World War II Flashcards

Flashcards covering key events, figures, and concepts of World War II.

Winston Churchill

Leader of the UK during World War II.

Josef Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union during World War II.

1939

Marks the beginning of World War II in Europe.

Dunkirk Evacuation

Rescue of British, French, and Belgian troops from northern France near the Belgian-French border.

Battle of Britain

Air campaign between Britain and Germany; prevented German invasion and was the first major German defeat.

Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack by Japan on the US Fleet in Pearl Harbor in 1941, leading to the US entry into World War II.

Battle of Midway

US Navy defeated the Imperial Japanese Navy, marking a turning point in the Pacific.

Island Hopping

Military strategy of selectively attacking enemy-held islands in the central and southwest Pacific.

D-Day

156,000 Allied troops landed by sea or air in France, a turning point in the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Stalingrad

Battle where Nazi Germany wanted to capture Stalingrad, but the Soviets defended it, leading to a German surrender and a turning point on the Eastern Front.

Operation Barbarossa

Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, breaking the non-aggression pact and pulling the Soviets into the war on the Allied side.

Harry Truman

US President who authorized the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Sites of atomic bombings in 1945, leading to Japan's surrender and the end of World War II.

The Holocaust

Nazi attack against Jews, leading to the escalation of Nazi Persecution and the establishment of extermination camps like Auschwitz.

Auschwitz

Concentration and extermination camp in Southern Poland where millions were murdered during the Holocaust.

Manhattan Project

Research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II.