World War II VFL

Joseph Stalin

Totalitarian leader of the Soviet Union. Turned farms into collectives and executed people who disagreed with his ideas.

Totalitarian

*Total Control* A characteristic of a political system where the government has total control over people's lives.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist leader who established a totalitarian regime in Italy.

Fascism

A political philosophy that revolves around a strong, centralized, nationalistic government controlled by one powerful dictator.

Adolf Hitler

Became leader of the Nazi party in Germany. He believed in extreme nationalism, racial "purification", and national expansion.

Nazism

A political philosophy developed by Hitler. Based on extreme nationalism, racism, and militaristic expansionism.

Francisco Franco

General of the rebellion against spain who won and became Spain's fascist dictator.

Neutrality Act

A series of laws to prevent US arms sales and loans to foreign nations in an effort to keep the US out of the war.

Neville Chamberlain

1st British Prime Minister who trusted Hitler and gave him land to avoid a war.

Winston Churchill

2nd British Prime Minister who said that Britain and France chose dishonor in the Munich Agreement.

Appeasement

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

Nonaggression Pact

An agreement in which two nations promise not to go to war with each other. Russia and Germany signed one (Germany broke it) and agreed to split Poland between them.

Blitzkrieg

A tactic used by the Germans where ther is a sudden, massive attack with air and ground weapons, intended to achieve a quick victory.

Holocaust

Genocide of Jews and other groups in Europe by the Nazis before and during WWII

Kristallnacht

Night when gangs of Nazis attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues in Germany.

Genocide

The deliberate extermination of a particular radical, national, or religious group.

Ghetto

A city or neighborhood where a certain minority froup is pressured/forced to live.

Concentration Camps

A prison camp operated by Nazi Germany where Jews and other groups (enemies of Hitler) enslaved, starved, and/or murdered.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan. They signed the Tripartite Pact to try and keep the U.S. out of the war.

Lend-Lease Act

A law passed in 1941 that allowed the US to ship arms and other supplies without payment to nations fighting the Axis powers.

Atlantic Charter

A declaration of principles that the US and Great Britain set forth their goals in defeating the axis powers.

Allies

Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, China, France

Hideki Tojo

Japan's prime minister that invaded China, tried to dominate the pacific, and attacked Pearl Harbor.