GLOSSARY 277
Kriegsmarine The name by which the
German navy was known from 1935 until
the end of the war.League of Nations Organization created
after World War I to provide a forum for
the resolution of international disputes.Lebensraum A German word meaning
“living space,” the demand for which
formed the basis for Nazi Germany’s
commitment to territorial expansion.Lend-Lease US aid program
initiated in March 1941 to guarantee
the free supply of arms, ammunition,
food, and other essential material,
notably fuel, to Britain and subsequently
to other allies.legation Group of diplomats and other
officials representing their government
in a foreign country, but with less status
than that of an embassy. A legation is
headed by a minister as opposed to
an ambassador.Liberty ships Cargo ships, mass-
produced in the US during World War II.
Such ships were cheap and easy to build.
In all, 2,711 were built, 200 being sunk
by enemy action.Lo Spazio Vitale The Italian
equivalent of Lebensraum. Fascist
Italy’s aim was to establish dominance
over North Africa and in the
Mediterranean area.Low Countries A collective term
for Belgium, the Netherlands, and
Luxembourg. Also known as the
Benelux countries after the initial
letters of their names.Luftwaffe Officially created in 1935,
Germany’s Luftwaffe was the most
modern air force in the world when
war broke out in 1939.materiel Collective word describing
arms, ammunition, and military
equipment and supplies in general.Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Nonaggression pact concluded
by Soviet and German foreign
ministers before the start of World
War II that partitioned Poland
between the two powers.nautical mile Unit of measurement
slightly greater than a land mile and
equal to one minute of a degree of latitude.Nazi party Abbreviated title of
the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist
German Workers’ Party).partisans Members of the armed
resistance groups that sprung up in
Nazi-occupied territory during the war.plebiscite A vote by which the people of a
country expresses approval or disapproval
of a specific proposal. After World War I
and in the run-up to World War II,
plebiscites were used in Europe to address
the issues created by displaced populations.pocket battleship A type of powerful
heavy cruiser built by Germany in the
1930s. The Nazis built three in total:
Deutschland (later renamed Lutzow),
Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee.
Their main armament consisted of
six 11-in guns.POW Prisoner of war. A person, usually
a combatant, held prisoner during an
armed conflict.putsch An illegal attempt to overthrow
a government by force of arms. Hitler’s
so-called Beer Hall Putsch, which
he launched against the Bavarian
government in Munich in November
1923, though a failure, was a notable
step along his road to power.RAF Royal Air Force. Britain’s air force,
established in April 1918, and the world’s
oldest independent air force.Red Army The Soviet government’s army
following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
The name was dropped in 1946.Regia Aeronautica The Italian Royal
Air Force, founded in 1923. Though
on the surface numerically impressive,
many of its aircraft were obsolete, and
the ill-organized Italian aircraft industry
failed to keep pace with its military losses.regiment see battalion.Reichskommissariat Administrative unit
led by a Reichskommissar and tasked with
governing regions of German-occupied
Europe including the Netherlands,
Norway, Belgium, and northern France.
Five others were established in the east
in a bid to break up the Soviet Union.Reichstag The parliament of the Third
Reich. Its role was largely ceremonial,
unanimously approving Hitler’s decisions.Rhineland Area of western Germany
along the River Rhine. Following World
War I it was demilitarized by the terms
of the 1925 Locarno Treaty.Royal Navy The British navy, the
strongest in the world at the start
of World War II, fielding 15 battleships
and battle cruisers, seven aircraft
carriers, 66 cruisers, 184 destroyers,
and 60 submarines.ROC Royal Observer Corps. Civil
defense organization tasked with
plotting enemy aircraft movements
over Britain during World War II.Saarland Province of south-western
Germany, administered by the League
of Nations from 1920 to 1935.salient A battlefield projection, also
known as a bulge, surrounded by the
enemy on multiple sides, making the
troops holding it vulnerable to attack.SOE Special Operations Executive. British
secret intelligence organization tasked
with aiding resistance movements in
enemy-occupied territories and carrying
out spying and sabotage activities.SS Schutzstaffel. The elite paramilitary
corps of the Nazi party. Led by Heinrich
Himmler from 1929 onward.SA Sturmabteilung. Otherwise
known as the Brownshirts, the SA
was the original paramilitary force
of the Nazis that became gradually
overshadowed by the SS.sue for peace The initiation of
negotiations for peace, usually a step
taken by the losing party in an attempt
to avoid an unconditional surrender.task force A term coined by the US Navy
in 1941 to describe naval units combined
to undertake a specific military mission.Third Reich The official name the
Nazis gave Germany after coming to
power in 1933. In their version of history
the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted
from 800 to 1806, constituted the First
Reich, and the German Empire (1871–
1918) constituted the Second Reich.Treaty of Versailles The peace treaty
that formally concluded World War I
following the 1918 armistice between
the Allies and Germany. Its contentious
clauses on war guilt and its demandfor the payment of reparations caused
lasting German resentment that helped
fuel the rise of the Nazi party.U-boats German submarines. While used
to attack enemy warships, U-boats were
primarily used to create a naval blockade
of Allied shipping routes and to allow
for commerce raiding.United Nations International
organization established in October 1945
with the aim of preventing future wars.USAAF United States Army Air Forces.
Formed in 1941 as the successor to
the Army Air Corps. After the US
entered World War II, its strength rose
dramatically from just 4,000 aircraft
to 75,000 by the end of the war.Vichy France The name of the state
set up under the leadership of Marshal
Philippe Pétain to rule unoccupied
France following the French surrender
in June 1940. Its capital was the spa
town of Vichy.V-weapons The name coined by the
Germans for the so-called “vengeance
weapons” they deployed in 1944. They
consisted of the V-1 pilotless flying bomb
and the V-2 long-range rocket.Waffen-SS The armed branch of the
SS and the Wehrmacht’s elite fighting
formations. It was judged at the post-
war Nuremberg trials to be a criminal
organization due to its involvement in
war crimes and crimes against humanity.Wehrmacht The generic name for
Germany’s armed forces from 1935 to
the end of the war. It consisted of the
Herr (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy),
and Luftwaffe (air force) with Hitler
as the supreme commander.Western Front In World War II, the
theater of conflict taking place in Belgium,
Denmark, Norway, France, Germany,
Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.US_276-277_Glossary.indd 277 16/04/19 11:21 AM