World War II
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Created by:
briannagracex0 on April 9, 2012
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52 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Fascism | a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition |
| Benito Mussolini | Italian fascist dictator (1883-1945) |
| Adolf Hitler | German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945) |
| Nazi Party | the political party founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power by Hitler in 1933 |
| Anti-Semitism | prejudice against Jews |
| Appeasement | Satisfying the demands of dissatisfied powers in an effort to maintain peace and stability. |
| Munich Conference | 1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further. |
| Axis Powers | Germany, Italy, Japan |
| Tripartite Pact | Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy signed in September 1940, by which each pledged to declare war on any nation that attacked any of them |
| Manchuria | a region in northeastern China |
| Winston Churchill | Britain's new prime minister during WWII who pleaded for US aid |
| Neutrality Acts | The Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, and 1937 stipulated that when the president proclaimed the existence of a foreign war certain restrictions would automatically go into effect. No American could legally sail on a belligerent ship, or sell or transport munitions to a belligerent nation, or make loans to a belligerent. This displayed that America was not willing to go to war and desired to remain neutral and isolationist. |
| Neutrality Act of 1939 | European democracies might buy American war materials on a "cash-and-carry basis" improved American moral and economic position |
| Cash and Carry principle | A U.S. policy in the 1930's of requiring a belligerent nation to pay for the U.S goods in cash and transport them in that nation's own ship. |
| Atlantic Charter | 1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII amd to work for peace after the war |
| Lend-Lease Act | allowed sales or loans of war materials to any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the U.S |
| Battle of Britain | the prolonged bombardment of British cities by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and the aerial combat that accompanied it |
| Pearl Harbor | United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. |
| Allied Powers | Great Britain, France, Russia |
| Blitzkrieg | German word meaning lightning war. It was a German army tactic during World War II which called for quick moving, hard hitting drives into enemy territory. |
| Douglas MacArthur | American general, who commanded allied troops in the Pacific during World War II. |
| Dwight Eisenhower | leader of the Allied forces in Europe then was elected to be Pres. of the USA |
| Battle of Midway | 1942 World War II battle between the United States and Japan, a turning point in the war in the Pacific |
| Joseph Stalin | Communist dictator of the Soviet Union |
| Normandy Invasion (D-Day) | On June 6, 1944, the Allies launched a massive landing on the beaches of Normandy, France. After a month of fighting, the Germans retreated back to Germany. This victory opened the western front. |
| Battle of the Bulge | last german attempt at an offensive strike at the allies |
| Holocaust | the organized killing of European Jews and others by the Nazis during WWII |
| V-E Day | May 8, 1945; The name of the day which ended World War II |
| V-J Day | "Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945 |
| Atomic Bomb | Powerful weapon used by the U.S. to end World War II. It was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
| Manhattan Project | secret american program during WWII to develop an atomic bomb |
| Hiroshima and Nagasaki | Two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs to end World War II. |
| G.I. | term used for American soliders in WWII, derived from the term "Government Issue" |
| WAC | Women's Army Corps |
| WAVES | Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy |
| WASPS | Women's Air Force Service Pilots |
| Rosie the Riveter | symbol of American women who went to work in factories during the war |
| Navajo Code Talkers | Native Americans from the Navajo tribe used their own language to make a code for the U.S. military that the Japanese could not decipher |
| J.Robert Oppenheimer | leader of Manhattan project |
| Harry S. Truman | Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb |
| War Bonds | Short-term loans that individual citizens made to the government that financed two-thirds of the war's cost. |
| Rationing | Restricting the amount of food and other goods people may buy during wartime to assure adequate supplies for the military |
| Baby Boom | the larger than expected generation in United States born shortly after World War II |
| Tehran | the capital and largest city of Iran |
| Yalta | First peace conference after WWII |
| Potsdam | Second peace conference after WWII |
| "Big Three" | Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt |
| Nuremberg Trials | Series of trials in 1945 conducted by an International Military Tribunal in which former Nazi leaders were charged with crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes |
| War Crimes | wartime acts of cruelty and brutality that are judged beyond the accepted rules of war and human behavior |
| United Nations | an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote international peace and security |
| Internment of Japanese Americans | Japanese Americans were place in camps because the government was afraid of spies and sabotage during WWII |
| Korematsu v. U.S. | supreme court ruling that movement of Japanse to camps was constitutional |
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