WH Ch 17 World War II – Flashcards
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In the 1930s, preliminary to World War II, actual conflict broke out first in
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Asia when Japan invaded China in 1937 and in Europe when Germany invaded Poland in 1939
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EVENTS: The Start of the War
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March 13, 1938--Germany annexes Austria October 7-10--Germany takes Czech region of Sudetenland August 23, 1939--German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact September 1--Germany invades Poland September 3--Britain and France declare war on Germany
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World War II started because of AGGRESSION
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*A* - Appeasement. Allies give into Hitler. *G* - Germans take Austria and Czechoslovakia *G* - German Nationalism *R* - Real Cause: Hitler Invades Poland *E* - Everyone ignores League of Nations *S* - Stupid Treaty of Versailles makes Germany and Italy want revenge *S* - Stupid Pacifism in Great Britain and France *I* - Italy wants land *O* - Oh, US Isolationist! *N* - No one stops Japan in Asia
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Attempt to avoid war by giving in to the demands of an aggressor nation
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Appeasement
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The British and French realized that appeasement (told Hitler not to invade countries again) had failed when Hitler
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made demands for territory in Poland
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Quick devastating attack by tanks and planes
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*blitzkrieg* - "lightning war." - shock the opponent so severely that there would be little resistance, allowing the country to be overrun quickly, with minimal German losses.
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England and France declared war on Germany after
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*Germany invaded Poland* - The war in Europe began when Germany invaded Poland - Britain and France took little action after they declared war - Germany launched its next initiative by attacking Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
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EVENTS: The Invasion of France
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May 10, 1940--Germany begins invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France May 14--Luftwaffe bombs central Rotterdam; Netherlands surrenders to Germany June 3--Luftwaffe initiates air raids on Paris June 12--German forces penetrate France's final lines of defense June 22--France signs armistice with Germany June 23--Hitler visits Paris
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EVENTS: The Battle of Britain
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July 10, 1940--First German bombers attack over English Channel July 19--Hitler urges Britain to make peace August 13--Eagle Day; more than 1,400 German planes attack southern England September 7--Beginning of "London Blitz" September 17--Hitler indefinitely postpones plans for ground invasion of England
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Winston Churchill
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- British prime minister who took office in May 1940 - rallied British people and military during Battle of Britain - insisted on unconditional surrender for Germany and delayed invasion of western Europe
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Importance of the Battle of Britain
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1. *it was Germany's first military failure* (the German air force, the Luftwaffe, was never able to overcome Britain's Royal Air Force.) 2. *The value of the new technology of radar was also effectively demonstrated for the first time.* 3. *By the battle's end, Germany had lost 1700 planes to 900 British planes* (about twice as many planes) 4. *first time in history when air power alone decided the outcome of a major battle* - After France fell, Britain was certain that Germany's next move would be against them so preparations had long been under way - Germany launched an attack on Britain exclusively from the air in the English Channel
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What is Eagle Day?
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- Hitler decided to begin massive bombing raids on air bases and military posts in England - August 13, *Germany sent more than 1,400 bombers and fighters across the English Channel* - The Germans brought down only 13 British fighters that day but lost more than three times as many of their own aircraft. LONDON BLITZ - In early September 1940, Hitler directed the Luftwaffe to shift its focus to the major British cities, including London. - The attacks began on September 7 and continued into May of the following year. - Tens of thousands of Londoners lost their lives during this time - Hitler then turned his attention to Russia.
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EVENTS: The Invasion of Russia
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June 22, 1941--Germany begins invasion of USSR July 3--Stalin orders scorched-earth policy September--Hitler shifts priority of attack to southern Russia October--Thousands of russian civilians dig trenches around Moscow November 27--German advance on Moscow is halted August 23, 1942--German troops reach Volga River; Luftwaffe bombs Stalingrad November 19-20--USSR launches two offensives against Germans February 2, 1943--German Sixth Army surrenders
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Joseph Stalin
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- Soviet premier - ordered scorched-earth policy to halt German advances in USSR - pushed for early invasion of western Europe to take German pressure off the USSR
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What were Germany's goals with the invasion of Russia?
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1. *Gain more land for Germany* 2. *Control the oil fields* 3. *Control exterminate Bolshevism* (radical Communism in Russia) - The German invasion of the Soviet Union began on June 22, 1941 - Despite the fact that the USSR was far larger than German, Hitler believed that the country would collapse quickly. - Although Hitler hoped to complete the operation by winter, Germany's conflict with the Soviet Union would continue for most of the war. - German forces advanced quickly across the Russian countryside.
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What is a "scorched Earth" policy and why was it used?
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- *either destroy or remove all useful supplies or facilities before retreating so that these resources would not fall into German hands* - Stalin ordered the Soviet army to implement a scorched-earth policy - The Russians thus destroyed roads and bridges, burned fields of crops, and demolished or emptied many factories - the policy was effective and hindered the advancing Germans armies
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Which nations signed a nonaggression pact with Germany that led tot he invasion and division of Poland?
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The Soviet Union
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***Battle of Stalingrad
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- Germans violated nonaggression pact with Soviet Union and attacked - Germans nearly won (controlled 9/10 of the city) - Winter of 1943 hit and German soldiers succumbed to frostbite and hypothermia - Hitler ordered them to continue. - Soviets used to their advantage and won - Soviets lost 1,100,000 people in this battle - Turning point in WWII - From that point on, Soviet army began to move westward towards Germany
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How did Hitler's invasion of Russia change the war for Germany and how did it affect the remainder of the war?
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- German forces were tied up in this conflict for years - It drained Germany's resources, hurt morale, diverted its military presence from western Europe - Ultimately made it possible for British and American forces to invade France in 1944
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Franklin Roosevelt
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- 32nd U.S. president - agreed to continued commitment of United States to defeat Germany in Europe
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Who attended (leaders) and what was the significance of the Casablanca Conference?
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- Roosevelt and Churchill - decided for nothing but unconditional surrender for Germany
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Who attended (leaders) and what was the significance of the Tehran Conference?
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- Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin - discussed detailed plans for the Allied invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord)
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Why did the OPA set up rationing of goods during World War II?
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- limited the amount of consumer goods each person could get. - The government rationed items because of inflation, that would make the item's price rise.
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The National Debt
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- The war inflated national debt 6x - but 45% of total war costs were paid with tax revenues
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How did World War II restore US prosperity?
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1. WWII ended the Great Depression 2. Factories run at full capacity (Ford Motor Company--one bomber plane per hour) 3. People save money (rationing) 4. Army bases in South provide economic boom (in South b/c of climate) 5. The national debt grew to $260 billion (6 times its size on Dec. 7, 1941)
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In World War II, the Allied strategy agreed upon by the US and Great Britain, was to
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concentrate on defeating Germany first before turning on Japan.
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The GI Bill was aimed at
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- Veterans - loans to start small businesses and money to go back to college
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The origins of the American middle class are rooted in
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World War II
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During World War II, the fastest rate of growth occurred in the
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Far West
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During World War II, women could
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- serve in the military - 6 million worked in war-related industries
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African American pilots were trained in a segregated facility at
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Tuskegee
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Name of the African American fighter pilots
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Tuskegee Airmen
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EVENTS: The Allied Invasion of France
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June 6, 1944--D-Day invasion begins August 15--Allied forces land on Mediterranean coast of France Mid-August--Hitler orders evacuation of southern France Soviet forces enter Germany from the east September 10--First Allied troops enter Germany from west October 18--Hitler authorizes conscription of all healthy men aged 16-60
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The supreme leader in the Normandy Invasion
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
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What was the Atlantic Wall? What battle did it influence? How?
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- a series of heavily armed fortifications all along the French coast. - Operation Overlord (D-Day) - it helped the Germans by preventing an invasion from Britain
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What was the code name for the Allied invasion of Europe?
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Operation Overlord
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D-Day
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- Operation Overlord - 20,000 British and American airborne troops - 6,000 ships - 150,000 Allied soldiers and than 2 million more would enter France - thousands of German troops - By early 1944, the Allies had been planning an invasion of France for more than a year - Autumn of 1944, Germany was surrounded by all sides
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EVENTS: Total War in the Pacific
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April 9--Japan captures the Philippines April 18--Doolittle Raid on Tokyo May 4-8--Battle of the Coral Sea June 3-6--Battle of Midway
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Prior to December 7, 1941, the United States and Japan
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***Pearl Harbor
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- morning of December 7, 1941 - Japan bombs US navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - destroyed many battleships and cruisers - killed 2,402 Americans
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The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor when
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Pearl Harbor was a great risk taken by the Japanese
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Doolittle air raids?
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- led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle - April 18, 1942, U.S. launched an air raid to demonstrate that Japan was susceptible to Allied attack. - The planes dropped bombs on oil reservoirs and naval facilities in Tokyo and other cities. - Then continued on to China to land. Low on fuel, all sixteen planes crash-landed - the raid did minimal damage to Japan. It was a powerful victory for US and demonstrated that Japan was vulnerable.
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Midway Island
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- The Pearl Harbor attack provoked a war by the US on Japan - Yamamoto, who planned Pearl Harbor, planned a massive assault on Midway (Japan's New Plan) - US determined where the attack was going to take place through coded transmissions - The US responded by sending the fleet to Midway - Japan initiated the attack early in the morning, bombing the U.S. base on Midway Island. - The Battle of Midway was over by the end of the day. - The Japanese toll was far worse than the US - Japan's losses at Coral Sea and Midway forced it to shift into a defensive mode - Eventually, Japan would gradually lose all of these earlier gains
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EVENTS: Southeast Asia
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July 1942--Japan occupies Guadalcanal August 7--Allies launch offensive on Guadalcanal February 9, 1943--Battle of Guadalcanal ends February 19, 1945--Battle of Iwo Jima begins March 26--Iwo Jima declared secure April 1--Battle of Okinawa begins May 3--Allies liberate Rangoon June 21--Battle of Okinawa ends
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Iwo Jima
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- A small island off the Japanese coast, - served as an early warning station against Allied bombers en route to attack Japan so was an obvious target. - U.S. Marines began an assault on February 19, 1945. - U.S. forces came ashore, surrounding Mt. Suribachi within a single day. - After a brutal, four-day struggle, U.S. forces reached the peak of Mt. Suribachi on February 23 - an Associated Press photographer took a now world-famous photograph of a group of Marines raising the American flag.
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During World War II, the Japanese world "kamikaze" referred to
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a suicide mission in which a Japanese pilot purposely crashed his plane into an enemy ship
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EVENTS: Italy and the Mediterranean
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June 10, 1940--Italy declares war on Britain June 11--Italian planes attack Malta British skirmish in African desert September 13--Italy launches failed invasion of Egypt October 28--Italy begins invasion of Greece
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Benito Mussolin
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Italian Fascist prime minister whose territorial ambitions drew Italy into the war in June 1940
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How did Hitler feel about Mussolini?
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***Erwin Rommel
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German field marshal and tank specialist; helped Italian forces in Egypt; was also involved in later North African campaigns
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The first area to be liberated from Axis control by the Allies was
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North Africa
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The Holocaust was caused by HATRED
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*H* - Hitler's belief in the master race *A* - Antisemitism *T* - Totalitarianism and Nationalism *R* - Racist genocide "final solution"--kill all Jews quickly *E* - Economic depression blamed on German Jews *D* - Defeat in WWII blamed on Jews
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Adolph Hitler
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- Chancellor of Germany - pursued aggressive territorial expansion in the late 1930s - committed suicide on April 30, 1945, with fall of Berlin imminent
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Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany but assumed more power when the Parliament building was burned. He did this by
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Hitler's so-called master race destined to rule the world
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Aryan race
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Adolf Hitler blamed Germany's defeat in WWI on the
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Jews
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Answer to the Jewish Problem
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WANNSEE CONFERENCE - fifteen Nazi officials met - discussed how to resolve the "Jewish question" - included the logistics of expelling Jews from Germany by emigration, mandatory sterilization, and the best way of dealing with people of mixed blood - who would legally be considered a Jew - concentration camps purely for the purpose of killing
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Location of six of the seven death camps
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Poland
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EVENTS: The Fall of Germany
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November 20, 1944--Hitler abandons Rastenburg headquarters December 16--Battle of the Bulge; Germans begin counteroffensive in Ardennes Feb 4--Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet at Yalta Conference April 12--Roosevelt dies; Truman becomes U.S. president April 16--Soviets begin offensive on Berlin April 25--U.S. and Soviet advances meet for first time April 30--Hitler commits suicide May 7--Germany signs formal surrender May 8--Western Allies declare V-E Day May 9--USSR declares Victory Day
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***German Retreat from the East
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- Soviet forces steadily made their way toward Germany - The assault was in Poland, where most of the concentration camps were - the German S.S. was trying to hide evidence of the atrocities - The Nazis forced prisoners to march to Germany. - In November, Hitler retreated, abandoning his staff and relocating to Berlin. - In December, the Germans began their last counteroffensive - Allied failed to intercept the Germans so it was a complete surprise. - By December 24, the Germans had penetrated deep into France, making a distinct bulge that lent the Battle of the Bulge its name. - Germans pushed back and supplies were airdropped to US troops - By January 1945, Germans were in retreat - January 16, the soldiers trapped were free, and the "bulge" was no more.
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What did the Germans do with the Jews in France and Poland as allied forces were closing in on them?
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The Nazis forced those prisoners who were still living to march on foot westward to Germany.
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Who attended (leaders) and what was the significance of the Yalta Conference?
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- Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin - discussed their strategy for the last stages of the war
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Roosevelt died when
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Hitler's birthday
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- April 20 - Hitler spent his birthday in an underground bunker - soon resigned to kill himself when the city fell - defeat was obvious but Hitler refused to allow his troops to surrender and insisted that the army was to defend Berlin to the last man
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The day Hitler committed suicide
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- April 30, - Hitler killed himself in the bunker he had been living since the beginning of the month. - Later that evening, the Red Army hung a Soviet flag from the top of the German parliament building in Berlin - Over the following days. some German forces surrendered, while others continued to fight. - some went into hiding or sought escape abroad - Others followed Hitler's example and committed suicide.
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V-E Day
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- May 7, 1945, official surrender for Germany was signed which went into effect the next day - May 8, 1945 - celebrated Victory in Europe Day
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EVENTS: The Fall of Japan
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March 1945--Allies begin mass bombing raids of Tokyo and other cities July 16--United States successfully tests first atomic bomb July 26--Potsdam Declaration signed August 6--United States drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 9--United States drops atomic bomb on Nagasaki USSR invades Manchuria August 15--Hirohito announces Japan's surrender September 2--Japan signs formal surrender
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Who attended (leaders) and what was the significance of the Postdam Conference?
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- Truman, Churchill, and Stalin - discuss the future of administration of Germany POTSDAM DECLARATION - unconditional surrender - demilitarization of the country - the replacement of Japan's current leadership - Allied forces were closing in on Japan at the same as they were closing in on Germany - bombing campaigns against major Japanese cities
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The final decision to drop the atomic bomb was made by
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Truman
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Among the reasons the atomic bomb was used against Japan was the belief that it would
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ultimately save both US military and Japanese civilian casualties
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Where were the atomic bombs dropped?
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Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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The development of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima
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- summer of 1945, American scientists succeeded in completing a atomic bomb - it was tested on July 16 in New Mexico. - Scientists around the world had theorized about the concept of such a weapon for years - active research on its development had been taking place in the US, Nazi Germany, Japan, and the USSR. - The American effort, with help from Canada and Britain, was code-named the Manhattan Project - The first atomic bomb was dropped from the Enola Gay on the morning of August 6, 1945, onto the city of Hiroshima. - The blast obliterated most of the central city, killing 80,000 in a single moment. - It is estimated that the total death toll from Hiroshima was well over 200,000. - By the end of the year, 60,000 more victims would die from radiation poisoning, and thousands more would die in the years to come, from cancer and other long-term effects of the radiation.
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The name of the atomic bombs were
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- Little Boy--Hiroshima - Fat Man--Nagasaki
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V-J Day
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- August 15, Japan announced capitulation in accordance with the Potsdam Declaration - Victory Over Japan Day - September 2, formal surrender signed
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The Fiver Power Treaty
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- A battleship ratio of US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy - Treaty that regulated ship ratios. - no battleships can be built in the 10 years - Japan got a guarantee that the US and Britain would stop fortifying their Far East territories - Loophole--no restrictions on small worships - Effect--divided the war up by naval power
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The 4 Power Treaty
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- no Italy - Treaty that maintained the status quo in the South Pacific so that no countries could seek further territorial gain.
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The 9 Power Treaty
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- Britain, France, Italy, Japan, U.S., China, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Belgium - Reaffirmed the Open Door Policy in China between all the major parties - All members to allow equal and fair trading rights with China
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The Good Neighbor policy of Roosevelt applies specifically to
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Latin America - he was eager to enlist Latin American allies to defend the Western Hemisphere European and Asian dictators.
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The Clark Memorandum set out US policy that
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- the US would not intervene in Latin American affairs in order to protect US property rights - this was a complete rebuke of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine
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The Kellogg-Briand Pact
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- 15 nations dedicated to outlawing aggression and war as tools of foreign policy - 62 nations signed - Problems--no means of actual enforcement and gave Americans a false sense of security
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The 1929 Kellogg-Briand Pact called for
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The Stimson Doctrine
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JAPAN ATTACK MANCHURIA - League of Nations condemned the action - Japan leaves the League - Hoover wants no part in an American military action in the Far East - US would not recognize any territorial acquisitions that were achieved by force - Japan was infuriated because the US had conquered new territories a few decades earlier - Japan bombed Shanghai in 1932--massive casualities
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***FDR's Good Neighbor Policy
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- Important to have all nations in the Western Hemisphere united in lieu of foreign aggression - FDR - "The good neighbor respects himself and the rights of other." - Policy of non-intervention and cooperation
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In 1933, the United States finally recognized the government of communist Russia, in part because the
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United States hopes for substantial trade with Russia. - FDR felt that recognizing Moscow might bolster the US against Japan. - Maybe trade with the USSR would help the US economy during the Depression.
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The Nye committee reached the conclusion that an important factor leading the United States in to war in 1917 was the
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need to protect American bank loans to the Allies. - Senator Gerald P. Nye of North Dakota held hearings to investigate the country's involvement on WW1 - this committee documented the huge profits that arms factories had made during the war
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The Neutrality Act of 1935 forbade the sale of arms and munitions to
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belligerent nations - Act that allowed nations at war to buy goods and arms in the United States if they paid cash and carried the merchandise on their own ships
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Requirement imposed by the Neutrality Act for the purchase of non-military supplied from the United States
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Cash and Carry
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Panay was
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- December 12, 1937. - Japan bombed USS Panay gunboat & three Standard Oil tankers on the Yangtze River. - The river was an international waterway. - Japan was testing US resolve! - Japan apologized, paid US an indemnity, and promised no further attacks. - Most Americans were satisfied with the apology. - Results--Japanese interpreted US tone as a license for further aggression against US interests.
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The America First Campaign
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- America First Committee that was organized by isolationists before WWII, wished to spare American lives. - They wanted to protect America before we went to war in another country.
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The diplomatic strategy behind the Lend-Lease program was to
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support England's war efforts against Germany without the United States entering World War II.
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Roosevelt ran for President in 1940
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- ran for a third term as president - against Wendell L. Willkie
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The policy the United States used in the Pacific was called
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