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Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Germany
1919 Hitler join National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party); fuhrer"the leader"; promise to bring Germany out of chaos; nazism:German brand of fascism, based on extreme nationalism; enforce racial "purification",aryans, master race; national expansion->lebensraum(living space); great depression help nazis come to pwr; Hitler was a pwrful public speaker&organizer -
Mein Kampf
Hitler set forth the basic beliefs of Nazism that became the plan of action for the Nazi Party; Nazism:German brand of fascism->based on extreme nationalism; -
Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy
unemployment&inflation produce bitter strikes; thus middle&upper classes demand stronger leadership->Mussolini come to pwr; he was a pwrful speaker&knew how to appeal to Italy's wounded national pride; fascism stressed nationalism&placed the interests of the state above those of individuals; fascists argue pwr must rest w/single strong leader&small group of devoted party mmbrs; oct 1922 Mussolini march on Rome w/thousands of followers->"Black Shirts" black uniforms;called himself Il Duce(leader -
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
belief in the need for more living space for growing pop.(same w/Hitler); militarists launched a surprise attack&seized control of Chinese province of Manchuria by ignoring protests of more moderate jap officials; troops controlled entire province, a large region twice the size of Texas, rich in natural resources; League of Nations condemn Japan->quit the Leage; success of Manchurian invasion->militarists firmly in control of Japan's gov. -
Storm troopers
the great depression helped the nazis come to pwr;b/c of war debts&independence on American loans+investments,Germ's economy was hit hard; by 1932 6 million Germans were unemployed; many men who were out of work joined Hitler's private army, the storm troopers (or Brown Shirts); -
Third Reich
Hitler quickly dismantled Germany's democratic Weimar Republic once in power as a chancellor(prime minister); he established the Third Reich or Third German Empire; it would be a "thousand-year reich" meaning it would last for a thousand years; -
Hitler's military build-up in Germany
1933 Hitler out of League; '35 began military buildup in violation of the Treaty of Versailles -
Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia
Mussolini began building his new Roman Empire->1st targe:Ethiopia(one of Afri's remaining independ.countries); thousands of Italian soldiers stood ready to advance Ethiopia; invasion began->League's response was ineffective economic boycott; by may 1936 Ethiopia fallen->Haile Selassie(ousted Ethiopian emperor) ask help from League->Leafue couldn't do anything -
Hitler invades the Rhineland
Hitler sent troops into Rhineland, a German region bordering France and Belgium that was demilitarized as a result of the Treaty of Versailles -
francisco Franco
General who led Spanish army officers; rebelled against Spanish republic; revolts broke out all over spain->spanish civil war began; 3000Amer formed Abraham Lincoln Battalion&traveled to spain to fight against Franco; Soviet Union sent equipment&advisers but Hitler&Mussolini backed Franco's forces w/troops weapons tanks+fighter planes; -
Rome-Berlin Axis
formal alliance signed by German and Italian dictators who forged a close relationship as a result of the Spanish Civil War; -
Hitler's Anschluss
Austria was Hitler's first target. The Paris Peace Conference following WWI had created the relatively small nation of Austria out of what was left of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The majority of Austria's 6mili ppl were germans who favored unification w/Germany. on 3/12/1938 German troops marched into Austria unopposed. Day later, Germany announced that its Anschluss or "union" w/Austria was complete. US and rest of the world did nothing -
Munich Agreement
early in the crisis,both France&GB promised to protect Czech;then Hitler invited French premier edouard daladier&brit prime minister neville chamberlain to meet w/him in Munich; fuhrer declare that the annexation of the Sudetenland would be his "last territorial demand"; Munich Agreement turned the Sudetenland over to Germany w/out a single shot being fired -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union
Stalin took control after V.I. Lenin died; Stalin aka "man of steel"; focused on creating model communist state; made both agricultural&industrial growth the prime economic goals of the Sovie Union; abolished all privately owned farms&replaced them w/collectives-large gov-owned farms, each worked by hundreds of families; moved to transform into great industrial pwr from rural nation; 1928 Soviet dictator outline first of several "five-year plans" to direct industrialization -
Joseph Stalin's totalitarian government in the Soviet Union con't
all economic activity placed under state management; 1937 Soviet become world's 2nd largest industrial pwr; Stalin responsible for 8-13mili deaths; mili more die in famine caused by restructuring of Soviet society; 1939 Stalin establish totalitarian gov that ried to exert complete control over its citizens; individ have no rights, gov suppresses all opposition; -
Phony war
on Siegfried Line a few mi away German troops stared back at France&Brit who had been on Maginot Line(system of fortifications built along France's eastern border); blitzkrieg gave way to what German called the sitzkrieg(sitting war)->some call this the phony war; after occupying eastern Poland Stalin began annexing Baltic states of Estonia,Latvia,& Lithuania; late in 1939 Stalin sent his Soviet army into Finland; after 3months of fighting outnumbered Finns surrendered; -
Nonaggression pact
Stalin signed this w/Hitler; fascist Germ &Communist Russia now committed never to attack each other; they also signed a second, secret pact, agreeing to divide Poland btwn them; w/the danger of a two-front war eliminated, the fate of Poland was sealed(Russia won't attack Germ even if it invaded Poland) -
Blitzkrieg
German Luftwaffe(German air force)roared over Poland raining bombs on military bases,airfield,railroads, German tanks raced across Polish countryside->this invasion was the first test of Germany's newest military strategy the blitzkrieg or lightning war; it made uses of advances in militrary technology(such as fast tanks and more pwrful aircraft) to take the enemy by surprise and then quickly crush all oppositio w/overwelming force; -
Britain and France declare war on Germany
2days following terror in Polant, Brit&France declare war on Germany;blitzkrieg tactic worked perfectly;major fighting ws over in 3weeks,long before France,Brit,&other allies could mount a defense; in the last week of fighting, Sovie Union attacked Poland from the east, grabbing some of its territory; portion Germany annexed in western Poland contained almost 2/3of Poland's population; by the end of the month, Poland had ceased to exist; WWII had begun; -
Hitler's invasion of Denmark and Norway
4/9/1940 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 GB. -
Hitler's invasion of the Netherlands
next, Hitler turned against the Netherlands,Belgiu,Luxembourg, which were overrun by the end of May. The phony war had ended. -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France continued
In less than a week, makeshift fleet of fishing trawlers,tugboats, river barges,pleasure craft-more than 800vessels in all-ferried about 33,000 Brit, French, Belgian troops to safety across the Channel; few days later,Italy entered the war on side of Germany &invaded France from south as the Germans closed in on Paris from north; 6/22/1940 Compiegne,as William Shirer and rest of the world watched, Hitler handed French officers his terms of surrender -
Marshal Philippe Petain
Germans would occupy the northern part of France, and a Nazi-controlled puppet government, headed by Marshal Philippe Petain, would be set up at Vichy, in southern France. After France fell, French general named Charles de Gaulle fled to England where he set up a government-in-exile. De Gaulle proclaimed defiantly, "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war" -
The Battle of Britain
German invasion fleet along French coast; Germ naval pwr couldnt compete w/GB->Germ launched air war at the same time; Luftwaffe began bombing runs over Brit to gain control of skies by destroying Brit's Royal Air Force(RAF); RAF fought back w/help of new technological device called radar, Brit pilots plotted flight paths of German planes; 9/15/1940 RAF shot down over 185 German planes&lost 26aircraft; german bombers continued to pound Brit cities tryin to disrupt production&break civilian moral -
Germany and Italy's invasion of France
German army threatened to bypass the line during its invasion of Belgium;Hitler's generals sent their tanks through the Ardennes, a region of wooded ravines in northeast France,thereby avoiding Brit&French troops who thought the Ardennes were impassible; Germans continued to march toward Paris; German offensive trapped almost 400,000 Brit &French soldiers as they fled to the beaches of Dunkirk on french side of English Channel; -
Pearl Harbor attack
Japanese dive-bomber swooped low over Pearl harbor(largest US naval base in Pacific);bomber followed by >180Japanese warplanes launched from six aircraft carriers; Japanese killed 2403Ameri &wounded 1178 more; sunk/damaged 21 ships( including 8battleships)more>300aircraft damaged/destroyed; constituted greater damage than the US Navy had suffered in all of WWI -
US convoy system
CHECK "Battle of the Atlantic" -
Battle of the Atlantic
after Pearl Harbor Hitler order submarine raids against ships along Amer's east coast; German aim in this battle:to prevent food&war materials from reaching GBBrit depended on supplies from sea(shipping lanes from North Amer was lifeline);first 4months of 1942 Germans sank 87 ships off Atlantic shore;7months into it German wold packs destroyed toal of 681Allied ships;Allies respond by organizing their cargo ships into convoys:groups of ships traveling together4mutual protection -
Battle of the Atlantic continued
Covoy also accompanied by airplanes that used radar to spot U-boats->Allies able to find&destroy German U-boats faster than Germans could build them; US launch a crash shipbuilding program -
Battle of Stalingrad
Germans took offensive in southern Soviet Union;Hitler hope to capture soviet oil fields in Caucasus Mtns&wipe out Stalingrad: major industrial center on Volga River;Soviet officeres even recommended blowing up the city's factories&abandoning the city; when winter hit,Soviet army closed around Stalingrad,trapping Germans in&around the city&cut off their supplies;;1/31/1943 Germany surrendered; Soviet lost1100000soldiers -
operation torch
Stalin pressured Brit&Amer to open "second front" in Western Euro; he aruge that invasion across English Channel would force Hitler to divert troops from Soviet front; Churchhill&Roosvlt didn't think allies had enough troops to invade Euro soil->launch Operation Torch:invasion of Axis-controlled N.Aftrica commanded by Amer Gerneral Dwight D Eisenhower; Afrika Korps surrendered in May 1943 -
Unconditional surrender
Roosvlt&Churchhill&their commanders met in Casablanca->agreed to accept only unconditional surrender of Axis-powers:enemy nations would have to accept whatever terms of peace Allies dictated;they also discuss where to strike next; -
Bloody Anzio
Italian campaign:capture of Sicily in summer of 1943; Italian gov forced Mussolini to resign due to their army's collapse in sicily;7/25/1943 King Victor Emmanuel III summon Il Duce to his palace, stripped him of pwr, and had him arrested;but Germany determined to stop allies on Italy's soil->bloody anzio(lasted 4months) 25000 Allied 30000Axis casualties; effort ot free Italy didn't succeed until 1945 when Germany itself was close to collapse -
D-Day
Eisenhower plan to attack Normandy in N France; Hitler ordered his generals to keep a large army at Calais; Allied invasion code-named Operation Overlord, originally set for 6/5 but bad weather force delay; 6/6/1944 first day of invasion for d-day; shortly after midnight,3 divisions parachuted down behind German lines; they were followed by thousands of seaborne soldiers-lagest land-sea-air operation in army history; brutal ep at Omaha Beach -
the Battle of the Bulge
Amer capture first German town Aachen->hitler ordered troops to break through Allied lines&recapture Belgian port of Antwerp: hope to disrupt enemy's supply lines&demoralize Allies; 8 German tank divisions drove into Allied territory creating bulge in lines (desperate lastditch offensive)<-where name comes from; Germans capture 120 Ameri; Germans lost 120000troops, 600tanks&assault guns, 16000 planes->Nazi retreat -
Death of Hitler
Hitler married Eva Braun pn 4/29; same day, wrote out his last address to the German ppl->blamed Jews for starting the war&his generals for losing it; next day He shot himself while wife swallowed poison; their bodies were carried outside,soaked w/gasoline and burned just as how Hitler ordered -
Harry S Truman
4/12/1945 Roosvlt had a stoke while posing for a portrait in Warm Springs, Georgia->died; same night, vice-president harry S truman became nation's 33rd president -
V-E Day
general eisenhower accepted unconditional surrender of the third reich, 5/8/1945 allies celebrated v-e day: victory in europe day; war in europe was finally over
