apwh-19

vocab

axis powers

countries led by Germany, italy, and japan in WWII

allied powers

countries that fought against the axis in WWII

winston churchill

prime minister who led britain during most of WWII

german-soviet nonaggression pact

agreement where germany and USSR promised not to attack each other

blitzkrieg

a fast, surprise military attack using planes and tanks

lend-lease act

US program that sent war supplies to allies

rosie the riveter

symbol of women working factory jobs during WWII

pearl harbor

surprise japanese attack on US base that brought US into WWII

battle of britain

air battle where britain defended itself from germany

battle of stalingrad

major battle where the soviet union defeated germany

battle of el alamein

allied victory in north africa against germany

battle of midway

US naval victory that turned the war in the pacific

island hopping

US strategy of taking key islands to move toward japan

franklin d. roosevelt

US president during most of WWII

d-day

allied invasion of nazi-occupied france in 1944

dunkirk

evacuation of allied soldiers from france early in WWII

v-e day

day WWII ended in europe May 8, 1945

albert einstein

scientist who helped warn US about atomic weapons research

manhattan project

secret US project that built the atomic bomb

robert oppenheimer

scientist who led the atomic bomb project

trinity test

first successful atomic bomb test

luftwaffe

german airforce in WWII

kamikaze

japanese suicide pilots who crashed into enemy ships

hiroshima

Japanese city where first atomic bomb was dropped

nagasaki

japanese city where second atomic bomb was dropped

firebombing

bombing cities using fire-causing bombs

atomic bomb

weapon that releases huge energy from nuclear reactions

v-j day

day japan surrendered, ending WWII 15 August 1945

big three

leaders of US, Britain, and USSR during WWII

tehran conference

meeting where allies planned strategy against germany

yalta conference

meeting where allies planned postwar europe

potsdam conference

meeting about rebuilding europe and japan after WWII

nuclear proliferation

spread of nuclear weapons to more countries

total war economy

economy focused mainly on producing war materials

genocide

intentional destruction of a group of ppl

ethnic cleansing

forcing an ethnic group out of an area

antisemitism

prejudice or hatred toward jewish people

eugenics

belief in improving humans through selective breeding

social darwinism

idea that stronger groups naturally dominate weaker ones

scientific racism

false belief that science proves some races are superior

holocaust

nazi genocide that killed millions of jews and others

t4 program

nazi program that killed disabled people

euthenaisa

killing people considered “unfit” by nazis

einsatzgruppen

nazi mobile killing squads

final solution

nazi plan to kill all jews in europe

concentration camps

camps where nazis imprisoned ppl (jews)

extermination camps

camps built mainly for mass killing

auschwitz

largest nazi concentration and extermination camp

human rights

basic rights all ppl should have

cambodian genocide

mass killings by khmer rouge in cambodia

tutsis

Ethnic group targeted in rwanda

hutus

majority group in rwanda, some led genocide

holodomor

famine in ukraine caused by soviet policies

ukraine

a major eastern front battleground where nazi germany and the soviet union fought for control; it was occupied by germany 41-44, suffered massive destruction and millions of deaths, and ended the war under soviet control

saddam hussien

iraqi leader known for human rights abuses

kurds

ethnic group living in parts of the middle east-fought for independence against Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, managed regional affairs, played key roles in anti-ISIS efforts, and experienced severe persecution, including chemical attacks and territorial displacement.

bosnia

site of ethnic violence in 1990s-annexed by the Axis-aligned Independent State of Croatia (NDH), becoming a site of intense violence, systemic killings of Serbs, Jews, and Roma by the Ustaša regime, and fierce partisan resistance.

serbia

country involved in yugoslav wars

darfur

region in sudan with mass violence

sudan

country where darfur conflict occurred

rohingya

ethnic minority persecuted in myanmar

pol pot

totalitarian leader of the Khmer Rouge communist party and Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1975 to 1979.

khmer rouge

was a radical communist regime in Cambodia (1975–1979) led by Pol Pot, aiming to establish an agrarian socialist society. They forced urban populations into rural labor camps, resulting in the "Cambodian Genocide" through execution, starvation, and overwork, killing roughly 1.5 to 2 million people.

rwandan genocide

a state-sponsored, systematic mass slaughter of approximately 800,000 to 1 million Tutsi ethnic minorities and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutu-led government forces