| Term | Definition |
|
dictator |
a leader who rules with total authority often in a cruel or brutal manner |
|
fascism |
a polticial system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and racism and no tolerance of opposition |
|
anti-Semitism |
hostility and discrimination against Jews |
|
totalitarian |
a political system in which the government surpresses all opposition and controls most aspects of people's lives |
|
appeasement |
accepting demands in order to avoid a conflict |
|
blitzkrieg |
name given to the sudden violent offensive attacks that the Germans used during WWII; "lightning war" |
|
lend-lease |
the act passed during WWII allowing the U.S. to sell, lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any nation considered "vital to the defense of the USA" |
|
disarmament |
removal of weapons |
|
mobilization |
the gathering of resources and preparing for war |
|
ration |
to give out scarce items on a limited basis |
|
internment camp |
the detention centers where Japanese-Americans were moved to and confined during WWII |
|
D-Day |
the day on which the Allied forces invaded France during WWII June 6, 1944 |
|
genocide |
the deliberate destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group |
|
Holocaust |
the name given to the mass slaughter of Jews and other groups by the Nazis during WWII |
|
island hopping |
a strategy used during WWII that called for attacking and capturing certain key islands and using these islands as bases to leapfrog to other islands |
|
Kamikaze |
during WWII a Japanese suicide pilot whose mission was to crash his plane into his target |