World War 2
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99 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Second World War | A war between the Allies and the Axis which started in 1939. It eventually involved Japan, Italy and Germany as aggressors. |
| Holocaust | the Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler |
| totalitarian | characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control |
| Neutrality | policy of supporting neither side in a war |
| dictator | a speaker who dictates to a secretary or a recording machine |
| American neutrality Acts | Laws passed in the 1930 to prevent the USA involvement in foreign war |
| aggressor nation | powerful country that takes over a weaker country |
| Quarantine | The isolation of a nation, carried out by refusing to communicate or trade with it and by preventing other nations from doing so; FDR called for one against aggressor nations during WWI |
| fascism | a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition |
| collective security | a system for international peace |
| Nazism | The doctrines of nationalism, racial purity, anti-Communism, and the all-powerful role of the State. The National Socialist German Workers Party, otherwise known as the Nazi Party. Nazism was advocated by Adolf Hitler in Germany. |
| pacifist | someone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes |
| genocide | systematic killing of a racial or cultural group |
| isolationism | a policy of nonparticipation in international economic and political relations |
| adolf hitler | German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945) |
| mussolini | founded fascism and ruled Italy for almost 21 years, most of that time as dictator. He dreamed of building Italy into a great empire, but he led his nation to defeat in World War II (1939-1945) and was executed by his own people. |
| winston churchill | British statesman and leader during World War II |
| emperor hirohito | emperor of Japan during WWII. his people viewed him as a god |
| general tojo | Japanese general and prime minister during much of World War II; he opposed female employment in spite of labor shortages during the war (1884-1948). |
| franklin delanor roosevelt | the 32nd president of the United States. He was president from 1933 until his death in 1945 during both the Great Depression and World War II. He is the only president to have been elected 4 times, a feat no longer permissable due to the 22nd amendment to the constitution |
| josef stalin | Leader of communist Russia as dictator |
| generalismo francisco franco | Spanish leader in Spain who came to power in 1939 after a bloody civil war |
| national socialists | political regime that later tured into the Nazis. |
| conscientious objectors | opposed fighting in the war on moral or religious grounds |
| charles degaulle | Leader of the French resistance |
| cash and carry policy | 1939. Law passed by Congress which allowed a nation at war to purchase goods and arms in US as long as they paid cash and carried merchandise on their own ships. This benefited the Allies, because Britain was dominant naval power. |
| lend lease policy | the US president cold lend or lease weapons to anyone who is essential to American security |
| evacuation from dunkirk | May 26-June 4, allies evacuated beaches of Dunkirk, France |
| battle of britain | the prolonged bombardment of British cities by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and the aerial combat that accompanied it |
| four freedoms speech | A speech by FDR that outlined the four principles of freedom (speech, religion, from want, and from fear) This helped inspire Americans into patriotism. |
| non-aggression pact | 1939-Secret agreement between German leader Hitler and Soviet Leader Stalin not to attack one another and to divide Poland |
| wolf pack | The term wolf pack refers to the mass-attack tactics against convoys used by German U-boats of the Kriegsmarine during the Battle of the Atlantic and submarines of the United States Navy against Japanese shipping in the Pacific Ocean in World War II. |
| 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 |
| convoy | the act of escorting while in transit |
| secretary of war | head of a former executive department |
| henry stimson | Secretary of War during War World II who trained 12 million soldiers and airmen, the purchase and transportation to battlefields of 30 percent of the nation's industrial output and agreed to the building of the atomic bomb and the decision to use it. |
| selective service act | law requiring men to register for military service |
| presidential election 1940 | Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), a Democrat, broke with tradition and ran for a third term, which became a major issue. |
| tripartite act | 1940, Japan & Germany & Italy made a defensive alliance (Japan got more supplies, etc.) |
| attack on pearl harbor | "date which will live in infamy" -- Dec. 7, 1941 -- 3,000 casualties & fleet destroyed, this led to the U.S. entry into the war |
| internment camps | Detention centers where more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were relocated during World War II by order of the President. |
| fair employment practices committee | (FEPC) aimed at insuring morale and maximum use of labor force by preventing employer discrimination against workers because of race or religion. The efforts of this committee laid the foundation for the Civil Rights movement of the 1950's. |
| national war labor board | During WWII it mediated disputes between management and laborers to prevent strikes |
| withholding system | since 1943, gov ask biz to withhold workers income tax and pay for them. |
| G.I Bill of Rights | Also known as Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 gave money to veternas to study in colleges, universities, gave medical treatment, loans to buy a house or farm or start a new business |
| Executive order 9066 | 2/19/42; 112,000 Japanese-Americans forced into camps causing loss of homes & businesses, 600K more renounced citizenship; demonstrated fear of Japanese invasion |
| bracero | a Mexican laborer who worked in the United States on farms and railroads in order to ease labor shortages during World War II |
| rationing | Taking items that are in short supply and distributing them according to a system. For instance, during World War II, gas, sugar, and butter were a few of the items rationed in the United States. |
| japanese- americans | Korematsu vs. the United States, internment camps, many Americans were paranoid that Japanese Americans were spies |
| tuskegee airmen | 332 Fighter Group famous for shooting down over 200 enemy planes. African American pilots who trained at the Tuskegee flying school. |
| A. Philip Randolph | Black leader, who threatens a march to end discrimination in the work place; Roosevelt gives in with companies that get federal grants. |
| Rosie the Riveter | symbol of American women who went to work in factories during the war |
| Admiral Yamamoto | Japans Greatest naval strategists, who called for the attack on Pearl Harbor. He also commanded the fleet that attacked Midway Island. |
| ww2 allies | Great Brittan, U.S., France, U.S.S.R |
| ww2 axis | Germany, Italy, Japan |
| battle of kasserine pass | americans were outmaneuvered and outfought.they suffered roughly 7,000 causalities and lost nearly 200 tanks |
| battle of the bulge | December, 1944-January, 1945 - After recapturing France, the Allied advance became stalled along the German border. In the winter of 1944, Germany staged a massive counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg which pushed a 30 mile "bulge" into the Allied lines. The Allies stopped the German advance and threw them back across the Rhine with heavy losses. |
| invasion of north africa | on November 8,1942, Operation Torch; Allies landed in Morocco and Algeria, 35,000 Americans participated; Vichy French sided with Allies. by the end of 1942 all of North Africa except Tunisia in Allied hands; in November 1942 Russians launched counter-offensive broke siege of Stalingrad captured an entire German army, January ended the siege of Leningrad |
| italian campaign | The allied campaign to take Italy. It took 18 months, from 1943-1944. Italy surrendered after many beach landings and other dangerous tactics. |
| election of 1944 | Year in which Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey for president and John W, Bricker (an isolationist senator) for vice president. Democrats renominated Roosevelt but changed vice president to Harry S. Truman. Roosevelt won with sweeping victory. 4th term for Roosevelt. |
| operation torch | Codename for allied invasion of North Africa from Novermber 1942 to September 1943 |
| operation overlord | The Allied invasion of Normandy in June of 1944. |
| D-Day | planned June 5th June 6 1944 Germans occupied Normandy France Germans though it would occur at Calais and goal was to liberate Paris |
| Berlin | United States songwriter (born in Russia) who wrote more than 1500 songs and several musical comedies (1888-1989) |
| V-E Day | May 8, 1945; The name of the day which ended World War II |
| Normandy, France | town that was invaded by Allied forces during D-Day |
| Harry S. Truman | The 33rd U.S. president, who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon Roosevelt's death in April 1945. Truman, who led the country through the last few months of World War II, is best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945. After the war, Truman was crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan, which greatly accelerated Western Europe's economic recovery. |
| Field Marshall Rommel | Head of the german troops in North Africa |
| George Patton | Famous American General who fought in North Africa and Europe. |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | leader of the Allied forces in Europe during WW2--leader of troops in Africa and commander in DDay invasion-elected president-president during integration of Little Rock Central High School |
| John Steinbeck | United States writer noted for his novels about agricultural workers (1902-1968) |
| Island Hopping Campaign | series of amphibious landings by Allied forces in the pacific during WW2 in which the allied forces - combined land, sea and air - fought back, recaptured islands from Japanese forces or blocked their connection with home bases. |
| Battle of Coral Sea | Fought on May 7-8 1942; Caused heavy losses on both sides; Japanese won a tactical victory because they sank US carrier Lexington; Americans claimed a strategic victory by stopping Japan's drive towards Australia |
| 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. |
| Battle of Leyte Gulf | 1944 World War II naval battle betweeen the United States and Japan. Largest naval engagement in history. Japaneze navy was defeated. |
| atomic bomb | a nuclear weapon in which enormous energy is released by nuclear fission (splitting the nuclei of a heavy element like uranium 235 or plutonium 239) |
| 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). |
| Kamikaze | a fighter plane used for suicide missions by Japanese pilots in World War II |
| Battle of Guadalcanal | Fought on August 7, 1942; Japanese advanced was finally stopped; fought more on land; nicknamed "Shoestring |
| Battle of Tarawa | The Gilbert Islands were the first in the line of advance for the offensive in the Central Pacific. The prime objective was the Tarawa Atoll and Betio Island which had been fortified to the point that the Japanese commander proclaimed that it would take a million Americans 100 years to conquer it. On 20 November 1943, Marines landed and secured the island within 76 hours, but paid a heavy price in doing so. Because of an extended reef, landing craft could not cross it and Marines were offloaded hundreds of yards from the beaches. This led to heavy losses from enemy fire. Additionally, many Marines drowned while attempting to wade ashore |
| Battle of Iwo Jima | lasted 6 weeks, several thousand marines, and more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers were killed, this battle is also notable for the famous photograph of US marines lifting the American flag to a standpoint |
| Manhattan Project | Code name for the U.S. effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. Much of the early research was done in New York City by refugee physicists in the United States. |
| V-J Day | Victory over Japan day" is the celebration of the Surrender of Japan, which was initially announced on August 15, 1945 |
| Douglas Mac Arthur | A general in the Korean war who led the counter attack on North Korea after they invaded South Korea |
| Chester W. Nimitz | Leader in WW2 Admiral of the US Pacific fleet became famous at battle of midway |
| J. Robert Oppenheimer | american scientist that developed research on atomic bomb |
| Sept 1, 1939 | date for the German invasion of Poland |
| June 1940 | invasion fo france by germany; france divied into northern france and vichy france;northern germany annexed by germany |
| Dec 7, 1941 | japanese attack u.s. at pearl harbor |
| June 6, 1944 | Date of D-Day |
| Sept 2, 1945 | the date of V-J Day |
| May 8, 1945 | Date of V-E day |
| April 12, 1945 | FDR dies |
| June 1942 | U.S. victory at the Battle of Midway is the turning point of the war in the Pacific. |
| October 1944 | Battle of Leyte Gulf |
| May 1942 | Battle of the Coral Sea |
| Aug 6, 1945 | date of bombing of hiroshima |
| aug 9, 1945 | Atomic Bomb- Nagasoki |
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