alliances - agreements between countries that connect them militarily, often offering protection
imperialism - attempting to expand borders by taking territory from other countries
nationalism - perception that one's nationality is superior to others
Triple Alliance - Britain, France, Russia's military alliance before & during WWI
Triple Entente - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy's military alliance before & during WWI
These two alliance above are believed by many to have contributed to the "World War"
Holocaust - the industrial scale genocide against Jews and other groups by Germany in WWII. 6 millions Jews were killed as were 3 million others
human rights - rights inherent in being a human being, including rights of nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status
trench warfare - notable in WWI, long holes in the ground where soldiers lived and fought for years - conditions in trenches were very difficult with sickness, cold, discomfort
Treaty of Versailles - agreement to end WWI but the conditions it placed on Germany were too harsh (reparations, small military) that it probably helped Hitler's march toward WWII
peacekeeping - under the UN banner, troops from many countries join together to help referee serious military disputes in many places in the world - Canadian Lester Pearson developed the idea at the UN during the 1950s to prevent another regional war in and around Egypt (Suez Crisis)
Naziism - Hitler's ideas of the master race (extreme racism), persecution of certain groups (minorities) and the spread of his ideas
Archduke Francis Ferdinand - the Prince (Heir to the throne) of Austria-Hungary who was assassinated just before WWI thus starting the actual wheels of war in motion.
Archduke Francis
Ferdinand - the Prince (heir to the throne) of Austria-Hungary who was
assassinated just before WWI thus starting the actual wheels of war in motion.
mustard gas – poisonous
chemical used in trench warfare in WWI
colonization / colony / colonialism – (Mostly) European countries took over existing countries
all over the world (Caribbean, the Americas, Africa) leading to regional wars
outside of Europe
League of Nations – predecessor of the United Nations.
concentration camp – prisons set up to keep “undesirables” in one place and to
control them during WWII. The Nazis set
up over 200 such camps around Europe during WWII. Some were forced labour camps, others were
death camps.
labour camp – type
of concentration camp that housed prisoners used as slave labour, generally for
the German war effort.
Death camp (a.k.a. extermination camp) – type of concentration camp primarily used as a place to
execute prisoners on an industrial scale during WWII.
Auschwitz – the largest
death camp during WWII. Over 2,000,000
people were killed there, mostly Jews.
home front – what we called
Canada during war times – generally referring to the war efforts happening at “home”,
e.g. munitions factories, ship building, plane building, etc.
reparations – paying
for damage to other countries. For
example, Germany was made to pay reparations to Britain and France after WWI
for the damage caused during the war.
Approximately $12B US over several years during the 1920s. This money helped to almost bankrupt the already
shaky German economy and helped Hitler rise to power.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki – the only two cities (Japan) upon which nukes have been
dropped, three days apart in 1945 thus ending WWII. Japan surrendered after the bombing of
Nagasaki.
Mobilization – preparing
troops, supplies and equipment for war
balance of power – the idea that the world is safer when no single country is
far superior in military ability than any other country. If the biggest countries are more or less
equally powerful then they are less likely to go to war (at least that’s the
theory)
Invasion of Poland – Germany invaded Poland thus starting WWII. They brought in much military equipment on
the pretext of a prearranged friendship mission but once in the country they
took it over.
Allied Powers – WWII
alliance of Britain, France, USSR, USA, Canada, Belgium, etc. fighting against
Germany
Axis Powers – Germany,
Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania
Propaganda – information created
by the government to influence people’s opinions for an against certain
ideas. In Germany the Nazis painted all
Jews as the perpetrators of much evil and that they were the reason for most of
Germany’s problems. The Nazis also
taught that there was a master race of Aryans – blond hair, blue eyes, etc.
In Canada the
government spread disparaging posters against Germans, Japanese, etc. and they
had a campaign to entice young men to join the war effort and women to join the
workforce to support the war effort.
