler turned against the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony has ended. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
France’s Maginot Line proved to be ineffective; the German army threatened to bypass the line during its invasion of Belgium. Hitler’s generals sent their tanks through the Ardennes, thereby avoiding British & French troops who thought the Ardennes were impassable. The Germans continued to march toward Paris. -
Marshal Philippe Petain
at Compiègne, as William Shirer and the rest of the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender. Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet gov, headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. -
Manhattan Project
Committee reported that it would take from 3 to 5 years to build an atomic bomb. Hoping to shorten that time, the OSRD set up an intensive program in 1942 to develop a bomb as quickly as possible. Cuz much of the early research was performed at Columbia University in Manhattan, the Manhattan Project became the code name for research work that extended across the country. -
The Battle of Britain
Cuz its naval power could not compete w/ that of Britain, Germany also launched an air war at same time. The Luftwaffe began making bombing runs over Britain. Its goal was to gain total control of the skies by destroying Britain’s Royal Air Force. Hitler had 2,600 planes at his disposal. On a single day approximately 2,000 German planes ranged over Britain. Every night for 2 solid months, bombers pounded London. -
Lend-Lease Act
Britain had no more cash to spend in the arsenal of democracy. Roosevelt tried to help by suggesting a new plan that he called a lend-lease policy. Under this plan, the president would lend or lease arms and other supplies to “any country whose defense was vital to the United States.” -
Office of Price Administration
The OPA fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods. Congress also raised income tax rates & extended the tax to millions of people who had never paid it before. The higher taxes reduced consumer demand on scarce goods by leaving workers w/ less to spend. Gov encouraged Americans to use their extra cash to buy war bonds. As a result of these measures, inflation remained below 30 % about half that of WW1. -
Pearl Harbor attack
Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl Harbor the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific. Bomber was followed by more than 180 Jap warplanes launched from 6 aircraft carriers. For an hour and a half, the Japanese planes were barely disturbed by U.S. antiaircraft guns & blasted target after target. -
Internment
or confinement, of 1,444 Japanese Americans, 1% of Hawaii’s Japanese-American population. -
War Productions Board
Gov needed to ensure that armed forces & war industries received resources they needed to win the war.WPB decided which companies would convert from peacetime to wartime production & allocated raw materials to key industries. WPB organized drives collect scrap iron, tin cans, paper, rags, & cooking fat for recycling into war goods. Amer, children scoured looking for useful junk. During 5-month-long paper drive, schoolchildren collected 36 million pounds of old paper. -
Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps
Under bill, women volunteers would serve in noncombat positions. The law gave the WAACs an official status & salary but few of the benefits granted to male soldiers. Thousands of women had enlisted, the U.S. Army dropped the auxiliary status, & granted WACs full U.S. Army benefits. WACs worked as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, & pilots, nearly every duty not involving direct combat. -
Operation Torch
Allied invasion of French North Africa. First time the British and Americans had jointly worked on an invasion plan together. -
Battle of Stalingrad
The Luftwaffe German air force prepared way w/ nightly bombing raids over city. Nearly every wooden building in Stalingrad was ablaze. Situation looked so desperate that Soviet officers in Stalingrad recommended blowing up the city’s factories and abandoning the city. Stalin ordered them to defend his namesake city no matter what the cost. In defending Stalingrad, Soviets lost total of 1,100,000 soldiers more than all Amer deaths during war. -
Bloody Anzio
Hitler was determined to stop the Allies in Italy rather than fight on German soil. 1 of the hardest battles the Allies encountered in Europe was fought less than 40 miles from Rome. This battle, Bloody Anzio, lasted 4 months & left about 25,000 Allied and 30,000 Axis casualties. The effort to free Italy did not succeed until 1945, when Germany itself was close to collapse. -
D-Day
3 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.
Despite the massive air and sea bombardment by the Allies, German retaliation was brutal, particularly at Omaha Beach. -
The Battle of the Bulge
8 German tank divisions broke through weak American defenses along an 80-mile front. Hitler hoped that a victory would split Amer and Brit forces & break up Allied supply lines. Tanks drove 60 miles into Allied territory, creating a bulge in the lines. As the Germans swept westward, they captured 120 American GIs near Malmédy. -
Korematsu v. United States
Jap Americans fought for justice, both in the courts & in Congress. Initial results were discouraging. Supreme Court decided, in Korematsu v. US, that the gov’s policy of evacuating Jap Americans to camps was justified on the basis of “military necessity.” -
U.S. convoy system
Convoys were groups of ships traveling together for mutual protection, as they had done in the 1st WW. The convoys were escorted across the Atlantic by destroyers equipped with sonar for detecting submarines underwater. They were also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats on the ocean’s surface. W/ this improved tracking, the Allies were able to find & destroy German U-boats faster than the Germans could build them. -
Harry S. Truman
President Roosevelt did not live to see V-E Day. On April 12, 1945, while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia, the president had a stroke and died. That night, Vice President Harry S. Truman became the nation’s 33rd president. -
Death of Hitler
married Eva Braun, his longtime companion. The same day, he wrote out his last address to the German people. In it he blamed the Jews for starting the war and his generals for losing it. The next day Hitler shot himself while his new wife swallowed poison. In accordance with Hitler’s orders, the 2 bodies were carried outside, soaked with gasoline, and burned. -
V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day. The war in Europe was finally over. -
Unconditional surrender
No guarantees are given to the surrendering party.
