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TOTAL WAR (1940-41)
Axis Powers
Allied Powers
Nazi Germany
Fascist Italy
Imperial Japan (after
1941)
Fascist Spain,
Bulgaria etc.
Great Britain
Britain’s colonies and excolonies
USA (after December
1941)
Soviet Russia (after 1941)
Total War
 National Economies mobilized towards the war effort.
 Technological advances (eg: planes, bombers, radar) expand battlefields to include all
of an enemy’s territory.
 Civilian wounded and dead far outnumbered military dead.
Requirements for Total War:
a) A Large Population (military and workforce).
b) Large industrial capacity.
c) Food and raw materials.
d) Fuel.
 Germany and Japan lacked raw materials and fuel enough to maintain a large military
and empire: this was one reason why their leaders wanted to go to war: to obtain
more territory with more resources and raw materials.
 Canada was the main provider of Britain’s food, raw materials, and fuel. Without
Canada, Great Britain may not have survived the war.
 The USA and Soviet Russia met all of the requirements for Total War.
New Communication Technology:
 Radio, radar, code, cryptologists.
 Co-ordinate land, sea and air units.
 Used as tools of propaganda as well.
World War II Vocabulary
Appeasement
Avoiding war at all costs by attempting to keep an aggressor nation satisfied.
Anti-Semitism
Hatred and prejudice that is directed against the Jewish people.
Total War
The use of all aspects of a society (economy, education, media, industries, and military) to fight a
war. Involves attacks upon civilian targets (not just military targets).
Nuremberg Laws (1935)
Laws that effectively turned Germany into a police state: focused on removing the rights of
European Jews.
Genocide
The intentional murder or destruction of an entire people and/ or culture.
Holocaust
The organized and systematic mass murder of Jewish Europeans as well as other “undesirables” such
as disabled people or Gypsies. Also referred to as “the Final Solution.”
Concentration Camps
Used to hold prisoners of war and other “enemies of the state.” Were often sites of abuse, neglect,
torture or murder.
Propaganda
The use of, speeches, written documents, posters, of movies in order to control and shape public
opinion.
The Aryan race
A fictional racial group from which blond-haired blue-eyed Germans were supposed to descend.
The Axis Powers
Those allied with Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The Allied Powers
Those allied with Britain, Canada and the United States.
Nuremberg Trials (1945)
Trials held for accused Nazi war criminals.
War Crimes
Actions committed that violated common rules of “civilized” warfare or basic human rights.
Included the killing of captured soldiers or civilians, the use of prisoners for “scientific
experiments,” or torture.
Turning Point
A period or event in a war that changes the result of the war. May include an important battle or the
decision of a leader.