Download Yr 9 – History Knowledge Organiser: Unit 4 a – World War II

Yr 9 – History Knowledge Organiser: Unit 4 a – World War II
Key Words
Appeasement
Foreign Policy
giving in to someone's demands as far as is reasonably possible to avoid conflict.
a government's strategy for dealing with other countries.
Blitzkrieg
“Lightning war,” blitzkrieg is a military tactic designed to use fast, mobile units to
break through the weak points in the enemy defence. It is all about power and speed.
a time at which a major change in a situation or event occurs, especially one with
beneficial results.
The German codename for the Invasion of the Soviet Union.
Turning Point
Operation
Barbarossa
Operation
Overlord
The Final
Solution
The Allied codename for the invasion of Nazi Occupied France.
The Nazi name for the ‘Jewish problem’ which resulted in the extermination of six
Million Jewish people.
L3 – What was Blitzkrieg and was Dunkirk a success or failure for Britain?
‘Dunkirk was a success!!!’ - 27th May – 4 June 338,000 British (BEF) & French troops evacuated
from Dunkirk (incl. 139,000 Fr.). Original target 50,000. 860 Naval & privately owned vessels carried
troops to Dover & south coast. Fine weather. RAF provided air cover against Goering’s Luftwaffe.
Churchill praised Dunkirk as a success and used it to rally the British public. His famous ‘we shall
fight them on the beaches speech’ was about Dunkirk.
‘Dunkirk was a failure!!!’ - 68,000 BEF casualties. 1,200 field guns, 1,250 anti-aircraft guns, 11,000
machine guns, 75,000 vehicles abandoned (incl.475 tanks). Germans fully expected GB to make
peace. Hitler didn’t want war with Britain. He respected their Empire. He believed that Dunkirk was
the beginning of the end of the war as his Blitzkrieg tactic shook Western Europe within an inch of
defeat.
L4 – What was Operation Sealion?
Why was there a Battle of Britain? - In May 1940, Germany invaded France. The French and
L1 – What were Hitler’s foreign policy aims?
Remilitarisation of The Rhineland - Took place on 7 March 1936 when German military forces entered
the Rhineland. The remilitarization changed the balance of power in Europe from France towards
Germany, and made it possible for Germany to pursue a policy of aggression in Eastern Europe.
British armies were overpowered by the German blitzkrieg. Towards the end of May, in a daring
rescue attempt, ships from England picked up 300,000 British and French soldiers from Dunkirk.
Britain stood alone against the might of Germany’s armed forces;
What was the German plan? - For Blitzkrieg to work, the Luftwaffe (The German air force) had to
Anchluss with Austria - March 1938. Hitler wanted all German-speaking nations in Europe to be a part of
Germany. To this end, he had designs on re-uniting Germany with his native homeland, Austria.
destroy the RAF, to prevent it shooting at German troops who were supposed to land in Britain. The
Luftwaffe, led by Herman Göring, had more than double the amount of aircraft available to the
British RAF (who only had 600 planes) and a lot more pilots.
Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia – Hitler caused unrest in the area, like Austria ,in September 1938. He
finally invaded the area, heavily populated by Germans, in March 1939.
The results of the Battle of Britain - The Battle was a real turning point in the war. Germany had
Poland - Hitler and Stalin allied and signed the secret Nazi-Soviet pact which divided Poland between the
St
two. 1 September 1939, Germany invaded. Britain declared War
not lost a battle before they tried to invade Britain. After the invasion failed, Hitler ordered the
Luftwaffe to begin bombing British cities. Churchill, used the victory to promote a new propaganda
campaign to boost public morale. Britain, for now, had won.
L2 – How did Britain try to prevent war and why wasn’t it successful?
L5 - Why did Hitler invade the U.S.S.R in 1941?
Appeasement
No Appeasement
Germany deserved a fair deal
It encouraged Hitler
• In June 1941, the war was going well for Hitler and the German army seemed impossible to defeat
Britain needed time
Germany was growing stronger
• Invading the USSR seemed like a good gamble - the Soviet army appeared much weaker than the
Poland overwhelmed by invasion and easily crushed.
French, which had been defeated in 7 weeks
The British people had to want war
Munich agreement was a disaster
Fear of another war
Appeasement scared the USSR
Fear of Communism
Hitler was determined to conquer Eastern
Europe
• Germany controlled most of continental Europe.
•Hitler’s ambition in life was to defeat communism
He also wanted the land of the USSR for ‘lebensraum’ and the people for slave labour
What were Hitler’s tactics? - To take over the USSR as quickly as possible using ‘Blitzkreig’ tactics.
•Germany will now be fighting a war on two fronts - they cannot afford for the Soviet army to hold
L6 – How did Britain crack the Nazi code?
The Bombe Machine - The Bombe was an electromechanical device used by British cryptologists to help
decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II.
Bletchley Park – It was the central site for Britain's codebreakers during World War Two. Run by the
Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), it regularly penetrated the secret communications of
the Axis Powers. The official historian of World War II British Intelligence has written that the "Ultra"
intelligence produced at Bletchley shortened the war by two to four years, and that without it the
outcome of the war would have been uncertain.
Alan Turing- During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher
School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. Turing played a pivotal role in cracking
intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements.
L7 – How did the Allies trick the Nazis in 1944?
Operation Fortitude – The Allies spent months planning a decoy military force which included,
inflatable tanks, fake buildings, artificial lighting and false radio information, confirmed by the Enigmas
code crackers at Bletchley.
The Navy - The Navy was vital in the D-Day landings. They supplied transportation for the ground forces
to cross the channel. Importantly they spent several hours shelling important sites along the Atlantic wall
to support the troops on the ground.
The Air Force – The RAF and American Air force were the first in action transporting paratroopers
behind enemy lines. They also supported the naval barrage by bombing key sites along the Atlantic wall.
The Army - Troops from Britain, USA and Canada landed on five Normandy beaches. Over the course of
five hours they battled against a tough German defence. American troops met the most resistance at
Omaha beach.
L8 – Who was Leon Greenman?
L9– What was the ‘Final Solution’ and how did this effect Jewish communities in Europe?
Deaths at Camps
The Final Solution - The Final Solution was the Nazi’s
plan to systematically murder the Jews and other
‘undesirables’ in Europe.
The Nazi’s had several plans to deal with the ‘Jewish
problem’:
 Jewish people would be sterilised so that they
wouldn’t procreate.
 A mass emigration of all European Jews onto the
island of Madagascar
 Ghettos were created to gather Jewish people
from their homes into one controlled area
However it was decided in 1942 that death camps
should be used to speed up the ‘solution’.
Camp name
Killed
Auschwitz II
1,200,000
Belzec
600,000
Chełmno
320,000
Jasenovac
58–97,000
Majdanek
360,000
Maly Trostinets
65,000
Sobibór
250,000
Treblinka
870,000
L10 – How did the War end on 8th May 1945?
The final chapter in the destruction of Hitler's Third Reich began on April 16, 1945 when Stalin
unleashed the brutal power of 20 armies, 6,300 tanks and 8,500 aircraft with the objective of
crushing German resistance and capturing Berlin. By prior agreement, the Allied armies (positioned
approximately 60 miles to the west) halted their advance on the city in order to give the Soviets a
free hand. The depleted German forces put up a stiff defence, initially repelling the attacking
Russians, but ultimately succumbing to overwhelming force.
Inside his underground bunker Hitler lived in a world of fantasy as his "Thousand Year Reich"
crumbled above him. In his final hours the Fuehrer married his long-time mistress and then joined
her in suicide. The Third Reich was dead.
out!
WWII Knowledge Quiz Scores:-
Notes:
Appeasement :
/8
Battle of Britain:
/10
Operation Barbarossa:
/10
Operation Overlord:
/10
The Final Solution:
/10