Cornell Notes
Questions
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Notes:
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World War II
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1. Hitler’s Lightning War
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A. Germany Starts a New War in Europe
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i. Hitler signs nonaggression pact with Stalin
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ii. Germany attacks Poland and uses Blitzkrieg
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iii. Russia attacks Poland and other Baltic countries
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iv. Britain and France declare war on Germany
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B. France Surrenders June 22, 1940
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i. French wait for attack behind the Maginot Line
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ii. Nazis attack Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg
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iii. Germans overran France – forced Allies to
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evacuate from Dunkirk to England
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C. The Battle of Britain
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i. Luftwaffe (airforce) bombed England
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ii. bombed British cities, but British air force won
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D. The Mediterranean and the Eastern front
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i. Italy drags Germany into war in North Africa
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ii. Rommel (Desert Fox) leads German Afrika Korps
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iii. Hitler takes Balkans to prepare for Russian war
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iv. June 22, 1941 Operation Barbarossa starts
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v. Russian destroy everything - “scorched earth”
Questions
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Notes:
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3. The Holocaust
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A. The Holocaust Begins
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i. Nazis believed Germans were Aryans (master
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race) and all others were inferior
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ii. Hitler used anti-semitism (hatred of Jews) to
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blame for Germany’s failure in World War I
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iii. In 1935 the Nazis pass the Nuremberg Laws,
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taking away citizenship and rights of Jews
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iv. Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass) – attack
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Jews and Jewish property (November 9, 1938)
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v. forced emigration – Hitler sent Jews to other
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countries – who refused to take them
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vi. ghettos made where Jews were forced to live
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B. The “Final Solution”
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i. Hitler decided to eliminate all “inferior people”,
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Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Poles, Russians, the
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incurably ill, the disabled
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ii. SS (elite forces) moved through Eastern
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Europe killing as many Jews as they could
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iii. concentration camps were created where Jews
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and other groups were sent to work and die in
Questions
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Notes:
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4. The Allied Victory
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A. The Tide Turns on Two Fronts (1943)
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i. Stalin wanted Allies to attack Germany in West
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but Allies delayed, focusing on North Africa
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ii. Axis forces defeated in North Africa in 1943
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iii. Battle of Stalingrad turns the war in Russia
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iv. Allies invade Italy in 1943
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B. The Allied Home Fronts
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i. factories converted for total war – help cause
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ii. propaganda used to get support
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iii. Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps
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C. Victory in Europe
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i. D-Day Invasion (aka Operation Overlord) began
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June 6, 1944 – Allies attacked Normandy
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ii. Battle of the Bulge – Hitler’s counter-attack in
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Ardennes Forest fails – Allied victory certain
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iii. Roosevelt dies April 1945, Germany surrenders
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May 9, 1945 (aka VE Day)
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D. Victory in the Pacific
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i. a top-secret operation, Manhattan Project, had
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developed a atomic (nuclear) bomb (aka A-bomb)
Questions
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Notes:
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The Cold War
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1. Cold war started at the end of World War II as
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the USSR and other allies argued
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A. Allies Become Enemies
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i. Yalta Conference (before end of WWII) allies
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met - discussed what would happen after war
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ii. June 1945 – United Nations was formed
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B. Eastern Europe’s Iron Curtain
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i. USSR wanted a buffer in the west
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ii. Stalin left Red Army in Eastern Europe
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iii. Potsdam Conference – Truman wants free
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elections in Eastern Europe – Stalin refuses
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iv. Churchill – “iron curtain” splits free - communist
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C. USA tries Containment of USSR
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i. Truman Doctrine (1947) – USA will contain the
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spread of communism everywhere in the world
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ii. Marshall Plan – massive aid to Europe to rebuild
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after WWII and stop communism spreading
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iii. Berlin Air Lift – supplies flown into Berlin after
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USSR shut ground supplies reaching the city
Questions
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Notes:
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3. Wars in Korea and Vietnam
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A. War in Korea
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i. Korea was split at the 38th parallel
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ii. in June 1950, communist North Korea invaded
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(US sponsored) South Korea
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iii. UN voted to support South (USSR absent)
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iv. Douglas MacArthur leads UN forces to Chinese
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border – Chinese send 300,000 troops to Korea
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v. cease-fire (1953), Korea split at 38th parallel
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B. War in Vietnam
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i. Ho Chi Minh went to Versailles (1919) asked for
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Vietnamese independence (Wilson refused)
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ii. Ho returned and formed Vietminh
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iii. after WWII, Vietminh fought US supported
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French for freedom, USSR supported Vietminh
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iv. Dien Bien Phu – French forces defeated
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v. Geneva Conference created Communist North
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and Democratic South – divided at 17th parallel
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vi. Domino Theory leads to US involvement
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a. Gulf of Tonkin Incident – US declares war
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b. brutal war becomes unpopular
Questions
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Notes:
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4. The Cold War Around the World
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A. Fighting for the Third World
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i. Third World - nonaligned, newly independent
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countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
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ii. USA, USSR (sometimes China) supported
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revolution, liberation, or counter-revolutions
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iii. assassination, spying, and all kinds of aid
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B. Confrontation in Latin America
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i. huge gap between rich and poor
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ii. US business interests resulted in US
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supporting anti-communist dictators
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iii. Fidel Castro took over Cuba and nationalized
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US owned businesses (mostly sugar plantations)
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iv. CIA trained an army and invaded at Bay of Pigs
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v. Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) USSR v. USA
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vi. CIA goes against Congress and supports Contras
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in Nicaragua – linked to trading arms with Iran
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C. Confrontation in the (Oil Rich) Middle East
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i. In 1953 Iranian President Muhammed Mossadeq
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nationalized Iran’s oil industry
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ii. CIA organized a revolution that removed the
Questions
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Notes:
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5. The Cold War Thaws
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A. Soviet Policy in Eastern Europe and China
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i. After Stalin, Soviet leaders allowed Eastern
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European countries more control
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ii. 1956 – Nikita Krushchev denounced Stalin and
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called for “peaceful competition” with the West
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iii. 1956 – Hungarians overthrow communist
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government – USSR sends army to end uprising
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iv. In 1964 Soviet leaders replaced Krushchev with
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Leonid Breshnev who sent Warsaw Pact troops
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into Czechoslavakia to restore communist power
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v. By 1959, USSR and China were fighting (war)
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B. From Brinkmanship to Détente
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i. By 1970s Vietnam War straining US at home
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and abroad – Richard Nixon introduces
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détente (thawing) and moves towards peace
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ii. 1972 – Nixon visits Beijing and later Moscow
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iii. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) tries
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to reduce the number of nuclear weapons
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C. The Collapse of Détente (after 1979)
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i. USSR invades Afghanistan - increases hostility