World War II Terms

International brigades- were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to fight for the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.

Guernica- Arial attack on the civilian population of Spain estimated 1500 civilian deaths. It allowed for the nationalists to invade the ruins of the town without much or any resistance from the brigades.

Stresa front- to declare that the independence of Austria, and they also agreed to deny any attempts to change the treaty of Versailles afterwards.

Lebenstraum- “We are overpopulated and cannot feed ourselves from our own resources” (Adolf). Germany could not survive under the terms of the treaty of Versailles, so they needed to retake their old boarders just to survive.

Appeasement- The other countries around Germany did not want to start another war so the countries just ignored or accepted Germany’s aggressive movements. Hitler achieved a lot during these appeasements. The appeasements allowed him to achieve a massive army breaking the treaty of Versailles, while the rest of the world just watched.

Remilitarization of the Rhineland- Germany was finished with the oppression of the treaty of Versailles, they wanted to regain their old boarders and remilitarize them. This was breaking the rules of the treaty of Versailles.

Sudetenland- Germany invaded Czech it was quickly annexed. The Nazis lit fire to Czech monuments and sent majority of the Jews and Slavs and any un-pure in Czech to concentration camps, making profits of their wealth.

Neville chamberlain- Chamberlain is known for his appeasement foreign policy. He gave Germany the wiggle room. Then allowed Germany to annex Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. Finally when Germany invaded Poland he acted and declared war against Germany.

Charles de Gaulle- de Gaulle was a French military General who led the Free French forces in WW2. Soon after became president.

Vichy France- Helped the Germans and the French. It was a small weak French government controlled by Germany that Allowed an armistice to be formed.

Radar- Radar is an object detection system. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, missiles, vehicles, weather, and terrain.

General Erwin Rommel- The Desert Fox. A German officer. He was respected by both his forces and his enemies. He was reported to have treated all his captured enemies humanely and ignored all and any requests to kill Jews and other inhumane orders.

General Montgomery- Commanded the allied armies in Africa. Planned the D-Day invasion in Normandy. He was in command of all Allied ground forces during Operation Overlord.

El Alamein- in Africa it was a major victory and was a turning point in WW2 it was the first allied victory that was important to beating the axis.

General D.D Eisenhower- He had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa and the successful for the invasion of France and Germany.

Afrika corps- Nazi Germanys armies in Africa were known as the Afrika corps.

Operation overlord- code name for the Battle of Normandy. It started with DDAY and continued through France.

Operation market garden- A failed operation. An offensive on the German Rhine and to close in the Industrial German areas. Forces were too spread out and bridges were demolished leaving paratroopers without key reinforcements.

Okinawa- The battle was fought on a large island near Japan. It was the largest amphibious assault in the pacific and was captured a few weeks before the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Einsatzgruppen- paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass killings, and were responsible for the killings of Jews in Poland. These forces were used in operation Barbarossa and during the invasion of Poland.

Wannsee- 20 January 1942 conference meeting of senior Nazi officials. They discussed the final plan. It was where the Plan to send the Jews to labor camps came up.

Atlantic charter- it made free access to raw materials; reduction of trade restrictions; global cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom of the seas.

Tehran conference- a strategy meeting held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill.

Yalta conference- outcome of the Tehran Conference was the commitment to the opening of a second front against Nazi Germany by the Western Allies.

Potsdam conference- USSR, USA and UK. How to administer punishment to the defeated Nazi Germany. Included the establishment of post-war order, peace treaties issues, and countering the effects of the war.

                    Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Brigades

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Gernika

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stresa_Front

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudetenland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Chamberlain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen

The Paris peace conferences

When: 1919

Where: Paris

Why:Was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers, making them pay and owe debts to pay to fix the destruction that the world caused on Europe and Asia. It also was to ensure that a war of that size could never again happen.

Outcome:Germany had to pay a ridiculous debt of 20 billion Gold Marks to the allied countries for the wreckage they created (majorly France). They had to give up the majority of their land, coal companies, resources and they also had a limitation on their military size. Germany was also to pay resources; coal, dye, and chemicals over an amount of years.

Significance/impact/consequences:Created a very angry country, Germany. The German public was oppressed and very upset; this made the public want a drastic change. This change led to Hitler and fascism, which ultimately led to the Second World War which is exactly what the conferences were to stop.  

The formation of the League of Nations

When: 1920

Where: geneva, switzerland

What:after world war 2 the world needed to form together to keep eachother from doing anything as devastaing as ww1 ever again so they met up and discussed topics that could impact the world.

Why:keep eachother from doing anything as devastaing as ww1 ever again so they met up and discussed topics that could impact the world.

Outcome: saved a few lives but, at times conflicts were often ignored.

Significance/impact/consequences:

Invasion of Manchuria

When: began on September 19, 1931 untill the end of world war 2.

Where: Manchuria

What: The Japanese Empire invaded the country and set up the state Manchukuo which lasted untill the end of World War 2. Little resistance was found but, those who resisted were rewarded with fame
(General Ma Zhanshan).

Why:  The Japanese wanted to take control of the entire province and soon control all of Eastern Asia.This      was one of the starting points of the pacific war. The most obvious reason for the Japanese invasion was a full-scale invasion of Manchuria (to collect resources and Land and power). 

Outcome:Major cause to the Pacific war, the Japanese grew to imperialistic and powerful which meant they would soon attack elsewhere. As anticipated Japan struck at US and UK bases in Dec.1941. Leasing to the Pacific war.

Significance/impact/consequences: Impacted all of the world in being the staring point of the allied war against the Japanese in the pacific war. led to pearl Harbor, and the Bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Invasion of Ethiopia

When: October 1935

Where: Ethiopia

What: The Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Mussolini wanted to rebuild an Italian Empire. Another important element of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia is the fact that it was the first time that mustard gas and phosgene was used as illegal weapons by the Italian armed forces. Ethiopia had a relatively weak army that consisted of indigenous tribal forces that were still making use of basic weapons such as spears and shields, whereas their air force consisted of only 12 fighter planes.

Why: Mussolini wanted to rebuild an Italian Empire reminiscent of the glorious Roman Empire of the past was no secret by this point in time. In order to do this Italy would have to take over the Mediterranean and the North African regions.

Outcome: The end of the AOI came quickly during World War 2. In early 1941, as part of the East Africa Campaign, allied forces launched offensives against the Italian colony.

Significance/impact/consequences: It was quite clear following this event that the League of Nations was a total failure in terms of accomplishing the objectives for which it was established. This is because both Italy as well as Ethiopia were members of the League of Nations yet the League was not able to prevent Italy from forcefully violating the rights of Ethiopia

The Ruhr Occupation

When: between 1923 and 1925

Where: Western Germany

What: The french invaded Germany because, Germany was ignoring the war reperations and France decieded to put a little pressure on Germnay to help them pay up the goods. But, Germany used this to their advantage to set up a passive resistance which got them the sympathy from the world that they needed.

Why: The Germans got sympathy from the world leading to a large reduction off of the reperations and this let the Germans focus elsewhere, the people. This let them pump up their public that they were oppressed.

Outcome: Germany got sympathy from the world therfore releasing some stress and focus off of the Germans. The Germans also got a large reduction off of their original payment plan.

Significance/impact/consequences: large reduction on reperations, less foucus on Germans, sympathy for the Germans, a reason for the germans to be angry.

The Maginot Line

When:1939 (French controlled)---- 1940 (German controlled)

Where: France. The borders of France along Italy and Germany.

What: was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defenses, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in cause of the attack that was anticipated.

Why: It was to be used to protect france from any attack from the front and was and would have done that quite well but, that attack didnt come and the maginot line was not tested to its full potencial.

Outcome: The attack the French were expecting didnt come, a entirely new approach was taken. Germany had entered thriough belgium avoiding the Maginot line and came from behind and took france quickly by Blitzkrieg tactics. The french could only camp out in the line, but, they did prevent some attacks.

Significance/impact/consequences: Germany invaded France quickly and easily leaving the allies shocked and very suprised. France was taken and britian would be next for the massive German force. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack, and had state-of-the-art living conditions for garrisoned troops, including air conditioning, comfortable eating areas and underground railways. However, it proved costly to keep, consumed a vast amount of money and subsequently led to other parts of the French Armed Forces being underfunded.