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Blitzkrieg

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"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

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Luftwaffe

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German Air Force

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government in exile

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Post 1900's France

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Katyn Forest massacre

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A series of mass executions of Polish nationals and popular figures by the USSR. Stalin covered it up and blamed it on the Nazis to held keep Poland's support.

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the Phoney War (Sitzkrieg)

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After war had been declared in 1939 (triggered by Germany invading Poland) the BEF were sent to France under the command of Lord Gort. After 6 months there were 50 light tanks. Forces built up to defend France from Germany, so the Maginot Line had minefields and trenches.

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U-boats

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German submarines used in World War I and II

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Enigma ciphering machine

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Used to find out what the Germans were sending through the naval radio traffic

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Ultra program

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British Intelligence was able to decode German radio traffic during the war

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Winter War

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USSR attacks Finland- takes USSR 6 months to win- displays to Hitler how weak they are and unprepared they were

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isolationist movement

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The movement that upheld the ideology of straying away from foreign affairs and global involvement and focusing more on internal affairs.

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Nye Committee

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1934. Senate committee led by South Dakota Senator Gerald Nye to investigate why America became involved in WWI. Theory that big business had conspired to have America enter WWI so that they could make money selling war materials. Called bankers and arms producers "merchants of death."

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Neutrality Acts

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Originally designed to avoid American involvement in World War II by preventing loans to those countries taking part in the conflict; they were later modified in 1939 to allow aid to Great Britain and other Allied nations.

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Neutrality Act of 1935

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European democracies might buy American war materials on a "cash-and-carry basis"; improved American moral and economic position

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt

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He created the New Deal, which combated high unemployment through public works jobs. He created Social Security and gave labor unions more rights, especially when it came to organizing and a more equal footing when it came to bargaining with management. FDR also signed into law the minimum wage and the forty-hour work week. He led America to victory in World War II and oversaw America's transition to becoming the most powerful nation on Earth, the creation of the military-industrial complex and took America from being a minor player on the world stage to being the leader of the world.

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cash-and-carry

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In September 1939, FDR persuaded Congress to pass a new, amended Neutrality Act, which allowed warring nations to purchase arms from the U.S. as long as they paid in cash and carried the arms away on their own ships. This cash-and-carry program allowed the U.S. to aid the Allies but stay officially out of the war.

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Winston Churchill

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A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.

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Case Yellow

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Code name for Germany's surprise attack on France. The Germans used Ardennes Forest which lead to the fall of France.

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Maginot Line

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Line of defense built by France to protect against German invasion. Stretched from Belgium to Switzerland.

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Ardennes Forest

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The unprotected area between Germany and France that was stormed by the Germans in their invasion in 1940.

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Erwin Rommel

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"Desert Fox"-May 1942; German and Italian armies were led by him and attacked British occupied Egypt and the Suez Canal for the second time; were defeated at the Battle of El Alamein; was moved to France to oversee the defenses before D-Day.

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Dunkirk

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A city in northern France on the North Sea where in World War II (1940) 330,000 Allied troops had to be evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk in a desperate retreat under enemy fire.

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Henri Phillipe Petain

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Head of the Vichy state; WWI hero, helped Hitler round up Jews in France in hopes of trying to end hostilities with Germany.

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Vichy France

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Germans occupied northern 2/3 of France. What was left of the Third Republic moved to South. HQ at Vichy and led but a confused parliament with Petain as president and Laval as premier. Signed armistice with Hitler. Was an openly defeatist regime - known as Vichy govt. In effect it collaborated with the Germans. In reality, the Third Republic was dead. Lost its slogan - "liberty, equality and fraternity.". Moved to London from where they helped to organize resistance to German occupation. In France, some collaborated and others secretly helped the resistance.

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Charles de Gaulle

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French general and statesman who became very popular during World War II as the leader of the Free French forces in exile (1890-1970)

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Free France

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Government led by General Charles de Gaulle, they kept fighting Germany until they won

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Operation Sea Lion

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Germany's plan to invade Great Britain in 1940. It consisted first of taking air superiority and then launching an amphibious invasion. However, it failed because German air superiority could never be established.

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Royal Air Force (RAF)

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Britains Air Force

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radar

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Radio Detection and Ranging a system that uses reflected radio waves to detect objects and measure their distance and speed

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Suez Canal

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A ship canal in northeastern Egypt linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea

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Operation Barbarossa

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Code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Broke the Non-Aggression Pact.

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Lend-Lease

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1941 law that authorized the president to aid any nation whose defense he believed was vital to American security, Soviet Union was also part of it.

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Afrika Korps

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Name given to German armies in North Africa led by Erwin Rommel

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Operation Battleaxe and Operation Crusader

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British attempt designed to weaken Rommel's position on the Libyan-Egyptian border, the attacks were highly uncoordinated. The second attempt was to force Rommel back.

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Destroyers for Bases

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Roosevelt's compromise for helping Britain as he could not sell Britain US destroyers without defying the Neutrality Act; Britain received 50 old but still serviceable US destroyers in exchange for giving the US the right to build military bases on British Islands in the Caribbean.

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Atlantic Charter

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1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII amd to work for peace after the war

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ABC-1 Conference

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Face-to-face meeting between the two leaders had been preceded by a March conference between the American and British military officials

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Europe First Strategy

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It was a strategy used to make Germany fight a two front war. Implemented because Roosevelt saw Germany as their biggest and long term threat.

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Operation Uranus

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When the Soviet forces launched a counterattack, encircling the Nazi 6th Army completely, in November 1942. This counterattack ensnared roughly 300,000 soldiers, and it was aimed at destroying the forces at and around Stalingrad, hence ending the possibility that the Germans could win the Battle of Stalingrad.

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Gazala Line

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The area where the British were pushed back when Rommel provided reinforcements against the British and the British had a problem with their defenses because they were not mutually supporting.

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El Alamein

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Combined German and Italian forces were beaten near Alexandria, which lead to the Allied taking of Morocco and Algeria.

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First Battle of El Alamein

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Victory for the British, it led to a major shakeup of the command structure for the British Army in Egypt.

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Bernard Law Montgomery

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English general during World War II , in charge of British forces in Africa, British general who won at El Alamein in Africa against Rommel. In charge at Normandy on D-Day

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Operation Torch

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It begun Nov 1942, American forces landed in Morocco and Algeria, and pressing eastward trapped the German and Italian armies being driven westward by the British, forcing German and Italian troops to surrender, despite Hitler's orders to fight to the death.

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George C. Marshall

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Secretary of State, in charge of state department during and after WWII, came up with the Marshall Plan.

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General Henri Giraud

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In order to better their chances, the Allies had established dialogue with the Anti-Vichy elements in Algeria led by (General Henri Giraud)

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Admiral François Darlan

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Was a Vichy official who made a deal with Eisenhower to stop the fighting

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George Patton and Dwight Eisenhower

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The most notable leaders of the Allies and would establish himself as some of the few men truly capable of getting cooperation from both the American and British commanders he oversaw.

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The Battle of the Atlantic

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Was fought for control of the shipping lanes between North American and Britain. Germany wanted to starve Britain from its supplies. German U-boats began to attack in Canadian waters as well. Allied supply ships had to begin sailing in convoys and the Royal Canadian Navy provided their corvettes for protection. The allies won this battle.

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Wolf packs

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German submarines that traveled in groups in the North Atlantic Ocean to attack US ships and merchant ships.

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Liberty ship

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Ships built using mass production methods that carried goods and troops during WWII.

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Operation Husky

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Battle plan to take back Italy, led by general Patton to push Mussolini but after Germany sends reinforcements we were forced to leave.

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unconditional surrender

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An announcement by FDR with Churchill's endorsement that the war would end only with this. The conquered governments would be no longer, no compromise could be reached. Later people believe that this stiffened enemy resistance

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Kasserine Pass

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First battle between US and Germany, occurred in North Africa, and was disastrous for the US.

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Trident Conference

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From this it was concluded that the main objective is to eliminate Italy, keep US strength where it is in the Mediterranean, and plan Overlord for Spring 1944.

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Marshal Pietro Badoglio

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Commander of Italian forces that take Ethiopia, becomes the new prime minister when Mussolini is imprisoned and signs armistice with the Allies.

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Mark Clark

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Commander, Fifteenth Army Group in Italy

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Operation Avalanche

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Invasion of Italy. General Patton and Montgomery (US and British armies

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Gustav Line

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German defense line in Italy, south of Rome

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Monte Cassino

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A large monastery in central Italy where the Germans defended Rome from Allied forces

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Kursk

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this WWII battle marked the last German effort on the Eastern front. In this battle of attrition, the Russians had a tremendous set of advantages over the Germans and, of course, emerged victorious.

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Operation Citadel

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Battle between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near the city of Kurs

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Anzio

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Allied success in North Africa leads to invasion of Italy and capture of Rome.

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Gothic Line

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Hitler made a German strong defensive line in northern Italy

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Operation Overlord

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The code name for the Allied invasion of Europe at Normandy on June 6, 1944; also known as D-Day

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Gerd von Rundstedt

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He was an influential and important German field marshal that was one of the best leaders for Hitler in WWII on both the Western and Eastern war fronts. However he returned to duty and became and commander in chief in Western Europe. He also directed the Battle of the Bulge. He was relieved two more times before in March 1945 when we was captured by US troops.

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Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword

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D-Day (Beaches)

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bocage

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Small fields that are separated by hedges, trees, stone or wooden fences.

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V-1 flying bomb

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Pulsejet-powered cruise missile made by nazis. Launched at London

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V-2 rocket

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A ballistic missile developed during WWII that uses a fuel developed by Wernher von Braun, which is a mixture of kerosene and oxygen. This was the first known human artifact to enter outer space, and was the progenitor of all modern rockets.

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Werner von Braun and Walter Dornberger

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The scientists that were the most aid in the creation of the V-1 ad V-2 rockets.

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Omar Bradley

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A general of the twentieth century. Bradley commanded the United States ground forces in the liberation of France and the invasion of Germany in World War II.

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Operation Cobra

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Was the codename for an offensive launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign of World War II.

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Falaise pocket

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Following the breakout from Normandy, Patton's 3rd Army made a rapid advance in the South. Hitler did not permit a retreat by his command on the Western front. He instead ordered a counter attack. 50,000 German troops would be trapped. Paris was liberated 2 days later.

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Operation Dragoon

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Was the Allied invasion of Southern France in August of 1944. Over 86,000 allied troops pushed inland cutting of communication and supply lines. By September, 79,000 German prisoners were taken, and most of France recaptured.

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Operation Market Garden

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Failed airborne Allied operation in Netherlands and Germany, attempt to capture and hold bridges in order to speed up invasion of Germany

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the Battle of the Bulge

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The Battle of the Bulge, fought over the winter months of 1944 - 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War Two. The battle was a last ditch attempt by Hitler to split the Allies in two in their drive towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves.

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Bastogne

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During the Battle of the Bulge, Americans hold out here, ruining the German time table, is under siege by Germans until relieved by Patton's 3rd Army

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strategic bombing

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The British and Americans created a tactic of dropping bombs on key political and industrial targets of Germans.

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Warsaw Uprising

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It began on August 1, there was an act of Polish resistance to liberate Poland from Nazi control. This included resistance from non-Jews. Major act of resistance that had not happened prior.

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Yalta

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FDR, Churchill and Stalin met at Yalta. Russia agreed to declare war on Japan after the surrender of Germany and in return FDR and Churchill promised the USSR concession in Manchuria and the territories that it had lost in the Russo-Japanese War.

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Lublin Poles

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Pro-Stalinist Poles who were put in power in Poland during the war.

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London Poles

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Government in exile of Poland formed after Invasion of Poland

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Remagen

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Bridge not destroyed found by American troops in March 1945 that helped them cross the Rhine.

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Admiral Karl Dönitz

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German U-boat commander, successor to Adolf Hitler

Section II: The War in Europe – Flashcards

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