Military intelligence

An agency of the armed forces that obtains information about another country that is useful in planning and conducting military operations

Reichstag

The Diet, or House of Representatives, of the German empire

nonaggression pact

An agreement in which nations promise not to attack one another.

crumbled

break or fall apart into fragments

artillery

big guns

unleash

turn loose or free from restraint

assault

attack

stunned

in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock

Annex (annexation)

The adding of a region to the territory of an existing political unit

blitzkrieg

“lighting war” – a form of warfare in which surprise attacks with fast-moving airplanes are followed by massive attacks with infantry forces.

crippled - to cause serious damage to someone or something, making them weak and ineffective.

frostbite

injury to body tissues, especially the nose, fingers, or toes, caused by exposure to extreme cold.

despite preposition: in spite of.

although it might have been prevented by something

phony - intended to deceive or mislead

Maginot line -   a fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border.

slice through - move through a body or an object with a cutting motion.

swung - changing location by moving back and forth

Outnumbered* - to be greater in number that someone or something.*

Outgunned* - to win a war or fight by having more weapons than the other side*

doomed - bad situation that cannot be avoided

sensing - an ability to understand, recognize.

Charles de Gaulle - French political leader and general who headed the Free French Resistance to the Nazis in World War II .

Winston Churchill - British statesman and leader during World War II

puppet - a person who is controlled by others

Battle of Britain - bombardment of British cities by the Germans

resistance - the action of opposing something that you disapprove or disagree with

outskirts - the outer parts of a town or city.

Balkans - the countries occupying the part of south-east Europe bounded by the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean, and the Black Seas.

Axis Powers – In World War II, the nations of Germany, Italy, and Japan which formed an alliance in 1936.

Allies (Allied Powers) – The group of nations – including Great Britain, The Soviet Union and the United states, that opposed the Axis Posers in World War II.

Atlantic Charter – a declaration of principles issued in August 1941 by British prime minister Winston Churchill and U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt, on which the Allied peace plan at the end of World War II was based.

Isoroku Yamamoto - Japanese naval officer who planned Japan's naval strategies during World War II, including the attack on Pearl Harbor (1941).

Pearl Harbor- a harbor on Oahu west of Honolulu; location of a United States naval base that was attacked by the Japanese on 7 Dec 1941.

Battle of Midway - The victory at Midway terminated a major Japanese attempt to capture the islands. The success of the operation effectively tipped the balance of sea power in the Pacific Ocean in favor of the United States.

General Douglas MacArthur – Commander of the allied forces in the Pacific

Battle of Guadalcanal – First major offensive against Japan Battle of Guadalcanal – First major offensive against Japan. It was highly contested in the ground, at sea, and in the air.

Holocaust – a mass murder or Jews and other civilians, carried out by the Nazi government of Germany before and during World War II.

ghettos – city neighborhoods in which European Jews were forced to live.

genocide – the systematic killing of an entire people.

Nuremberg Trials - a series of court proceedings held in Nuremburg, Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for aggression, violations of the rules of war, and crimes against humanity.

Nazism- the fascist policies of the National socialist German workers’ party, based on totalitarianism, a belief in racial superiority and state control of industry.

Operation Barbarossa – Hitler’s plan to invade the Soviet Union.

fascism – a political movement that promotes an extreme form of nationalism, a denial of individual rights, and a dictatorial one-party rule.