USH CH 24
by @test09
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May 16, 2026
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Flashcards
76 total- 01
What was the status of Poland after WWI?
Poland was reborn, winning the Soviet-Polish War and establishing itself between Germany and the USSR.
- 02
What policy did the Japanese military force upon the civilian government?
An authoritarian, imperial, expansionist policy honoring the divine emperor.
- 03
Japan's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: expel Western powers, establish Asian empire. Strengths: superb navy and air force, swift movement. Weaknesses: severe resource shortage, overly strict training, weak tanks, Army-Navy rivalry.
- 04
What was the "Phony War" or "Sitzkrieg"?
A period of little fighting between the Allies and Germany from October 1939 to March 1940.
- 05
What was the Nazi plan for "enemies" in Germany and conquered lands?
To remove them to make room for Aryan colonization.
- 06
What did the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 require?
Men aged 21-35 were required to register (about 16 million men).
- 07
What was the US Neutrality Zone in 1939?
A "Pan-American Security Zone" declared by the U.S., reaching 300 miles out to sea.
- 08
What is a democratic government?
A government where voters choose their leaders, which became rare in the 1930s.
- 09
What was the US policy regarding foreign intervention in the lead-up to WWII?
The U.S. refused to intervene abroad in any manner, returning to neutrality.
- 10
What factors caused the German advance in the USSR to stall?
Heavy casualties, poor roads and railways, heavy autumn rain, and the freezing winter.
- 11
What was the main argument of Interventionists?
Germany and Japan threatened the whole world, and aiding Britain and the Allies would keep them fighting tyranny.
- 12
What did the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact do?
It divided spheres of influence between Germany and the USSR.
- 13
What was the public sentiment in the US regarding the war in 1940?
Pro-British and pro-supply, but still wanting to stay out of the war.
- 14
What is an authoritarian government?
A government run by a strongman with central control, but allowing some freedom for industries and churches.
- 15
France's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: end German aggression, protect border. Strengths: strong tanks, superb army, colonial population. Weaknesses: over-reliance on defense, poor coordination.
- 16
What was the primary design of Blitzkrieg?
To avoid the WWI stalemate by breaking through enemy lines at their weakest point.
- 17
How did Japanese neutrality impact the Soviets during Operation Barbarossa?
Japan declined to attack the USSR, freeing the Soviets to shift massive armies from east to west.
- 18
What was the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1941)?
A conflict sparked by a small fight north of Beijing, leading to a massive Japanese invasion of China.
- 19
What was the Peacetime Draft (1940)?
The first peacetime draft in American history, created by the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940.
- 20
What was the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940)?
The British defeated Germany's air force, preventing an invasion.
- 21
What was the outcome of the Soviet invasion of Finland (1939-1940)?
The USSR invaded Finland and won only narrowly, taking about 20 times the Finns' casualties.
- 22
What atrocities did Japan commit?
Mass killings and rape in Nanking, biological and chemical warfare (Unit 731), and the "Three Alls" policy (kill all, burn all, loot all).
- 23
What was Operation Barbarossa?
The largest land invasion ever, Germany's surprise attack on the USSR on June 22, 1941.
- 24
What was the "Shoot on Sight" order issued by FDR in September 1941?
An order allowing American destroyers to engage U-boats directly on convoy duty after the USS Greer was attacked.
- 25
What was the immediate consequence of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact for Poland?
The pact doomed Poland by giving Hitler a free hand to invade.
- 26
Why did US-Japan negotiations stall?
The U.S. demanded immediate withdrawal, while Japan offered only a partial, gradual 25-year withdrawal.
- 27
Why did America enter an undeclared war with Germany?
Because of submarine attacks on American ships.
- 28
How did Japan form the Axis powers?
Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Italy and Germany in 1940 to deter American intervention.
- 29
What was the situation in China after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty?
China fell into the warlord period and prolonged civil war.
- 30
What was the purpose of open diplomacy treaties after WWI?
These treaties limited navies and armaments, settled borders, and even outlawed war as policy.
- 31
What is a military dictatorship?
A government where the military is in direct control, often led by a general.
- 32
When did Benito Mussolini establish control in Italy?
1922, building a government around the totalitarian state.
- 33
What was the purpose of the Good Neighbor Policy?
To withdraw U.S. occupation forces from Latin America and build friendlier Western Hemisphere ties.
- 34
What did the Neutrality Acts outlaw?
Selling arms or making loans to nations at war.
- 35
What did American volunteers do regarding foreign conflicts?
They went to fight in Ethiopia and Spain, even while the US government remained neutral.
- 36
What crippled the League of Nations' credibility?
American isolationism ("the Yanks are not coming").
- 37
What was the League of Nations' main weakness regarding enforcement?
It had "no teeth" – no armed force to enforce its mandates.
- 38
What made consensus nearly impossible in the League of Nations Council?
The requirement for unanimous decisions.
- 39
What was the US verbal stance on Japanese expansion in China?
The U.S. verbally opposed it as a violation of the Open Door Policy.
- 40
What was Hitler's "Philosophy of the Blood"?
It aimed to unite Aryans inside Germany (Reichsdeutsche) with Aryans outside (Volksdeutsche) into a Greater German Reich.
- 41
What was the policy of appeasement towards Germany?
Britain and France allowed limited German expansion to buy time for rearmament.
- 42
What was the outcome of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)?
The Nationalists (backed by Germany and Italy) defeated the Republicans (backed by the USSR).
- 43
Italy's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: establish new Roman Empire. Strengths: decent navy, good aircraft, German help. Weaknesses: terrible strategy, poor industry, poor training.
- 44
What was the outcome of the Munich Agreement (1938)?
Germany, Italy, the UK, and France signed it, granting Germany the Sudetenland for "peace in our time."
- 45
What was the first step in German expansion after WWI?
Saarland (1935): residents voted to rejoin Germany.
- 46
What crisis occurred over the Sudetenland in 1938?
Hitler threatened Czechoslovakia over this German-dominated border region.
- 47
What happened during the remilitarization of the Rhineland in 1936?
Hitler sent in troops, and France did not react as he had feared.
- 48
What was the Anschluss in 1938?
German troops entered Austria after being invited by the new Nazi prime minister.
- 49
Which countries did Germany swiftly conquer in April-June 1940?
Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
- 50
What did FDR believe about America's eventual involvement in the war?
He believed America would eventually be drawn into the war.
- 51
What was the Burma Road?
The only viable supply route into southern China open after 1940.
- 52
What was FDR's platform in the 1940 election?
Building up national defense and aiding the Allies.
- 53
What was controversial about FDR's candidacy in 1940?
He broke tradition by running for a third straight term.
- 54
What was the main argument of Isolationists?
"America First" – focus on domestic issues, as European entanglement was pointless and the oceans provided protection.
- 55
What did the Atlantic Charter (1941) promise?
A postwar world of self-determination and freedom of the seas.
- 56
What happened to the USS Reuben James?
It was sunk on Halloween 1941 by a U-boat.
- 57
What was "armed neutrality" for American merchant ships?
American merchant ships were armed after the Robin Moore was sunk.
- 58
How did Japanese invasion and occupation of Chinese cities violate the Open Door Policy?
It violated the principle of "keeping the door open" for equal trade.
- 59
What role did US convoy escorts play?
The Navy escorted Allied convoys as far as Iceland to support Lend-Lease and cash-and-carry.
- 60
What was the promise of the League of Nations?
It promised to preserve peace but provided only false security.
- 61
What actions did Joseph Stalin take in the USSR by 1928?
He took totalitarian control and rapidly industrialized the country, causing famines, purges, and millions of deaths.
- 62
What is a totalitarian government?
A government with extreme central control by a party or leader over all aspects of society.
- 63
What were the key components of Blitzkrieg?
Combined air power, tanks, motorized infantry, and paratroopers attacking in coordinated stages.
- 64
What atrocities did Italians commit in Ethiopia?
They used poison gas and terror bombing.
- 65
What was Germany's U-boat strategy in WWII?
To sink ships until Britain starves, mirroring WWI strategy.
- 66
What was the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?
A non-aggression and assistance pact signed by Germany and the USSR on August 23, 1939, named after their foreign ministers.
- 67
What was the relationship between FDR and Winston Churchill?
FDR became personally close with Churchill, whose mother was American.
- 68
What was the Lend-Lease Act (1941)?
The U.S. "lent" material to Britain and the Allies on a promise of later repayment.
- 69
How did the US reinforce its "Good Neighbor" policy?
FDR leaned on Latin American countries to stay on side and resist German and Italian overtures.
- 70
The Soviet Union's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: expel Germans, expand influence. Strengths: massive territory and population, superb tanks. Weaknesses: poor leadership, unpreparedness.
- 71
What was the Cash-and-Carry policy (1939)?
The Allies could pay cash for U.S. materials and carry them away on their own ships.
- 72
Britain's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: end German aggression, preserve empire. Strengths: best navy, strong air force, colonial population. Weaknesses: small army, long supply lines.
- 73
China's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: expel the Japanese. Strengths: massive territory and population, outside help. Weaknesses: mixed-quality forces, internal division.
- 74
Germany's aims, strengths, and weaknesses before WWII?
Aims: avenge WWI defeat, establish racial empire. Strengths: new tactics, superb professionalism, strong air force. Weaknesses: lack of resources, small navy, bad strategic thinking.
- 75
What was the "Arsenal of Democracy" concept?
The idea that America should expand industry to supply friendly nations.
- 76
What was "The Happy Time"?
A period of massive German success after the fall of France using the "wolf pack" strategy, sinking hundreds of Allied ships.
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