World War 2
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Created by:
sandyschenker on April 23, 2012
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50 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 lend lease act | Approve by Congress in March 1941; The act allowed America to sell, lend or lease arms or other supplies to nations considered "vital to the defense of the United States." |
| Weimar Republic | The name of Germany's post WWI democracy government. Named for the seat of government, it was beset by social and economic problems and ended with the election of Hitler. |
| Fascism | a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition |
| Benito Mussolini | Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943). He led Italy to conquer Ethiopia (1935), joined Germany in the Axis pact (1936), and allied Italy with Germany in World War II. He was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy. |
| Mein Kampf | Hitler's book in which he outlined his ideas on race, living space, and the Fuhrer |
| lebensraum | Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people |
| 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. |
| appeasement | practice of giving in to an aggressor nation's demands in order to keep peace |
| Non-Aggression Pact | Germany and the Soviet Union signed this pact and promised not to attack each other. Germany offered Stalin control of Eastern Poland and the Baltic States. |
| Hitler Youth | Organizations set up under Hitler to train an educate German young people in Nazi beliefs |
| blitzkrieg | A form of warfare developed by the Germans and referred to as "lightening war." It involved rapid attack spearheaded by tanks, armoured personnel carriers, air support and paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines to disrupt communications. It was very successful early on. |
| Winston Churchill | A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West. |
| Battle of Britain | an aerial battle fought in World War II in 1940 between the German Luftwaffe (air force), which carried out extensive bombing in Britain, and the British Royal Air Force, which offered successful resistance. |
| Luftwaffe vs RAF | The German air force, the Luftwagge, against the British air force, the Royal Air Force, in the battle of Britain |
| 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. |
| Battle of Midway | U.S. naval victory over the Japanese fleet in June 1942, in which the Japanese lost four of their best aircraft carriers. It marked a turning point in World War II. |
| Final Solution | final solution of the Jewish question-murder of every single Jew-had begun-mass arresting, and trafficking of Jews to the concentration camps-mass killings occurred as well in the gas chambers |
| Battle of Stalingrad | Unsuccessful German attack on the city of Stalingrad during World War II from 1942 to 1943, that was the furthest extent of German advance into the Soviet Union. |
| Hiroshima | City in Japan, the first to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, on August 6, 1945. The bombing hastened the end of World War II |
| Nagasaki | Japanese city in which the second atomic bomb was dropped (August 9, 1945). |
| island hopping | the American navy attacked islands held by the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean. The capture of each successive island from the Japanese brought the American navy closer to an invasion of Japan. |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) | US President during great depression and most of WW2. Declared war on Japan. |
| Joseph Stalin | Leader of USSR |
| Totalitarian | Goverment that exerted complete control over it's citizens/Government has total control |
| Axis Powers | Germany, Italy, Japan |
| Allied Powers | France, Britian, USSR and Later United States |
| isolationism | a national policy of avoiding involvement in world affairs |
| Hideki Tojo | Prime minister of Japan during World War II |
| Anschluss | Union of Austria and Germany |
| Rhineland | This territory, which had been part of German territory, was occupied by the Allies after World War One. Hitler wanted this region returned and he was able to take it back with little resistance |
| Sudetenland | This territory was part of Czechoslovakia, but it contained a large Germany speaking population and heavy industry important to Hitler's plans. The British felt that if they allowed Hitler to have this territory that he would not want war. |
| D-Day | June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy and began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II. |
| Battle of Normandy | The Allies gained a foothold on the French coast during this battle. Eventually they were able to drive the Germans back and liberate Western Europe. Canadian soldiers played a major role in this battle. |
| Neville Chamberlain | prime minister of Great Britain who declared "peace in our time" after appeasing Hitler at the Munich conference |
| Adolf Hitler | leader of Nazi Germany from 1933-1945 |
| Treaty of Versailles | peace treaty to end WWI; Mussolini and Hitler felt their nations had been cheated by this treaty |
| Beer Hall Putsch | Hitler's failed attempt to violently overthrow the German government in 1923 |
| Reichstag | German parliament, as well as the parliamentary building |
| Enabling Act | Gave Hitler absolute dictatorial power for 4 years |
| League of Nations | Group with most countries, big alliance, excluded Germany and Russia |
| Operation Barbarossa | Code name for Hitler's planned invasion of the Soviet Union; he build military bases in the Balkans so he could capture Russia's rich oil supply |
| Vichy France | France not completely occupied by the Germans, the capital was Vichy |
| Occupied France | Part of France that was completely occupied by Germany, capital was Paris |
| Georges Clemenceau | Representative of France at Treaty of Versailles, pushed for harsh punishments against Germany |
| NSDAP, SPD, KPD, CENTER | Parties of Germany before Hitler took over |
| Coalition Governments | Many parties join together in order to create a majority, used a lot in the Weimar Republic because of all of the small parties |
| Paul Von Hindenburg | Prime Minister of Germany during the Weimar republic until Hitler overthrew the government |
| David Lloyd George | The British representative at the Treaty of Versailles, pushed for some punishment to Germany, but not close to as much as Clemenceau |
| Fourteen Points | The points that Woodrow Wilson recommended for the end of the war and Germany agreed, but France and England did not follow the points |
| Woodrow Wilson | Creator of the fourteen points, president for the United states at the end of World War I |
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