Key Figures and Events of World War II

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of the Soviet Union who led with a totalitarian regime; allied with the US and UK during WWII.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy during WWII, aligned with Hitler and the Axis Powers.

Adolf Hitler

Nazi dictator of Germany who started WWII and orchestrated the Holocaust.

Hideki Tojo

Prime Minister of Japan and military leader responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Franklin Roosevelt

US President during most of WWII; led the nation through the Great Depression and war effort.

Eleanor Roosevelt

First Lady and advocate for civil rights and social reform during and after WWII.

Rosie the Riveter

Symbol of American women who worked in factories and shipyards during WWII.

A. Philip Randolph

Civil rights leader who pressured FDR to end discrimination in defense jobs with Executive Order 8802.

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister known for appeasing Hitler with the Munich Pact.

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister during WWII, famous for his leadership and speeches resisting Nazi Germany.

Harry Truman

US President who succeeded FDR and authorized the use of atomic bombs on Japan.

Dwight Eisenhower

Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe; led the D-Day invasion.

Douglas MacArthur

US general who commanded Allied forces in the Pacific Theater.

Erwin Rommel

German general known as the 'Desert Fox' for his campaigns in North Africa.

Emperor Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during WWII who ultimately surrendered after the atomic bombings.

Albert Einstein

Physicist whose letter to FDR helped initiate the US atomic bomb project.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Scientific director of the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb.

Abyssinia

African nation (now Ethiopia) invaded by Mussolini's Italy in 1935.

Rhineland

Region between Germany and France; remilitarized by Hitler in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.

Sudetenland

German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia annexed by Hitler in 1938.

Poland

Invasion by Germany in 1939 triggered the start of WWII.

Manchuria

Region in China invaded by Japan in 1931, beginning Japanese expansion.

Manchukuo

Puppet state created by Japan after occupying Manchuria.

Vichy France

Nazi-controlled puppet government in southern France during WWII.

Auschwitz

Largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Poland.

Pearl Harbor

US naval base in Hawaii attacked by Japan on Dec. 7, 1941, leading to US entry into WWII.

Stalingrad

Major turning point on the Eastern Front where the Soviets defeated the German army.

Normandy

Region in France where Allied forces landed on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Berlin

Capital of Nazi Germany and site of Hitler's final defeat in 1945.

Coral Sea

Naval battle where US forces stopped Japanese advance toward Australia. Ships never saw eachother

Midway

Decisive naval battle where the US sank four Japanese carriers and shifted Pacific power.

Okinawa

One of the final and bloodiest battles in the Pacific, crucial to the planned invasion of Japan.

Iwo Jima

Island captured by US Marines; site of iconic flag-raising photo.

Hiroshima

First city targeted by an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945.

Nagasaki

Second city targeted by an atomic bomb on August 9, 1945, leading to Japan's surrender.

Neutrality Acts

US laws in the 1930s aimed at keeping the country out of foreign conflicts.

Cash & Carry

Policy allowing nations at war to buy US goods if they paid cash and transported them.

Lend Lease Act

Allowed the US to supply weapons and materials to Allies before entering the war.

Good Neighbor Policy

FDR's foreign policy to improve relations with Latin America and avoid intervention.

Rape of Nanjing

1937 massacre by Japanese troops in China, killing and raping thousands of civilians.

FDR's Quarantine Speech

1937 speech calling for international action to isolate aggressive nations.

FDR's Four Freedoms Speech

1941 speech listing freedoms worth fighting for: speech, worship, want, fear.

Munich Pact

1938 agreement where Britain and France allowed Hitler to take the Sudetenland.

Spanish Civil War

Conflict from 1936-39 resulting in a fascist dictatorship under Franco; supported by Hitler and Mussolini.

Fascism

Political ideology favoring nationalism, dictatorship, and suppression of opposition.

Il Duce

Title adopted by Mussolini meaning 'The Leader.'

Nazism

German form of fascism under Hitler, focused on Aryan supremacy and anti-Semitism.

Der Fuhrer

Title used by Adolf Hitler meaning 'The Leader.'

Anschluss

Annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.

Lebensraum

Hitler's plan for 'living space' through territorial expansion.

Kristallnacht

1938 Nazi-led attacks on Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses in Germany.

Concentration Camps

Prisons where Jews and other minorities were imprisoned and murdered by Nazis.

The Holocaust

Systematic genocide of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany.

War Refugee Board

US agency that helped rescue Jews and other groups from Nazi-occupied Europe.

Totalitarianism

System in which the government has total control over all aspects of life.

German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

1939 agreement between Germany and USSR to not attack each other.

Blitzkrieg

German military tactic of 'lightning war' involving fast, overwhelming attacks.

The Battle of Britain

Air battle where Britain resisted German bombing raids in 1940.

The Atlantic Charter

1941 agreement between FDR and Churchill outlining postwar goals.

Rationing

Government-controlled distribution of scarce resources during the war.

War Production Board (WPB)

US agency that directed industrial production for the war effort.

Office of Price Administration (OPA)

Controlled prices and rationed goods to prevent inflation during WWII.

GIs

Nickname for US soldiers during WWII, meaning 'Government Issue.'

Executive Order 9066

Authorized Japanese internment in the US during WWII.

Internment Camp

Detention centers where Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated during WWII.

Korematsu v. United States

Supreme Court case that upheld internment as constitutional during wartime.

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

Women's branch of the US Army during WWII; women served in non-combat roles.

Double V Campaign

African American movement calling for victory against fascism abroad and racism at home.

Tuskegee Airmen

All-Black fighter pilot group in WWII known for their success and bravery.

Executive Order 8802

Banned racial discrimination in defense industries during WWII.

Congress on Racial Equality (CORE)

Civil rights group founded during WWII promoting nonviolent protest.

Zoot Suit Riots

1943 conflict in LA between US servicemen and Mexican American youth over racial tensions.

Allies

WWII alliance of the US, Britain, Soviet Union, France, and others against the Axis.

Axis Powers

WWII alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The Red Army

The Soviet Union's military force during WWII.

Operation Overlord

Code name for the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy, France in 1944.

D-Day

June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, marking the turning point in Western Europe.

Genocide

Systematic killing of an entire ethnic or national group.

V-E Day

Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945, when Nazi Germany surrendered.

Bataan Death March

Forced march of American and Filipino prisoners by the Japanese, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Navajo Code Talkers

Native Americans who used their language to create unbreakable military codes.

Leapfrogging/Island Hopping

US strategy in the Pacific to bypass heavily fortified islands and capture strategic ones.

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who crashed their planes into Allied ships.

Manhattan Project

Top-secret US project to develop the atomic bomb.

Enola Gay

The US bomber plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

V-J Day

Victory over Japan Day, August 15, 1945, marking Japan's surrender and the end of WWII.