Unit 7 Study Guide

Katie Dennison 04/18/2009 Period 2 Unit 7 Study Guide 1) Hitler's Mein Kampf ( My Struggle) was written by Hitler within the prison walls of the fortress at Landsberg am Lech, Germany, where he spent thirteen months of an original five year conviction for high treason (his failed attempt to stage a coup against the then in-power German government). The book contains two parts; Hitler’s autobiography and his plans for Germany. Mein Kampf foreshadows the events that would and then did occur in WWII. Hitler describes within his book how Germany needs more “Lenbensraum” or living space. Hitler is saying that Germany needs more land. Also, Hitler mentions the “Untermenschen”, or non-Aryan people, unsparingly. When the non-Aryan people are mentioned he is saying that these sub-human people need to be exterminated. 2) During the period leading up to World War II, there were two men who were on opposing sides. These men were Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. These men were each triumphant in their rise to power in their countries and they were very comparable in the ways that they succeeded. Their success was mostly due to their new ideas and politics. Both men were skilled users of propaganda and they both had the ambition to make their countries powerful in the world. Hitler and Stalin each rose to the highest position attainable in their countries but in different ways. Hitler’s NAZI party became the majority in the Reichstag. Because they held the majority, Hitler was appointed Chancellor. Then, once the president died, Hitler became the Fuhrer of Germany. Stalin became the leader of the U.S.S.R by winning an election. He also exiled the man he was running against. Also during the period leading up to World War II, there was another man in Italy who rose to power similarly to Hitler. His name was Benito Mussolini. Both Hitler and Mussolini favored a fascist form of government. Also, they both gathered small groups of followers they would use to bully voters, Hitler's SS and Mussolini's Black Shirt’s. Because of Mussolini’s Black Shirt’s bullying within the then current government, he became named Il Duce, or the Chief. 3) The policy of appeasement can be described as giving a bully what he wants. During the 1930's Britain and France let Hitler have whatever they considered necessary to keep peace in Europe. These two countries did not want to have another World War. They believed that Hitler had certain aims and that once he had achieved these he would be satisfied. So, they allowed him to rebuild his army, invade the Rhineland in 1936, complete the Anschluss, or annexation, of Austria in 1938 and then take over the

Sudetenland. Hitler also formed an alliance with Italy’s fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. This violated the Treaty of Versailles. Appeasement assumed Hitler would keep his side of the bargain. Although, he didn’t. 4) Barely a year into World War 2, Germany had taken over the country of France with great ease. France had fallen so quickly because of their outdated defenses and inability to defend their borders properly. With the construction of the Maginot Line after World War 1, France felt they were better prepared for an attack from enemy countries, in this case Germany. They used WW1 style defenses. These defenses were the use of trenches, pill-boxes and mines. Along with their outdated defenses, the French did not have troops at the Ardennes Forest. German’s would easily go around the city of Belgium and then walk into the forest. Because of the lack of defense on that line of forest , France fell quickly and easily to the German’s. 5) Franklin Delano Roosevelt went to great lengths to convince America to get involved in World War 2 by promoting the "Lend Lease" act. The Lend-Lease Act allowed England to buy or lease anything from the U.S. for the war effort in Europe .America was isolationist after World War 1, thinking Europe should solve its own problems. Lend Lease allowed us to help England financially before the U.S. actually declared war on the Axis forces. Because of LendLease Act the United States was brought one step closer to entry into the war. 6) On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese air force attacked Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. The Japanese decided to attack this location because they wanted to knock America out of a future war that the military government of Japan knew was inevitable. America had disagreement to their actions of taking over East Asia and the atrocities committed there. Through the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japan did not hope to defeat America but simply buy enough time to dominate the Pacific and to gain a strategic advantage so that America could not push through their defenses. Although, this failed because the two aircraft carriers that were stationed there were on routine maneuvering practice. So they were not destroyed and this lead to the eventual downfall of the Japanese Empire. 7) During World War II, the American government controlled the economy in order to benefit the war effort. There were many agencies that were created on order to help the effort. Two of these agencies were the Office of Price Administration and the War Production Board. The Office of Price Administration was made to control prices. When the prices of things were controlled, inflation was prevented. Also, the War Production Board turned the peacetime industries of America into wartime industries. This meant that

car factories, for example, would stop making cars and make things such as tanks. 8) The Eastern front of the war was composed of battles between the German Reich and the U.S.S.R. It was the largest theatre of war and was notorious for its ferocity, destruction, and large loss of life. More people fought and died on the Eastern Front than in all other theatres of World War 2. The U.S.S.R. was very hard on its soldiers. If any men of the Soviet Union army retreated, they were to be shot on sight by their leaders. Also, the German and Soviet army showed no mercy for each other. When the German’s had taken over Stalingrad, the U.S.S.R sent one million reinforcement s to surround the city. They would then send in their troops and have them kill as many German’s as they could. Also at one point, the German’s needed supplies. So, they used Soviet children to go and get water from the Volga River. The Soviet’s did not like this. So, they killed all of the children who were helping the German’s. Neither side showed mercy for each other. 9) The second front refers to Stalin's wish for the Allies to open another front or fronts in Europe against the Germans to take the pressure of the Russians on the Eastern Front. He wanted the Allies to invade mainland Europe as soon as possible to force the Germans to withdraw some of their troops. At this time, Roosevelt was willing to launch an invasion but Churchill and the British did not think it would be successful. The allies were not militarily prepared. They did not have any landing crafts or air superiority. Also, the British Army was still under prepared and unequipped to face the German army in Europe again. While the British had a powerful naval and Air force more was still needed. The American's were also in the process of putting an army together. The U.S.’s war industry was only just beginning and they had no troops with any combat experience. Its navy was involved in the Pacific and new units would be needed for the European Front. Also, the air force had old and outdated planes which would have been no match for the Luftwaffe, or German air force. Although, once the U.S. and England were well prepared they entered the War as soon as possible. 10)On June 6th, 1944, American and Allied forces landed on Omaha beach, located on the Northern coast of France. At this time, the conditions of the weather and the beach were horrible and made it difficult for troops to get past the Atlantic Wall (German defenses along the coast of France). It was rainy and windy on D-Day. When troops were deployed close enough to shore they would run into the water of the Atlantic and try to get to shore as fast as they can. German troops would shoot at the men as they exited Higgins Boats that they had used for transport. Allied troops had to get out of the boats so far from shore because German’s had put blockades along the shoreline. This would prevent boats from going on shore. Many men died

because of this. The water on the beach became blood red as soon as the men landed. 11)Before D-Day, General George Patton was suspended from his post as because he went around military hospitals and hit and verbally abused soldiers. Because of this suspension on June 6th 1944, Patton was sitting in England at the head of a fake army. He was part of the largest and most successful deception operation of World War II. Operation Quicksilver was part of a larger deception plan called Operation. The plan was used to disguise the build up of the Allied Army and the destination of the invasion. 12)The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle. It is widely regarded as the most important battle of the Pacific Campaign during World War II. Because American’s were able to break the Japanese code, the U.S. was forewarned of the attack on Midway. The United States Navy defeated a Japanese naval unit attack and inflicted irreparable damage on Japanese carrier forces. Since there was so much damage done to the carriers, the U.S. was able to defeat Japan more easily. The Battle of Midway was seen as the turning point of the war. 13)After the Battle of Midway, the United States launched a counter-offensive known as "island-hopping”. Using this tactic the U.S. established island bases as well as air control in the Pacific. The idea of “island hopping” was to capture certain key islands, one after another, until Japan was within range of American bombers. 14)The United States decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was completely justified. The Japanese are a proud, courageous and determined people. Japanese men, women and children were willing to die for the emperor. The population of Japan would have slaughtered U.S. servicemen if they had invaded Japan. Although an invasion was necessary the United States had to choose between sending hundreds of thousands of US soldiers, many fresh off the battlefields in Europe, to invade Japan killing and being killed by hundreds of thousands of Japanese, or dropping a newly developed weapon, the atomic bomb, on two cities in Japan. When the atomic bomb was dropped, it resulted in tens of thousands of civilian lives with little cost to U.S. servicemen. The main priority of the U.S. was to save as many servicemen as possible but hurt as many Japanese as we possibly could. The Japanese had also committed atrocities against the Chinese when they had invaded East Asia. Why should the U.S. have had to show mercy against an empire that wouldn’t show mercy for others? Also, the Japanese had a secret atomic bomb program going on the same time as the United States. It would have only been a matter of time before they had taken more American lives.