WWII Term Definitions

Invasion of Poland- Began world War II, and was a attack that was coordinated by both Russia and Germany. After the invasion, the U.K, New Zealand, and Australia entered the war. These countries really didn't help much, and caused Poland to be destroyed and broken up into different pieces.

Blitzkrieg- Means lightning strike in German. This is a full frontal tank attack on the enemy followed by the infantry. After the tanks break through the defenses, they keep going until they reach their destination. Very effective and used by Germany as a main tactics. They allies never knew when the Germans would attack.

Nazi-Soviet nonagression pact- Also called Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact after the foreign ministers of their respective countries. Held up until Germany executed Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union. Was a secret protocol causing all of europe to be seperated into spheres of influence of mainly Russia and Germany. This addition of land to Russia's sphere of influence allowed them to take over east european countries. They did this in exchange for attacking Poland with Germany.

Tripartite Pact- Officially founded the Axis powers of Japan, Germany, and Italy. Signed in Berlin and basically told U.S that they should stay out of the war, or face fighting a two front war against Japan and the European countries. Italy later surrendered to the Allies in 1943.

Anti Comintern Pact- The two countries involved, Japan and Germany, agreed that Communism was going to try and take over all other states by force and that these two countries would never form a treaty with the Commies.

Operation Barbarossa- Code name for Germany's invasion of Russia. This invasion failed, but Germany gained control of several key locations of economical importance. Namely the Ukraine. This is also the largest attack launched in all of history.

Winston Churchill- Prime minister of Great Britain and had great relations with Roosevelt. This relationship secured valuable trade including food, weapons, and other important wartime materials. Supposedly led a phony war that didn't really attack Germany on land, only the sea.

Atlantic Charter- Basically the Allied countries and US met in a secret meeting called the Atlantic Conference. The Atlantic Charter was a press release written by Sir Alexander Codagan. In this meeting, Churchill was pressing Roosevelt to declare war.

Pearl Harbor- Originally planned by the Japanese to prevent the US from influencing their Pacific front war. However, the plan backfired and caused US entrance into the war. It was also a surprise attack.

D-Day- First day of landing on Normandy Beach in Operation Neptune. The beach was seperated into Utah, Omaha, Gold, Sword, and Juno. It was both Amphibious landing and air drops, and there were upwards of 10,000 casualties in one day of only Allied Forces!

Stalingrad- Location of a battle between Nazi Germany and the Soviets. The two bodies fought over the area and was an extremely bloody battle. 2 million people were killed and there were large amounts of POWs. The city was alongside the Volga and Stalin used this as a valuable transport route.

Midway- This battle was a naval one, and extremely important part of the Pacific Campaign. The US inflicted a devastating blow against the Imperial navy at the Midway Atoll and caused the Japanese to be driven backwards. The japanese tried to set up a trap, but the Americans unlocked their codes and set up a trap for them.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki- Harry Truman dropped two atomic bombs Little Boy (Hiroshima) and Fat Man (Nagasaki) on these two major Japanese cities. The population mainly being civilians, 220,000 people were killed and others later by leukemia and cancer. It caused the Japanese to surender to the US, and are the only war time atomic bomb droppings ever.

Robert Oppenheimer- Father of the Atomic Bomb, he created it for the US at the secret Los Alamos National Laboratory. Quoted the Bhagavad Gita after seeing the explosions.

Yalta Conference- Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt met at this secret codenamed Argonaut meeting. This discussed post war Europe and how it would have to be governed and organized. Roosevelt wanted Soviet help in the Pacific Campaign, UK wanted help with Poland, and Soviet Union wanted a bigger sphere of influence.

F.D.R- This nickname is short for Franklin Delano Roosevelt the president of the United States during most of WWII as the 32 president. His office was taken over by Truman. FDR had a good relationship with Churchill.

Dwight D. Eisenhower- US general during the war that headed the invasion of germany and france. Later became president of the United States. First Supreme commander of NATO

NATO- Short for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is a military alliance between european states and the U.S. It is now headquartered in Brussels.

Warsaw Pact- The Soviet's response to NATO. Warsaw pact is the organization of communist states in europe. These two warring groups eventually cause the Cold War.

Unit 5 Terms Appeasement-Munich Agreement

Appeasement- Foreign policy used by Britain's Neville Chamberlain to the Nazis. Basically Chamberlain tried to use negotiations with the Nazis in order to prevent violence. Through the Versailles treaty, Czechloslovakia was created and took land from the Sudetenland. Hitler wanted the Sudetenland for his "Anschluss" and Chamberlain took many steps in order to prevent his attacks.

League of Nations- Set up by the Versailles treaty, the League of Nations consisted of all the different countries. Hitler got angry with the League of Nations who believed in the basic rights of man. Hitler believed that he should be able to discriminate against the Jews due to German Sovereignty. After the war, the United Nations took place of the League of Nations.

Collective Security- Collective security, simply put, is when all the countries join together to provide support for all the people part of the group. Collective security only works if a nation is acted upon forcibly, after which, the other nations protect them. The League of Nations used a basic collective security.

Neville Chamberlain- Prime minister of Britain during World War 2. He is known for his appeasement to Nazi Germany, and the signing of the Munich Agreement. Winston Churchill took his place a little after the war. Died of Cancer.

Remilitarization of the Rhineland- The Versailles treaty forbid Germany to place anything Military upon the banks of the Rhineland after WW1. After the Allies got out of the Rhineland, Hitler went and remilitarized the area.

Anschluss- Hitler wanted to unite all German peoples under this belief, so began trying to take over Austria. The socialists said they favored Austria's alliance with them in attempt to get them to stay with the Russians, however, Hitler invaded Austria and took it over by force. Later during the war, Hitler took over the Sudetenland and other in attempt for German world conquest.

Lebensraum- Lebensraum was first detailed in Hitler's Mein Kampf in which he stated his beliefs of Anschluss and how the Germanic population would need resources and land if they wished to have all the German people living together. Hitler wanted to do this by enslaving the Polish peoples and Russians through starvation which would benefit the German Bourgeosie.

Austrian Nazi Party- The group in Austria that supported all of Hitler's beliefs. Hitler used this party in Anschluss when he demanded that the leader of Austria give political control over to the Austrian Nazi Party. Eventually when Hitler invaded, power was given to these loyalists.

Austrian Plebiscite- A poll that was meant to be taken in Austria before Germany invaded Austria and took over power. The plebiscite asked the people whether they would like to have Nazi control, of which, 93% said yes. This poll was taken after Germany took over Austria and the Nazis were already in power though.

Kurt Schuschnigg- He was the Chancellor of Austria and also dictator of the Austrofascist regime. He did not like Hitler's Anschluss and tried to stray the people from believing Hitler. Unfortunately Germany invaded, and Kurt was killed in a Concentration Camp as a political prisoner.

Abyssinia Crisis- Stemmed from the Walwal incident in which Italy built a fort dangerously close to Ethiopia who, they had signed a treaty with declaring a 20 year friendship. Abyssinia is Ethiopia, and they had a political crisis with Italy. Both believed that their borders held Walwal, but when Italy made a fort there, the second Italo-Abyssinian war erupted.

Sudetenland- Absorbed into modern day Czechoslovakia and housed 3 million Germans. During Hitler's Anchluss and Lebensraum, Germany gained the support of the Germans living in Czechoslovakia and Poland and eventually took over these places politically.

Munich Agreement- An act of Appeasement signed by Chamberlain. In this Agreement, Hitler gained control of the Sudetenland and all the Germans in it. This furthered his goal of obtaining full germanic conquest.