Warsaw Ghetto Uprising It was the largest single revolt by the Jews in WWII which opposed the Nazi s attempt to transport the Jews to Treblinka a April 1943 organized by the Jewish Combat Defense b Germans expected to liquidate the ghetto in three days but the fighters held off attacks for four weeks By mid May the ghetto no longer existed but survivors continued fighting in the ruins for months Around 60 000 Jews were eventually killed but the Germans incurred 1300 casualties in the process Why is this significant for the course Bombing of Dresden February 1945 Dresden in Saxony was devastated by an air attack by British and American bombs which took place during the final months of War World II This bombing by the allies was significant because it showed the advancing Russian forces the superiority of the Allied forces warning them not to stray from agreements made during the War Conferences Theresienstadt during World War II this was a concentration camp located in what is now the Czech Republic After Germany invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia on June 10 1940 the Gestapo took control of Terezin and set it up as a prison in the small fortresses In practice the ghetto which was run by the SS was a transit camp for Jews en route to extermination it was also presented as a model Jewish settlement for propaganda purposes Despite the gross overcrowding this town was visited by the Red Cross In anticipation for the visit the Nazis spruced the place up and even dressed up Prisoners and strategically placed them around the area This camp was significant as it represented a prime example of Hitlers attempt to cover up his answer to the Jewish Question in Europe Pact of Steel Signed on May 22 1939 The Pact of Steel was an agreement between Italy and Germany The Pact considered of two parts the first section was a declaration of continuing trust and cooperation between Germany and Italy The second part was encouraged a union of policies concerning the military and the economy Benito Mussolini dubbed the agreement The Pact of Steel The pact ensured that neither country would be able to make peace without the agreement of the other and it obliged Germany and Italy to aid the other country immediately in the event of war being declared The pact of steel was significant as it was the first step in the creation of the Axis powers that would lead to this being a world war rather than a war to stifle Germanys war efforts Dunkirk The German army cut through Belgium and the Netherlands avoiding a direct attack on the Maginot line Attacking on May 10 German forces were well into France within 5 days and they continued to advance until May 24 when they stopped near Dunkirk a As German forces took Belgium and northern France in 1940 they separated a pocket of Allied forces in Dunkirk from the rest of the Allied armies The Germans continued advancing toward Dunkirk with Hitler permitting Goring s Luftwaffe the opportunity for distinction The British were able to evacuate 300 000 soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk but they are forced to leave their weapons behind The incident at Dunkirk proved the effectiveness of blitzkrieg define blitzkrieg Impact of Blitzkrieg on the German home front Hitler saw civilian morale as an essential component of the war effort Economic hardships and shortages gradually increased but the Germans never had to endure starvation and other deprivations they faced in WWI Planning early rationing and the exploitation of labor food and other resources from occupied Europe shielded the Germans The burdens that did exist fell onto the lower classes Women were not allowed to work until 1943 out of desperation but most still did not work Dachau Established in March 1933 which in the early days had worked little with systemization and a great deal of brutality By June 1933 institutionalized terror replaced the chaotic approach The 1935 the SS and the camps worked entirely outside of the legal system German invasion of Czechoslovakia 3 1939 The German invasion of Czechoslovakia began with the annexation of Studetenland under the terms outlined by the Munich agreement Hitler s pretext for this invasion were the alleged hardships suffered by the ethnic Germans in that area The incorporation of Studetenland in Germany would leave Czechoslovakia weak and powerless to resist occupation a Significance marked a shift from honoring the self determination of ethnic Germans stuck in other countries to a war of aggression French surrender June 1940 German forces had pushed the French government out of Paris and taken the city on June 14 the surrender was signed on June 21 a The French surrender was signed in the same railcar as the German surrender in 1918 This was intended to drive home the fact that Germany had been wronged by the Versailles Treaty and underscores the imbalance of the treaty as an inciting factor in WWII b With the fall of France Hitler believes himself secure on the Western front and is able to turn his full attention to the East Italian Conquest of Ethiopia 1935 When Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia this war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and exposing the weakness of the League of Nations ethnic Germans People of German descent who spoke German and lived outside of Germany before 1939 For instance approximately 3 million ethnic Germans were living in the Sudetenland when Hitler wished to invade One of Hitler s main goals was the expansion or Lebensraum in order to house all ethnic Germans on German territory as Germany was for Germans Total War Germany started the war under the concept and style of warfare known as Blitzkreig Officially Germany did not accept that it was in a total war until Joseph Goebbel s speech on February 18 1943 where he said Nation rise up and let the storm break loose Calls for the complete mobilization of all available resources in war fare Conscription of women National Socialist Women s League The means by which the Nazis translated party ideology into reality can best be understood through the ways in which the regime reshaped the lives of women farmers and workers within the Third Reich Women were provided with an organization that would define their role in the new community and coordinate their activities with the state Established in 1931 the National Socialist Women s League was not very active until after the seizure of power in 1933 Its main purpose was to bring other women s organizations into line with official