WW2 Summary Notes Ch4

Question 1

what were the key aspects of totalitarism?

Answer 1

• regines only had one leader with absolute power
• only one ideology allowed
• secret police used extreme measures to instil terror in population
• dictators allowed no dissent;citizens denied human rights
• censorship and propaganda were tools used to control population
• citizens only left with freedom of thought but it was kept to themselves

Question 2

what was the inflation crisis in germany?

Answer 2

• 1923 ordinary inflation became hyper inflation when germany failed to make reparation payments; french and belgian troops occupied ruhr valley
• german currency lost all value
• gov trashed old mark and any money owned by germans was now worthless

Question 3

why were germans mad at the inflation crisis?

Answer 3

• french occupied their country
• government allowed their money to disappear
• ppl with money in bank were furious and later became nazis supporters

Question 4

how did hitler come to power? pt1

Answer 4

• depression deepend, germans believed weimar gov (democracy) could not solve their problems
• drove voters to extreme political allegiances
• 1932 nazis become largest party;but not asked to become parliament
• communist grew popular but middle ppl turned to nazis to stop the growing influence of communists
• late 1932 hitler became chancellor after another election

Question 5

how did hitler come to power? pt2

Answer 5

• won but did not have majority;frustrated bc unable to pass laws/have more power
• called another election (feb 1933) -dutch communist burned down reichstag (german parliament)
• convinced ppl communist revolution was at hand
• nazis short of majority but hitler outlawed communists out of parliament;got majority
• bullied parliament to give him enabling act to make him powerful

Question 6

what did the nurmeberg laws mean?

Answer 6

• jews had to wear star of david at all times
• jews lost professional careers and property
• jews could not interact with german population
• jews lost their citizenship

Question 7

what was hitler now referred to?

Answer 7

-fuhrer (the leader)

Question 8

what was apart of the five year plan? pt1

Answer 8

• collectivizing farm land by ending all private ownership of land
• land placed in large state owned farms
• former peasants became workers

Question 9

what was apart of the five year plan? pt2

Answer 9

• invest in construction of heavy industry
• ignored production of consumer goods
• production of building large resource rich industries

Question 10

what were the fundamental causes of the second world war?

Answer 10

• treaty of versailles
• great depression
• rise of adolf hitler and nazi party
• failure of league of nations
• extreme nationalism
• unwillingness of democratic governments to intervene in places like germany

Question 11

what was the appeasement crisis regarding czechoslovakia?

Answer 11

• 3mil+ germans included in czech;lived in the west called sudetenland:bordered germany
• hitler wanted the ppl apart of germany
• threatened invasion on oct 1, 1938-br and fr panic
• conference called in munich germany;hitler demanded return of sudetenland-got what he wanted
• czech wishes ignored;PM edvard benes of czech not invited to meeting
• in exchange for czech hitler promised not to invade the remaining portion of czech but failed on march 15 1939 when hitler’s troops invaded the whole of czech and it ceased to exist

Question 12

what happened at the invasion of poland?

Answer 12

• september 1 1939 nazis invaded poland and ww2 began
• nazis used blitzkrieg tactices to advance through poland with no resistance
• br and fr immediatly declared war on germany
• PM mackenzie king promised consription would never be required-this gained the support from quebec leaders

Question 13

what happened during the phony war?

Answer 13

• october 1939-april 1940
• everyone expected germany to attack western europe
• prevented by weather
• allied troops and canadians waited for attack
• war was a reality in czechoslovakia, poland, and finland

Question 14

when did war in western europe start?

Answer 14

• may 1940

- hitler took norway, denmark, belgium and neverlands in spring 1941

Question 15

what happened in 1940 during the battle of britain?

Answer 15

• german bomber squadron got lost and bombed london civillians accidently
• retaliation br PM winston churchill bombed german city berlin
• hitler mad, abandoned assault on raf airfield and ordered daylight bombing raids on london (blitz)
• stragety shift cost hitler the war

Question 16

why did germans want to take over lebensraum/spviet union?

Answer 16

• had resources germany desperately needed

- wanted to destroy his ideologist communist rival

Question 17

what happened in north africa during ww2?

Answer 17

• war in north africa started in sept 1940
• mussolini attacked egypt;german forces went to aid italians
• battle of el amamein culminated for control of egypt
• british won;prevented germans from seizing the suez canal and denied hitler oil from middle east
• british soon joined with US after battle, which they forced germans into retreat in north africa until defeat

Question 18

why did the allies want to attack/land in sicily?

Answer 18

• to take pressure off soviet allies and divert germans from northwestern europe
• captured in a month

Question 19

how did the allies take italy?

Answer 19

• allied troops moved into italy penisula
• canadian forces pushed through until germans stopped them at ortona;vicious fighting dec 1943
• germans driven back by fr can unit (vandoos);cans continued to free northern italy
• april 1945 mussolini was captured by italians who were not his army soldiers;him and his wife were hung on streets of milan
• capture of italy led to liberation of europe
• many german troops required to defend italy making many german troops unavailable for defence of france

Question 20

what was the liberation of neverlands?

Answer 20

• may 5 1945 can forces forced nazis to retreat from neverlands and surrender
• can victory allowed allied troops to continue forwards towards germany

Question 21

what happend in berlin april 1945?

Answer 21

• american and soviet forces met in germany south of berlin
• soviets turned attention to demolish city
• hitler committed suicide on april 30 1945

Question 22

what were the events that led up to pearl harbour?

Answer 22

• 1931 jap army invaded manchuria in northern china without government consent
• military conspirators made plans to terrorize civillian gov to force jap to accept martial law
• inner turmoil in jap-PM assasinated;led to fighting and hit squads sent to kill major political figures
• france fall june 1940, hap occupied french indochina;roosevelt froze jap assets in american banks;refused to sell japan any more oil or scrap metal which it desperately needed for war supplies
• jap concluded that war with US was the only solution

Question 23

what is the battle of leyte gulf?

Answer 23

• in philippines
• americans took whole of japanese fleet;navy sank half
• jap introduced kamikaze suicide technique;pilots would load their planes with expolosives and deliberately tried to crash the planes into american ships committing suicide in the process

Question 24

what two japanese countries did america capture?

Answer 24

• 1945

- iwo jima and okinawa

Question 25

why did indigenous canadians volunteer to serve?

Answer 25

- facing economic hardship and thought serving would provide opportunities - pressure on indigenous men by reserve recruiters - were not exempt from conscription - 3000+ served;200+ died

Question 26

what were the social changes related to indigenous canadians after WW2?

Answer 26

- indigenous veterans did not receive same amount of assistance as others - enfranchisement (loss of indian status) automatic serving consequence;loss of special rights made it hard for veterans to return to normal community life - many veterans not welcomed in society and many sank in poverty/despair

Question 27

what was the impact of black canadians serving after war?

Answer 27

- first time they worked with white canadians and having their work acknowledged - many emerged from war with new sense of self worth and opportunity - increased employment and involvement in society - received veteran benefits;helped them overcome difficulties - racism in canada;separation between white and black canadians in canadian legion (whites didnt want anything to do with blacks)

Question 28

how were chinese canadians during the war?

Answer 28

- initially not allowed to serve and did not have full enfranchisement and not allowed to vote - useful in undercover work - 600 cc served

Question 29

what was the impact of chinese canadians serving after war?

Answer 29

- able to immigrate into canada more easily - 1947: able to become canadian citizens - 1949: allowed to vote - represented larger portion of pro work force - more prominent role in canadian society (had more opportunites)

Question 30

what was the st louis incident?

Answer 30

- jewish ppl trying to leave germany - ship take jews to cuba from germany where they would wait quota - arrival to cuba ship told to anchor in harbour;not allowed to land - cuba passed new decree that cancelled the landing permits - negotiations were a long procedure

Question 31

what happened after the st louis couldnt land?

Answer 31

- nazi minister of propaganda (joseph goebbes) sent agents to havana to stir up anti semitism and fabricate criminal bgs for passengaers;refugees seen as threat - st louis turn away from cuba try to land in florida-fail - june 1939 arrived of can east coast - can gov did not like jews and st louis forced to return to europe (those on board eventually died in concentration camps)

Question 32

how were jewish ppl killed during dealth camps?

Answer 32

- starvation, exhaustion, disease, torture, or excution - nazis carried our inhumane medical experiments - prisoners ingest toxic and fatal substances - powdered glass and wood splintered mixed with water injected in veins - thrown into boiling or freezing water and denied medical treatment - operated w/o anaesthesia

Question 33

what happened after the jews were killed?

Answer 33

- gold fillings in teeth removed-used to supplement hitlers gold collection - skin made into lampshades, gloves - bones used as fertilizer - hair shaved to be used to stuff mattresses

Question 34

what were the economic effects of canada after the war?

Answer 34

- economy grew due to all contributions;1945 economy booming although debt was $10 bil + - industial and manufacturing production grew to overtake agriculture as most important sector

Question 35

what were the political effects of canada after the war?

Answer 35

- gained international reputation;established itself as middle power-more active global role: ready to play role in creating UN - troops more recognized for contributions (dieppe, hong kong, normandy, liberation of neverlands) - PM king averted conscription crisis (fr-eng relations strained but not broken) - gov intervened more frequently in lives of canadians;social safety net strengthened - contribution of black and indigenous and other minority groups advanced the cause of civil rights

Question 36

what were the social effects of canada after the war?

Answer 36

- women gained greater recognition - more tolerant nation;agreed to accept displaced ppl and refugees from europe - experianced baby boom-significant waves of immigration (war brides) - lost over 42,000 ppl