Unit 5: Chapter 17

Grand spectacles like the Nuremberg Party Rally were essential to Hitler's totalitarian rule. A totalitarian government exerts total control over a nation.

Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini governed by a philosophy called fascism. Fascism emphasizes the importance of the nation or an ethnic group and the supreme authority of the leader.

In political terms, a purge is the process of removing enemies and undesirable individuals from power.

Chamberlain pursued a policy of appeasement, or giving in to a competitor's demands in order to keep the peace.

Called blitzkrieg ("lightning war"), this new military tactic included a fast, concentrated air and land attack that took the enemy's army by surprise.

Under General Henri-Philippe Pétain, Vichy France adopted a policy of collaboration, or close cooperation, with Germany.

Led by Charles de Gaulle, the Free French also backed the underground Resistance movement in France.

He seemed to be on the verge of destroying the Allies, the group of countries who opposed the Axis Powers.

By February 1932, the army had seized all of Manchuria. World leaders and most Japanese expressed shock at what came to be called the Manchurian Incident.

In fact, Manchukuo was a puppet state, or a supposedly independent country under the control of a powerful neighbor.

In 1940, Japan's prime minister announced a Great East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere to be led by the Japanese, extending from Manchuria in the north to the Dutch East Indies in the south.

Congress again prevented international involvement by passing a series of Neutrality Acts.

Nevertheless, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, authorizing the President to aid any nation whose defense he believed was vital to American security.