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Chapter 28 Study Guide: World War II
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Review
Vocabulary
Depression- a period of low business activity and high unemployment
Fascist- a dictator and his or her followers who takes away the rights of the people and glorifies war
Anti-Semitism- prejudice against Jews
Scapegoat- a person or group blamed for the mistakes and problems of others; Hitler hated the Jews
because he blamed them for all that Germany had lost. They were Germany’s scapegoat.
Concentration Camp- a prison camp for people thought to be dangerous to a ruling group
Genocide- an attempt to kill all the people of a certain race or religious group
Holocaust- the killing of Jews and other people by the Nazis
Pact- an agreement
Blitzkrieg- means “lightning war”- when German armies moved in super fast to take over land
Germany
Hitler = dictator. Broke the Treaty of Versailles (pact from WWI that made Germany lose money,
rights, land, and weapons). No one stopped him. National Socialist party = Nazi party. Hitler told
German’s they should fight to get their pride back because they are a “super race.” New German
Empire called 3rd Reich.
Hitler died two days after Mussolini (April 30, 1945) by killing himself. He hid in a bomb shelter
beneath the capital of Germany, Berlin. He and his wife, Eva Braun, were both there and both died.
Italy
Mussolini = dictator. He and his followers called fascists. He improved road and factories but
insisted on absolute rule. Jailed or killed anyone who didn’t obey him. Mussolini went against the
League of Nations and attacked Ethiopia in Africa because he wanted more land. No one stopped
him.
The death of Mussolini came when he tried to escape from Italy at the end of the war. He was
captured and was shot without a trial. His body was hung upside down outside a gas station.
Japan
Tojo was a general who became a dictator. Wanted Asia to be an empire, not a bunch of countries.
He invaded China. The League of Nations protested, so he left the League; no one stopped him.
By 1938 Japan controlled all of China’s ports and industrial centers (all of their money basically).
On December 23, 1948 Tojo was convicted as a war criminal and was hanged.
How It Began
WW2 started when Germany asked for a bit of Czechoslovakian land and then 6 months later took
over all of it. Then attacked Poland by faking that they had attacked a German radio station. Great
Britain and France had enough of Hitler taking over land and declared war on Germany Sept. 1939.
World War I ended 20 years before WWII began.
1930’s called the Great Depression because of so many broke and jobless American’s.
Two Sides
Allies (we “ARE” so good!)= America, Russia, England
 Churchill was prime minister of Britain (England) and told his country they would build
an iron curtain, meaning they would make sure no one was going to enter their land.
 Hitler attacked Britain by air rather than sea since they had a strong Navy. This was
called the
London Blitz because German’s bombed all day and night, but they still lost!
This was their first loss in WW2.
Axis (do the “JIG”)= Japan, Italy, Germany
 Called AXIS because they felt all of Europe (eventually the whole world) should revolve
around them
 Biggest mistake was when Germany entered Russia because, like Napoleon, he didn’t
prepare his men with the right warm clothes.
 When the Allies invaded Italy in 1943, they surrendered. This was the beginning of the
Axis end. Even though Italy surrendered, German forces still fought Allies in Italy for another
year.
Holocaust

Hitler wanted to get rid of “the Jewish problem” by killing all Jews. He first just made them
slaves in Concentration Camps, later he created death camps.

If people were spared execution, they had a horrible life of starvation and slave labor

Not only 6 million Jews were killed, millions of Russians, people from Poland, Yugoslavia, and
Gypsies were also considered “inferior” to Hitler.
United States Enters WWII
We were neutral for 3 years. We did not want to fight, but we were sending weapons and food to
the Allies. However, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii we joined the war. On
December 7, 1941, Japanese planes sunk or damaged 13 US Ships and 170 US planes. Franklin D.
Roosevelt was president at the time.
D-Day
France had been taken over by Germany early on in the war. The Allies planned to free France in
1944. This invasion of Normandy, France is called “D-Day.” On June 6, 1944, General
Eisenhower sent troops up the shore. They tricked the Nazis, who thought they would attack
somewhere else.
Still Fighting with Japan
Even though the war was over in 1944, Japan was still taking over Asian land. Kamikaze pilots
became their human bombs and would fill planes with explosives and then crash them onto US
ships. The US president, Harry S Truman, made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan as
the quickest way to end the war. Japan was warned and wouldn’t surrender. August 6, 1945 the
bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later another was dropped on Nagasaki. 3
weeks later Japan surrendered. It was their first loss in 2,000 years!
How It Ended
In December 1944, Germans were defeated at the Battle of the Bulge. 5 months later Germany’s
capital was under the Allies rule and Germany surrendered. The war ended May 7, 1945.
League of Nations hadn’t really worked, so the United Nations was created. There is a constitution
and headquarters are in New York City. Their goal is still to protect world peace.