countries that Hitler took over (order)
Rhineland, (the so called buffer zone between France and Germany,) Austria, Sudentenland in Czechoslovakia, then all of Czechoslovakia, Poland
nonaggression pact between Hitler/Stalin
ten-year pact, promised they would stay peaceful towards one another
reasons Stalin agreed to nonaggression pact
1)Stalin, after being excluded from Munich Conference, didnt want to join with West
2)Hitler promised Stalin territory (they agreed to divide Poland between them and USSR would get Finland and Baltic countries)
Hitler's suprise invasion of Poland
September 1st, 1939, German troops, tanks, trucks, aircraft and artillery attacked and bombed Warsaw (capital of Poland), first test of blitzkrieg
declaring war on Germany (who and when)
France and Great Britain declared war on September 3rd 1939.
blitzkrieg
Germany's newest military strategy, "lightning war", fast-moving airplanes and tanks and massive infantry forces to take defenders by suprise, worked in Poland
Hitler's takes over easten Poland
most countries fell without struggle, but Finland resisted and put up a fight
Soviet Russia fights Finland
Soviet Russian were not prepared to fight in the winter, Finland's soldiers on skis attacked Russians, who were struggling in the snow, Soviets suffered huge losses but eventually won just because of numbers.
Phony War
French/British vs. Germany waited on their lines for an attack, but none came, called sitzkieg (sitting war) or phony war
Maginot Line
line of French/British during phony war, system of fortifications along France's border with Germany
Siegfried Line
Germany's line during phony war, few miles away from Maginot Line
Ardennes
heavily wooded area in northern France, how Germany got to France
Rescue at Dunkirk
once German troops got to France, they trapped Allied forces, who retreated to the beaches of Dunkirk and were rescued by Great Britain (who sent 850 ships from May 26 to June 4), boats carried 338,000 to safety
Marshal Philippe Petain
when Hitler gained control of northern France, he was in charge of south, hero from WWI who betrayed France by setting up a puppet government. The Vichy government.
Charles de Gaulle
French general, set up a gov-in-exile in London after France fell, wanted to reconquer France, went on to organize Free French military forces
Free French military forces
battled the Nazis until France was liberated in 1944
Winston Churchill
new British prime minister, encouraged nation
Hitler's plan for Great Britain
Hitler wanted to knock out RAF and land 250,000 soldiers on England's shores
RAF
Royal Air Force of Great Britain
Luftwaffe
Germany's air force
technological advances that helped the RAF
radar and Enigma
radar
electronic tracking device, could tell #, speed, and direction of incoming warplanes
Enigma
German code-making machine, could decode German secret messages
Battle of Britain
showed Allied that Hitler's attacks COULD be blocked
Mussolini's actions
after Hitler conquered France, Mussolini declared war on Great Britain and France, moved into France, then moved into North Africa and attacked British forces there.
Erwin Rommel
German general who was in command of the Afrika Korps, nicknamed "desert fox" for success in Africa
Afrika Korps
German tank force
Hitler's plan to attack USSR
wanted to gain control of Balkan countries and build bases there, plan was called Operation Barbarossa
scorched-earth strategy
when Hitler invaded Soviet union, the troops burned/destroyed everything as they retreated
Georgi Zhukov
Soviet General, counterattacked Hitler when he tried to invaded Moscow
Hitler's advance on the Soviet Union
he gained nothing, 500,000 German soldiers died because of the freezing winters and constant fighting
Neutrality Acts
passed by US Congress, made it illegal to sell arms/lend money to nations at war
Lend-Lease Act
passed by US in 1941, allowed president to lend/lease arms and other supplies to any country vital to the US
Atlantic Charter
between Roosevelt and Churchill (secret), upheld free trade between nations and right of people to choose their own gov, later served as the Allie's peace plan at the end of WWII
Sudentenland
a region of Czechoslovakia where many Germans lived; demanded by Hitler in 1938 to have control of this land; when Czechs refused, Hitler threatened war
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia (Baltic Sea countries.)
Baltic states next to Poland attacked by Stalin. After Hitler moved into southern Poland, Stalin sent Soviet troops to occupy the eastern half of Poland. Stalin then moved to annex countries to the north of Poland. Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia fell with
Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg
In May of 1940, Hitler began a dramatic sweep through the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This was part of a strategy to strike at France. Keeping the Allies' attention on those countries, Hitler then sent an even larger force of tanks to secretly a
Denmark and Norway. Surprise invasion May 1940
Hitler launched a surprise invasion of Denmark and Norway. In just four hours after the attack, Denmark fell. Two months
later, Norway surrendered as well. The Germans then began to build bases along the
Norwegian and Danish coasts from which they could l
The Vichy government of France
Located in Vichy France, this puppet French government , were in collaboration with Hitler
War in the Balkans
Hitler had begun planning to attack his ally, the USSR, as early as the summer of 1940. The Balkan countries were key to Hitler's invasion plan. By early 1941, through the threat of force, he had persuaded Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to join the Axis p