AmerHist10-- The Buildup to WW2
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15 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 The Enabling Act (1934) | The Act passed by the Reichstag after the Reichstag fire, essentially giving Hitler the power to do whatever he wanted |
| The Ruhr (1936) | the main coal and steel producing/manufacturing region in Germany (& thus the heart of its economic and military production) |
| The Ruhr | -- in the border area with France and Belgium-- taken by the French after Germany stopped paying its war debt --WHERE HITLER MADE HIS FIRST (ILLEGAL) MILITARY MOVE IN THE YEARS LEADING TO WW2 |
| Spanish Civil War (Guernica, 1937) | One of the major world events leading up to WW2, and another of Hitler's steps toward war |
| Spanish Civil War | fought between the Communists and Franco's Nationalists (Spain's Fascists)-- Hitler used it as a chance to test his new "Luftwaffe" with "blitzkrieg" bombing of the city of Guernica (thousands of civilian deaths) |
| Austria and the Anschluss(1937) | One more big step in Hitler's march to war-- the Nazis stirred up the German-speaking population of Austria, then used that as an excuse to invade, taking over a big chunk, and adding more territory and people to "the Reich" |
| Czechoslovakia (Munich, and the "peace of paper," 1938) | much like Austria and the Anschluss-- Hitler stirred up a problem as an excuse, then threatened to invade (acting like a protector of innocent Germans)-- Czechoslovakia could have been a strong enough foe to stop him, except the British and French abandoned them & gave Hitler half their country |
| Poland (and the Pact of Steel, 1939) | The Second World War begins here-- Hitler and Stalin shocked the world with a secret deal that basically split Poland between them (this was especially surprising, as everything Hitler had said or written for years included attacks on the Communists) |
| Blitzkrieg | "lightning war"-- term for Hitler's massive- surprise-attack style of warfare-- planes bombing, strafing, tanks & army units moving fast, gobbling up territory, outflanking and hammering the enemy |
| The Phony War | ("the calm before the storm")-- the period of late 1939-early 1940, after Poland had been take, when Britain and France (&many Germans) convinced themselves that nothing bad was really going to happen |
| Belgium (and the Schlieffen Plan) | where Germany attacked first (as with WW1, and using a modified version of the same plan)-- the plan was to knock France and England out of the war quickly by blitzing through the Lowland countries-- then move forces to the Eastern front, and attack Russia |
| Dunkirk | Hitler's first big mistake, and one of the most important events of the war-- He had virtually the entire British army cornered against the sea, and he hesitated one day too long- British fishing boats, merchants, private boats, the navy started evacuating 300,000 or so British soldiers across the Channel in the night |
| The Blitz | September, 1940-- the day-and-night bombardment of London and other British cities by the German air force-- probably Hitler's second big mistake-- he quit, just when the British were on the verge of having no planes and airmen left to fight with |
| Second Front | Hitler's third, perhaps biggest mistake-- the surprise attack on Russia BEFORE he had finished off England-- thus giving himself a two-front war, forcing him to split his forces |
| Home front | a common term for all the efforts made "back home" insupport of the war effort-- factories, farms, morale building, personal sacrifices |
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