The Second World War

Question 1

Which state united Germany in 1871?

Answer 1

Prussia - the “scary Germans.”

The state no longer exists.

Question 2

When and from who did the Poles get independence?

Answer 2

After World War One, from Russia.

Question 3

Where did the poles gain territory in the 1920?

Answer 3

Western Russia. It brought division in the country as Poland now had a great number of ethnic Russians

Question 4

What was the Polish Corridor, and what was its significance?

Answer 4

The Polish Corridor was a peace of land given to Poland, as a result of Versailles, which gave them access to the Baltic Sea.

The land was formerly East Prussian, and mostly ethnic Germans. This, in combination with Poland’s takeover of Russian territory won them animosity.

Question 5

What were the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany?

Answer 5

They lost large pieces of territory: Alsace and Lorraine to France, Large Prussian territories to Poland. Belgium, Denmark, and Luxembourg gained pieces of territory. Their territories in Africa and the Pacific were divided among the League of Nations.

Article 231: The War Guilt Clause, which made Germany pay for all the losses of the Allied Powers. Germany had to accept it was responsible for the war.

Article 160: Limited the number of German Soldiers to 100,000 for domestic security to stop the spread of Bolshevism. No planes, tanks, or subs were allowed.

Question 6

Who did Hitler and his followers blame for the World War One loss?

Answer 6

They blamed the mythological “stab in the back” from Jews/socialists who signed Versailles. They didn’t believe the German Army lost the war.

Question 7

How did Hitler violate Versailles?

Answer 7

He started to rebuild the Luftwaffe, the air force. He brought back conscription a week later when there were no consequences.

Hitler annexes Austria, the Versailles Treaty forbid their unification.

He annexed the Sudentenland, which was the northern parts of Czechoslovakia inhabited by ethnic Germans

Question 8

What was the Munich Agreement?

Answer 8

The last attempt in a failed appeasement policy that allowed Hitler to annex the Sudentenland. Britain and France didn’t honor their defense pacts with Czechoslovakia.

These areas contained most of their defense, banks, and industries. It was a major blow, and crippled them before Hitler invaded the whole country.

Question 9

When did Hitler take the rest of Czechoslovakia?

Answer 9

March 1939

Question 10

What was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

Answer 10

An agreement of non-aggression between Germany and Russia signed on 23 August 1939. It secretly divided The Baltic States, Finland, Poland, and Romania into German and Soviet spheres of influence.

Question 11

Why did Russia and Germany

agree to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?

Answer 11

Perhaps because Stalin had recently executed most of his military high command, and needed time to rebuild.

Hitler wanted to avoid fighting a two-front war with Soviets and Britain like Germany did in the First World War.

Question 12

When did the French and Britain declare war?

Answer 12

Sept 3 1939. They had set a red line against the invasion of Poland. Hitler didn’t believe them because they were in no position to help Poland, and had let him get away with everything before.

Nonetheless, the declaration shocked him and Germany.

Question 13

What was the Winter War?

Answer 13

Fought between Finland and Russia. Fins were outnumbered 10 to 1, but still gave the Soviets a bloody nose and knocked out some teeth. This made Hitler think perhaps Russia wasn’t so formidable as he thought.

Question 14

What was the alternate aim of the 1936 Berlin Olympics?

Answer 14

To showcase German rearmament. “Everything was put in the shop window,” but it wasn’t clear is they were ready for a war.

Question 15

What social good did rearmament do for Germans?

Answer 15

Unemployment had dropped from 6 million to 2 million by 1935.

Question 16

When did Germany withdrawal from the League of Nations?

Answer 16

1933

Question 17

How did Germany compare in defence spending to the other European powers from 1933-38?

Answer 17

They spent dramatically more as time went on - 5-8 times more in some cases. Only Russia compared.

Question 18

When did the German invasion of Poland begin?

Answer 18

1 September 1939. Poland outgunned by a long shot, but puts up fierce resistance. Many escape to form a large exile army. Bring with them Enigma machine.

Soviets invaded on 17 September. Poland defeated in October.

Question 19

What was Sitzrieg?

Answer 19

German for phoney war. Britain and France had declared war after German’s invasion of Poland, but had done little fighting beyond special forces missions that accomplished little in the grand scheme of things.

Question 20

When did Germany invade Holland and Belgium?

Answer 20

May 10, 1940.

Question 21

What was the French Gamelin Plan?

Answer 21

To defend along the Belgian rivers using the Maginot Line, though it was incomplete along the Belgian border.

Question 22

What was the weakness of the Gamelin Plan?

Answer 22

It ignored intelligence that Germany was massing forces in the Ardennes, believing it impenetrable and hard going country.

They sparsely used reservists along the Ardennes boarder.

3 German Panzer Corps breakthrough in Ardennes and move towards Channel, not Paris.

British and French forces sent to defend Belgium are cut off.

Question 23

BEF miraculous evacuation from Dunkirk

Answer 23

26 May - 4 June 338,000 troops escape but lose equipment and vehicles.

Question 24

Collapse of French lines

Answer 24

10 June France seeks armistice and Mussolini invades Southern France.

German troops enter Paris 13 June.

Question 25

When was the French Armistice and what was agreed?

Answer 25

16 June 1940. Germany occupies the NE coast. France makes government in Vichy and keeps its empire, fleet, and 100k soldiers.

Question 26

When and what was Mers El Kébir?

Answer 26

A port in Northern Algeria. July 1940. The British Fleet demanded the surrender of the French Navy there, and gave them the option of sinking their ships or sailing them to a British Port, and French West Indies Port, or joining them in the fight against Germany. The French could not comply and said if the Germans tried to take the ships, they would sink them. Britain fired on them killing 1300. The British decision managed to convince the world that they would never surrender to Germany.

Question 27

What was Operation Sea Lion?

Answer 27

The planned land invasion of Britain by Germany. The way needed to be cleared by the Luftwaffe and Navy before it could happen. The RAF put up a hell of a fight and the invasion never happened. Hitler was hoping to get a quick surrender so he could turn his attention on Russia.

Question 28

When was the Battle of Britain?

Answer 28

July-Oct 1940. German Stuka vs. British Spitfires

Question 29

What advantage did Britain have in the Battle of Britain

Answer 29

They had radar and ULTRA. Ultra was intelligence gained through the decryption of intelligence gained from the decryption of German communication via mostly the Enigma encryption method. Germany had to fly across the English Channel to get to Britain, so were never on a full tank of gas. Jettisoned German pilots were almost always killed or captured.

Question 30

Why might the German bombings have been unsuccessful?

Answer 30

Hitler never committed to targets. He switched from bombing fortifications along the beaches to airfields and then to London to affect civilian morale.

Question 31

When did Operation Barbarossa begin? What was it?

Answer 31

22 June 1941. The largest single military operation in human history. Nearly 4 million personnel. Germany waited until the last supply trains from Russia entered German territory. They would get no more official supplies from them. Soviets caught with pants down, despite warnings from German deserters. 1200 soviet aircraft destroyed in first day without taking off.

Question 32

How was Russia able to recover from the German invasion?

Answer 32

They had a command economy run by a dictator. What needed to be done was done without question. Entire factories were taken apart and sent by train to Siberia with thousands of families to build the Russian war machine.

Question 33

Why was the Germany's Soviet invasion difficult for Germany?

Answer 33

Their soldiers were wearing essentially denim. Tanks were still using water as a coolant, fires needed to be lit to keep them from freezing. Russians trained in the far east in winter warfare came to the West.

Question 34

Describe Operation Barbarossa

Answer 34

Hitler divided his forces into three along a 500 to 1300 mile front to hit multiple locations at once. They made rapid progress at first

Question 35

Why was Hamburg chosen for destruction? When?

Answer 35

28 July. Germany's second-largest city. On the coast. Called Operation Gomorrah by Harris. Seven raids in total.

Question 36

What made Hamburg bombing especially bad?

Answer 36

Hot, dry weather in the face of exploding fire sticks creating cyclonic winds. Smoke rose 4-5 miles. 50,000 dead and many died of CO2 poisoning.

Question 37

Outline the Red Army siege of Berlin

Answer 37

16 April artillery opens fire. 25 April city encircled. 30 April Hitler suicide 8 May VE Day Soviet losses in Berlin greater than all US losses in Europe since D-Day

Question 38

Why did Germany lose in Stalingrad

Answer 38

There supply lines were stretched too thin and supplies could only be air-lifted in, and they were inadequate. The Germans had been ordered to hold in Stalingrad and the Red Army cut them off and encircled them as poorly trained and equipped Romanians guarded the flanks. They weren't prepared for Russian Winter. Germany couldn't take advantage of it's early superiority because the fighting was urban and often house to house.

Question 39

Why did the Soviets let Germany crush the Polish uprising?

Answer 39

It was a sign of the post-war climate to come. Soviets didn't want Poles who had won back their country in power.