American History WWII Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to World War II.

Appeasement

Policy of giving in to an aggressor's demand in order to keep the peace.

Axis Powers

Group of countries led by Germany, Italy, and Japan that fought the Allies in World War II.

Neutrality Acts

A series of acts passed by the U.S. Congress from 1935 to 1939 that aimed to keep the U.S. from becoming involved in WWII.

Nazi-Soviet Pact

Agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 in which the two nations promised not to fight each other and to divide up land in Eastern Europe.

Blitzkrieg

Lightning war.

Luftwaffe

German air force.

Lend-Lease Act

Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1941 that allowed the president (FDR) to sell or lend war supplies to any country whose defense was considered vital to the United States.

Atlantic Charter

Agreement in which FDR and Churchill set goals for the defeat of Nazi Germany and the postwar world.

Holocaust

The systematic genocide of about six million European Jews by the Nazis in World War II.

Concentration Camp

Detention center for civilians considered enemies of the state.

Internment

Confinement during wartime.

D-Day

Code name for June 6, 1944, the day that Allied Forces invaded France during WWII.

Yalta Conference

Meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin in February 1945 where the three leaders made agreements regarding the end of World War II.

Kamikaze

Japanese pilot who undertook a suicide mission.

Nuremberg Trials

Series of war crimes trials held in Germany after WWII.

United Nations

An international organization formed in 1945 at the end of WWII to maintain peace throughout the world.

Island Hopping

During WWII, Allied strategy of recapturing some Japanese-held islands while bypassing others.

Manhattan Project

Code name for the project to build the first atomic bomb during WWII.