World War II
European Theatre
Study Guide
1) Adolf Hitler – became chancellor of Germany in 1933; established Nazi Party; led Germany into
and during World War II; persecuted Jews, Gypsies, political prisoners, etc.; committee suicide at the
end of WW II
2) Rhineland – rearmed by Hitler in violation of the Treaty of Versailles; League of Nations did not
step in to stop him
3) Rome-Berlin Axis – agreement that placed Italy and German, Mussolini and Hitler as allies; they
were known as the Axis Powers
4) Spanish Civil War – started in 1936; rebels led by General Franco; Italy sent troops; Germany sent
arms; dress rehearsal for WW II; Franco’s forces won and he became dictator of Spain
5) Austria and occupation of Germany – March, 1938 – Hitler sends in German troops to annex
Austria to Germany; accomplished without firing a shot
6) Sudetenland – portion of Czechoslovakia that had a German culture; Hitler wanted to add this
Germany; given permission to do so by European powers
7) Neville Chamberlain – Prime Minister of England that met with Hitler and okayed his taking of the
Sudetenland
9) Poland – invaded by Germany, thus sparking WW II because of the agreements between Poland
and Great Britain and France
10) 1 September 1939 – date of the German invasion of Poland and the beginning of WW II
11) Blitzkrieg – mechanized warfare that placed continued pressure on the enemy not allowing him to
regroup, sleep, etc.; used by Germany to quickly defeat European countries
12) Joseph Stalin – Premier of the Soviet Union at the time of World War II; he becomes one of the
Big Three with Roosevelt and Churchill
13) Russia and Germany as friends – signed non-aggression pact and agreed to divided Poland
between them; eventually, Germany does attack Russia/Soviet Union
14) German takeover of Europe – German forces quickly make a clean sweep of Europe except for
Great Britain
15) Dunkirk – area on the English Channel German forces backed the British/French forces too;
troops were rescued from Dunkirk by flotilla from England leaving behind large quantities of military
weapons and supplies
16) RAF – Royal Air Force
17) Fall of Paris (rail car) – 14 June 1940 – France surrendered to Germany; Hitler made France sign
the surrender in the same rail car used in the surrender of Germany in 1918
18) Charles de Gaulle – formed the French Government in Exile after the fall of France; helped train
troops for the invasion of Normandy; returned to France and became President
19) Battle of Britain – Germany bombed Great Britain nightly for months trying to get them to
surrender; Britain did not surrender; massive amount of damage and death from the bombing raids
20) Herman Goring – Vice Fuhrer of Nazi Germany and head of the Luftwaffe
21) Sir Winston Churchill – became Prime Minister upon the resignation of Chamberlain; lead Great
Britain throughout WW II; one of the Big Three along with Stalin and Roosevelt
23) Invasion of USSR (Barbarossa) – the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany; Nazi troops
stopped by Russian Winter; the Soviets started fighting back and developed the Eastern Front
24) Isolationist American – US did not want to become entangled with European problems; therefore,
stayed out of the beginning of WW II; did not come out from under Isolationism until attacked by the
Japanese at Pearl Harbor
25) American Neutrality – US declared itself neutral at the beginning of WW II; however, US did want
the Allies to loose
26) “Arsenal of Democracy” – saying by FDR used to show that the US should support those who
were fighting for Democracy and against Fascism and Nazism
27) Lend-Lease Act – passed by US Congress; it allowed war materials to be sent to England and
other Allies
28) German response to Lend-Lease – U-boats started firing upon American shipping
30) Pearl Harbor – 7 December 1941 – the attack that caused the US to enter WW II because we had
been directly attacked by an aggressive country
31) Afrika Corps – German troops operating in North Africa; trying to seize control of Suez Canal and
secure a way for Germany to have access to the Middle Eastern oil fields
32) Erwin Rommel – German commander of the Afrika Corps; in charge of defending the French
coast against an Allied attack; part of plot to kill Hitler and committed suicide
33) General Sir Bernard Montgomery – British General that battled the Afrika Corps before the US
sent troops
35) Italian Campaign – invasion to open another front to relieve some of the pressure against the
Soviets; captured Rome, which became the first Axis capital to fall
36) Dwight D. Eisenhower – Overall Allie Commander for the D-Day operations
37) D-Day – 6 June 1944
38) Operation Over Lord – code name for the Allied invasion of the French coast
39) Normandy – area of France attacked by Allies to establish a beach head and start the process of
pushing the Germans back
40) Utah and Omaha Beaches – code name of the beaches attacked by the Americans on D-Day
41) Gold, Sword, & Juno Beaches – code name of the beaches attacked by the British, etc.
42) George S. Patton – US commander of the American Third Army in Europe; helped to push the
“Bulge” out of the Allie lines by turning the Army
43) Omar Bradley – US commander that pushed the Germans back into Germany
44) Battle of the Bulge – last German offensive in December and January 1944/1945; initially a
success but eventually lost their momentum and the Allies pushed the German forces back
45) Fate of Adolf Hitler – committed suicide to prevent himself from surviving the Third Reich
46) V-E Day – Victory in Europe Day celebrated in the United States
47) 7 May 1945 – date of Germany’s surrender to the Allied forces Europe
1939-1945
1. How did the following led to WWII?
Aggression of Totalitarian Powers-Dictators built up their armies
Nationalism-Countries formed alliances and demanded obedience
Treaty of Versailles-Extremely harsh to the Axis Powers
League of Nations-Couldn’t enforce its rules
Appeasements-France and England gave in to German Aggression
2. What was life like for civilians under Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin?No individual freedoms
3. What is Anti-Semitism?Hatred of the Jews
4. What was the non-aggression pact?
Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to attack each other and divide up Poland
5. event sparked the war?Invasion of Poland
6. How was Hitler able to defeat France? Which country entered the war to “help” defeat
France? Hitler used Blitzkrieg and used the help of Italy
7. Who made up the Axis powers?Japan, Italy, Germany
8. Who made up the Allies? Soviet Union, Britain, United States
9. What area did Hitler and Mussolini focus on after Britain?Soviet Union
10. What operation did Hitler implement to conquer Russia? Barbarossa
11. What did Stalingrad stop the Germans from doing?
Conquering the Soviet Union
12. When did Pearl Harbor occur?Dec 7, 1941
13. Who was the British Prime Minister during WWII?Winston Churchill
14. How were the Axis powers defeated in Africa? (What battle)El Alamein
15. When did Italy surrender?1944
16. Where and when did D-Day take place?June 6, 1944 Normandy France