World War II vocab

Joseph Stalin

took control of the Soviet Union in 1924, and created a model communist state, focusing on agricultural and industrial growth

Totalitarian

characteristic of a political system in which the government exercises complete control over its citizens’ lives

Benito Mussolini

Fascist leader of Italy that won the support of the people by promising to avoid economic collapse and communism

Fascism

a political philosophy that advocates a strong, centralized, nationalistic government headed by a powerful dictator

Adolf HItler

leader of the Nazi Party in Germany, promised to bring the country out of chaos

Nazism

the political philosophy–based on extreme nationalism, racism, and militaristic expansion–that adolf HItler put into practice in Germany from 1933 to 1945

Francisco Franco

general of the Spanish Army that led a rebellion against the Spanish republic

Neutrality Acts

a series of laws enacted in 1935 and 1936 to prevent US arms sales and loans to nations at war.

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister who signed the Sudetenland over to Germany

Winston Churchill

became prime minister of Britain in 1940 and united the nation against the Nazis

Appeasement

the granting of concessions to a hostile power in order to keep the peace.

Nonaggression Pact

an agreement in which two nations promise not to go to war with each other

Blitzkrieg

from the German word meaning “lightning war,” a sudden, massive attack with combined air and ground forces, intended to achieve a quick victory

Charles de Gaulle

French general who fled to England and set up a “government in exile”

Holocaust

the systematic murder–or genocide– of Jews and other groups in Europe by the Nazis before and during World War II

Kristallnacht

”night of broken glass”a name given to November 9, 1938, when gangs of Nazi storm troopers attacked, Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues in Germany

Genocide

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a particular racial, national, or political group

Ghettos

a city neighborhood in which a certain minority group is pressured or forced to live

Concentration Camps

a prison camp operated by Nazi Germany in which Jews and other groups considered to be enemies of Adolf HItler were starved while doing slave labor or murdered

Axis Powers

the group of nations–including Germany, Italy, and Japan–that opposed the Allies in World War II

Lend-Lease Act

 a law, passed in 1941, that allowed the United States to ship arms and other supplies, without immediate payment, to nations fighting the Axis Powers

Atlantic Charter

declaration of principles in which the United States and Great Britain set forth their goals in opposing the Axis Powers

 Allies

in World War II, the group of nations–including Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States–that opposed the Axis Powers

Hideki Tojo

chief of staff of Japan’s army, later became the prime minister who ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor

George Marshall

US army general who pushed for the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps

Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps

US army unit created during World War II to enable women to serve in noncombat positions

A. Philip Randolph

African American labor leader who organized a march on Washington for equal rights to work and fight for the US

Office of Price Administration

an agency established by Congress to control inflation during World War II

War Production Board

an agency established during World War II to coordinate the production of military supplies by US industries

Rationing

a restriction of people’s right to buy unlimited amounts of certain foods and other goods, often implemented during wartime to ensure adequate supplies for the military

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Commander of the US army fighting in Europe, led Operation Torch

D-Day

a name given to June 6, 1944– the day on which the Allies launched an invasion of the European mainland in World War II

Omar Bradley

US general who led an air and land bombardment against the Germans putting a gap in their line of defense

George Patton

US general who led troops into Paris to liberate them from the Germans

Battle of the Bulge

a month-long battle of World War II, in which the Allies succeeded in turning back the last major German offensive in the war

V-E Day

a name given to May 8, 1945, “Victory in Europe Day” on which General Eisenhower’s acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany marked the end of World War II in Europe

Harry S. Truman

was FDR’s vice-president, became the 33rd President after FDR’s death in 1945

Douglas MacArthur

supreme commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific

Chester Nimitz

commander of the American naval forces in the Pacific

Battle of Midway

a World War II battle that took place in early June 1942. The Allies decimated the Japanese fleet at Midway, an island lying northwest of Hawaii. The Allies took the offensive in the Pacific and begin to move closer to Japan

Kamikaze

involving or engaging in the deliberate crashing of a bomb-filled airplane into a military target

J. Robert Oppenheimer

American scientist who developed the atomic bomb

Hiroshima

an important Japanese military center, the first bomb. Little Boy, was dropped here on August 6, 1945

Nagasaki

 the second atomic bomb was dropped here on August 9, 1945 causing the Japanese to surrender

Nuremberg Trials

the court proceedings held in Nuremberg, Germany after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes

G.I. Bill of Rights

a name given to the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, a 1944 law that provided financial and educational benefits for World War II veterans

James Farmer

founded an interracial organization to confront urban segregation in the north

Congress of Racial Equality

an interracial group founded in 1942 to work against segregation in Northern cities

Internment

confinement or a restriction in movement, especially under wartime conditions

Japanese American Citizens League

an organization that pushed the US government to compensate Japanese Americans for property they had lost when they were interned during World War II