world war 2
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powdershower123 on March 17, 2009
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59 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Totalitarian | complete and total control over the citizens; government exerts complete control; individuals have no rights |
| Fascism | a political philosophy that advocates a strong, centralized, nationalistic government headed by a powerful dictator |
| Nazism | a political philosophy based on extreme nationalism, racism, and militaristic expansionism that Hitler put into practice in Germany; German brand of fascism |
| Blitzkrieg | war technique; German for lightning war; attack from the air and ground, intended to achieve a quick victory |
| Reich | German word for Empire |
| Kamikaze | involving or engaging in the deliberate crashing of a bomb-filled airplane into a military target; used by the Japanese |
| Appeasement | giving up principles to pacify an aggressor |
| Rationing | established fixed allotments of goods deemed essential for the military |
| Neutrality Acts | outlawed loans and arms sales to nations at war |
| Nonaggression Pact | Germany and Russia signed this pact promising to never attack each other |
| Cash-Carry Provision | stated that warring nations could buy United States arms as long as they paid cash and transported them in their own ships |
| Lend-Lease Act | the United States could lend or lease arms/supplies to "any country whose defense was vital to the United States" |
| Atlantic Charter | secret meeting between Churchill and FDR off the Coast of Canada; signed a joint declaration of war aims: |
| Selective Service Act | 16 million men ages 21-35 were registered |
| Casablanca Conference | FDR and Churchill agreed to accept only the unconditional surrender of the Axis Powers and agreed to attack Italy next |
| Yalta Conference | FDR, Churchill, & Stalin- meeting to plan for post-war peace; also outlined plans for international peace organization and occupation of Germany |
| War Production Board (WPB) | converted companies from peacetime to wartime production. organized drives to collect raw materials |
| Selective Service | 5 million men volunteered for military service; it expanded the draft and provided 10 million more soldiers |
| Office of Price Administration (OPA) | created to fight inflation by freezing prices on goods. raised taxes to reduce consumer demand |
| Office of Science Research and Development | improved radar and sonar; worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb before Germany |
| Office of War Information (OWI) | produced propaganda to persuade the American people |
| Woman's Army Corps (WAC) | gave women official military status, salary, and benefits |
| Francisco Franco | dictator of Spain; lead a revolution against the Spanish Republic (Spanish Civil War); remained neutral in the Civil War; Germany and Italy helps Franco. fascist dictator |
| Joseph Stalin | dictator of the Soviet Union/Russia; communism. took control after Lenin died. main focus was Agricultural and Industrial Growth; Russia becomes 2nd largest industrial power; |
| Adolf Hitler | dictator of Germany; establishes the Nazi Party; dismantled the Wiemar Republic and establishes total control; |
| Benito Mussolini | dictator of Italy; fascism. gained power by the March on Rome & Italian king appointed him as head of government. he and mistress were hung and killed in Italy |
| Franklin Roosevelt | president of the US; 4 terms. Neutrality Acts. |
| Neville Chamberlain | prime minister of Britain; |
| Winston Churchill | prime minister of England; believed that the Munich Agreement was a policy of appeasement. Battle of Britain |
| Emperor Hirohito | Emperor of Japan; |
| Hideki Tojo | prime minister of Japan; |
| Tuskegee Airmen | fought bravely in the Italian Campaign, responsible for strategic air strikes against the German forces throughout Italy |
| Dwight D. Eisenhower | American leader. in charge of Operation Overlord |
| Douglas MacArthur | commander of allied forces in the Philippines; when the fate of the Philippines looked grim, MacArthur was ordered by FDR to leave, but promised to return and he did and took the Philippines back. |
| Chester Nimitz | commander of naval forces in the Pacific. planned defense of Midway |
| George Patton | commander of the Third Army; liberated Paris, France and Belgium |
| Harry Truman | US president after FDR died in office; decided that dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary |
| Name the Allied and Axis Powers | Axis- Germany, Italy, Japan / Allied- Great Britain, Russia, US |
| What are two characteristics of blitzkrieg? | Land and Air****** 1.) war technique 2.) intended to achieve a quick victory / blitz= fast moving / krieg= "war" in German |
| How was France and Great Britain drawn into World War II? | September 3, 1939- declared war on Germany, upholding their promise of military aid to Poland. if Germany attacked Poland it would bring on war with Russia, which would then provoke Britain and France to declare war on Germany creating a two-front war |
| What were Roosevelt's feelings about World War II? Did he feel the United States could remain neutral? Why or Why Not? | the American public was Isolationists, against going into a war they weren't involved in (yet). he found a way around the Neutrality Acts and was able to help a little. wanted to help but they were recovering from the Great Depression |
| Before Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, what policy did he openly oppose prior to World War II? Why? | he believed that the Munich Agreement with Hitler was a policy of appeasement. he didn't believe Hitler would hold his end of the bargain |
| Starting with Austria in 1939 and ending with the Soviet Union, list in order the countries Hitler invaded. | Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, France, and Russia |
| Battle of Britain | Germany vs. Britain; June to September 1940; German air war agianst Britain. Luftwaffe made multiple bombing runs over Britain. Goal was to gain control of the skies by destroying the rural air force. |
| Pearl Harbor | Japan attacked the United States' largest naval base in the Pacific.180 Japanese warplanes dropped bombs on ships docked at Pearl Harbor. it was the first attack on the US and a turning point for the US, forcing them to join the war |
| Battle of Stalingrad | August 1942- Luftwaffe bombed the city nightly. all standing structures were ablaze. Russian officers wanted to abandon the city. Stalin ordered them to defend the city. Germany controlled 9/10ths of the city by september 1942. but winter came along and Russia trapped the German Army in Stalingrad and cut off their supplies. Germany surrenders |
| Operation Overlord | (aka: D-Day); allied invasion of France from England directed by Eisenhower. Troops= 3 million British, American, and Canadian soldiers. it was a top secret mission. false messages were sent out to the Germans to make them believe the invasion was taking place somewhere else in France........ |
| Battle of the Bulge | October 1944- Allies captured Aachen in Germany. Hitler ordered troops to break through the Allied lines and recapture Antwerp in Belgium. German forces break through weak American defenses and drove 60 miles into Allied territory. captured 120 American soldiers who were gunned down, but Germans were pushed back. they suffered major losses, and could not recover and was forced to retreat. US vs. Germany |
| Campaign in North Africa | 1940- Italy wanted North Africa for its oil and as a way to make their mark on the war. the British forces should have been easily defeated however, warfare in this region was a continuous back and forth struggle. |
| Battle of Anzio | January 1944- allied forces became bogged down in Anzio. the first allied attack failed. proved to be a bloody battle between the allied forces and Nazi soldiers. |
| Battle of Midway | June 1942- American planes and bombers were sent to attack the Japanese fleet. the Japanese were completely surprised. Result- Japanese lost four aircraft carriers, 250 airplanes, and many experienced airmen. TURNING POINT- power in the Pacific shifted to the Allied forces. US vs. Japan |
| Iwo Jima | March 1945- heavily defended. 20,700 Japanese troops hiding in the tunnels and caves of the island. 6,000 Marines died trying to take the island. Result- US win control of the island; only 200 Japanese survived the Battle of Iwo Jima. US vs. Japan |
| Okinawa | April 1945- 1,900 kamikaze attacks on the Allies battling on and around the island. sunk 30 ships and killed almost 5,000 seamen. Result- more defended then Iwo Jima. 7,600 Americans died. 110,000 Japanese died. it forcasted what an Allied invasion of Japan would be like; US vs. Japan |
| Why did Roosevelt decide to intern Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor? How did he justify this internment? | the American people panicked and believed that Japanese Americans were committing acts of Espionage/Sabotage. justification=step necessary for national security |
| What was the Manhattan Project? | the development of the atomic bombs |
| What two cities did the United States drop the atomic bombs on? | Hiroshima and Nagasaki |
| Whose decision was it to drop the bombs? Why did he make the decision to use nuclear warfare against Japan? | it was president Truman's decision and he decided to use nuclear warfare because he felt it was the only way to avoid the invasion of Japan that allied leaders felt would cost too many lives |
| What was VE Day? VJ Day? When did both occur? | VE Day- May 8, 1945- Victory in Europe- Eisenhower accepted the unconditional surrender of the Third Reich. / VJ Day- victory in Japan- Japan unconditionally surrenders on the USS Missouri and World War II is officially over |
| Know the two extremely important dates i asked you to remember in World War II. | D-Day- June 6, 1944- Allied forces parachuted down behind enemy lines; the largest land-sea-air operation in history. / December 7, 1941- attack on Pearl Harbor |
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