Download WWII Terms - Dinovelli

Ben Dinovelli
IB World History 12
Sturmabteilung (SA)
In 1921, Adolf Hitler created his own private army called Strumabteilung
(German for Storm Section). The SA, known as storm troopers or brown
shirts because of their uniform, was known for disrupting opposition
political meetings and defending Hitler from potential attacks. Captain
Ernst Roehm of the Bavarian Army was deemed as the organization’s first
leader. By 1934 the SA had grown to 450,000 men and was one of the main
forces behind Hitler’s initial rise to power.
After 1933, when Hitler took power, many of Hitler’s fellow officers feared that the SA would
gain too much political influence and exert its military prowess. Some even thought that the SA
would try to take over as the replacement for the German army. Although Hitler initially liked
Roehm, the negative criticisms by Hitler’s supporters towards Roehm and the rumors of a
potential SA-led coup to overthrow Hitler caused his opinions to change. In response, Hitler
ordered the Night of the Long Knives, a series of political murders that killed off the SA
leadership and reduce the organization’s power. After 1934, the SA was superseded by the
Schutzstaffel (SS).
Battle of Stalingrad
A World War II battle that took place between July 17, 1942 – February 2, 1943 between Nazi
German and Soviet Union forces. On July 22, 1942, Germany started Operation Barbarossa, a
Nazi offensive attack to weaken and conquer the Soviet Union. One of the bloodiest battles of
the war, the fighting was so intense that the average life expectancy of a Soviet citizen in the
Battle of Stalingrad was 24 hours. The battle signified a turning point in the Eastern front as
German forces were too damaged to be fully recovered.
In November of 1942, the Red Army, through Operation Uranus, launched a two-prong attack
that surrounded the German forces inside Stalingrad. The Russian winter set in and by February
all of the German forces in the city had surrendered or been eliminated. After Stalingrad,
Germany had no more victories on the Eastern front.
Munich Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch of November 1923, or the Munich Putsch, was Hitler’s attempt to
overthrow the Weimar government of Ebert and establish a right wing nationalistic one in its
place. In September 1923, the Chancellor Gustav Stresemann had decided that Germany could
only proceed after hyperinflation and agreed to work with the French as opposed to against them
by paying the reparations stated in the Treaty of Versailles.
To the nationalists in Germany, this was an admittance of guilt for starting the First World War
which was intolerable to many Germans. Hitler, the leader of a radical nationalist party, was one
of them. On Nov 8th, 1923, Bavarian Prime Minister, Gustav Kahr addressed a crowd in a beer
hall in Munich. Hitler, Roehm, and about 600 SA troops stormed and took control of the beer
hall. After attempting to march on Munich after, he and his troops were surrounded by the police
and Hitler was put on trial for treason. Although it had little political results, the incident was
used later on by the Nazis for propaganda purposes.
Lumpenproletariat
German for “rogue proletariat,” it was a term coined by Marx to describe members of the
working class who were incapable of being class conscious and thus were of a little to no use to a
potential revolution.
Reinhard Heydrich
A high ranking German Nazi officer nicknamed “The Man with an Iron Heart” by Adolf Hitler.
Heydrich chaired the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, where the idea of die Endlösung der
Judenfrage (Final solution to the Jewish Question)—the extermination of the Jewish race – was
conceived. He played a role in several early major events involving the Nazi’s ascension to
power and quickly rose through the ranks. Despite his status, he was not invincible and was
assassinated in Prague in 1942 by members of the British Special Ops forces.
Despite his death, his influencing on the Third Reich was inreplaceable. The Holocaust was still
carried out. Operation Reinhard, which set up several extermination camps to eliminate Jews
shortly after his death, was named in his honor. Although he died early on in the war, his legacy
had a lasting influence in terms of his impact on the Holocaust.