Help us build the new Word Dynamo app! Take this quick survey now.

The Causes of the Second World War

Word List with 23 words
By Dictionary.com

Play

Words in This List

March 13, 1938

The date when Germany annexed Austria.

Sudetenland

A mountainous region in the northern Czech Republic, including the Sudeten and the Erzgebirge; annexed by Germany in 1938; returned to Czechoslovakia in 1945.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact

Also known as the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact; stated that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany would remain neutral if either nation were attacked by a third party. It was in effect from 1939 until 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Poland

A republic in central Europe, on the Baltic Sea; invaded by Germany on September 1, 1939, technically beginning WWII.

September 3, 1939

The date on which Britain and France declared war on Germany.

See all words ‣

Adolf Hitler

Nazi dictator of Germany, born in Austria. Chancellor in 1933.

Neville Chamberlain

British statesman. Prime minister in 1937.

nationalism

Excessive patriotism; chauvinism.

anti-Semitism

Discrimination against or prejudice or hostility toward Jews.

invasion

An act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, especially by an army.

annexation

The act or an instance of claiming or taking new territory.

Joachim Von Ribbentrop

German leader in the Nazi party. Minister of foreign affairs in 1938.

Vyacheslav Molotov

Russian statesman. Commissar of foreign affairs in 1939.

appeasement

To bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe. Pre-WWII, Hitler's demands were met with appeasement from the international community, which led him to disregard rules and invade new countries.

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans.

Anschluss

Union, especially the political union of Austria with Germany in 1938.

blitzkrieg

"Lightening war." A swift intensive military attack, especially using tanks supported by aircraft, designed to defeat the opposition quickly.

atrocities

An unspeakably terrible act, thing, or circumstance.

sitzkrieg

"Sitting war." Slow-moving warfare marked by repeated stalemate.

The Winter War

Also known as the Russo-Finnish War. A military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland, which began with a Soviet offensive on November 30, 1939.

April 9, 1940

The day on which German troops simultaneously took the capitals of Denmark and Norway, Copenhagen and Oslo.

September 1, 1939

The date Germany invaded Poland, beginning WWII.

Pearl Harbor

A harbor near Honolulu, on S. Oahu, in Hawaii. Site of a surprise attack by Japan on a U.S. naval base on December 7, 1941.