World History Test ~ World War 2

includes Quizlet and Kahoot

Luftwaffe

German Air Force

Appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war

Potsdam Conference

The final wartime meeting of the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union was held at Potsdam, outside Berlin, in July, 1945. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin

Tehran Conference

First major meeting between the Big Three (United States, Britain, Russia) at which they planned the 1944 assault on France and agreed to divide Germany into zones of occupation after the war

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

Munich Pact

A 1938 agreement between Great Britain and Germany to appease Hitler

Yalta Conference

1945 Meeting with US president FDR, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Leader Stalin during WWII to plan for post-war

VE Day

May 8, 1945; victory in Europe Day when the Germans surrendered

VJ Day

August 15, 1945 - victory in Japan Day when the Japanese surrendered

Anschluss

The union of Austria with Germany, resulting from the occupation of Austria by the German army in 1938.

Blitzkrieg

A method of offensive warfare based on sudden, swift, and massive attacks designed to overwhelm the enemy quickly; used by Hitler

Sudetenland

A region in western Czechoslovakia which Germany wanted to annex, and the other leaders let him believing that would be the end of his demands.

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; broken by Hitler

Barbarossa

Operation of Blitzkrieg that Hitler unleashed to invade the Soviet Union; resulted in total failure

Maginot Line

A fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border from Germany

Bataan Death March

Brutal march of American and Filipino prisoners of war by Japanese soldiers in April 1942

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project for the construction of the atomic bomb that would later be used to end the war

Major Allied Powers

Britain, France, Russia, United States

Major Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

FDR

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the United States during the Depression and WWII; served from 1933 to 1945 and the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms

Adolf Hitler

German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945); responsible for initiating WWII and the Holocaust

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy (1922-1943); Allied with Germany in World War II; was overthrown in 1943 when the Allies invaded Italy.

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953; part of Allied Powers in WWII

Hideki Tojo

Prime minister of Japan during World War II; known for brutal war tactics to win at any cost

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII; was able to lead Britain through all of Hitler's tactics

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister; advocated a policy of appeasement when dealing with Hitler, known as weak

Douglas MacArthur

American general who commanded allied troops in the Pacific during World War II.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

American General who began in North Africa and became the Commander of Allied forces in Europe.

Battle of Britain

An aerial battle fought in World War II in 1940 between the German Luftwaffe which carried out extensive bombing in Britain, and the British Royal Air Force, which offered successful resistance (British victory)

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.

Battle of Dunkirk

the battle on the northern French coast in which Germany defeated France and Britain who were rescued by Allies across the English Channel

Battle of Guadalcanal

World War II battle in the Pacific; represented the first Allied counter-attack against Japanese forces; Allied victory forced Japan to abandon the island

D Day

Allied invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944; attacked five beaches and pushed German forces out

Battle of Stalingrad

Unsuccessful German attack on the city of Stalingrad during World War II from 1942 to 1943; the furthest extent of German advance into the Soviet Union.

Battle of Coral Sea

A battle between Japanese and American naval forces that stopped the Japanese advance on Australia.

Battle of Midway

World War II battle between the United States and Japan, a turning point in the war in the Pacific

Battle of the Bulge

WWII battle in which German forces launched a final counterattack in the west

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

The Axis powers of WW2 included

Germany, Italy, Japan

The Allied powers included

Great Britain, Soviet Union, US

The leader of Great Britain during WW2 was

Churchill

The leader of the US for most of WW2

Roosevelt

The leader of Russia during WW2

Stalin

The leader of Italy during WW2

Mussolini

The prime minister of Japan for most of WW2

Tojo

World War 2 began when Germany invaded what country?

Poland

Germany planned to invade Great Britain after doing what?

Prolonged aerial bombings

Allied invasion of Normandy, France:

D-Day

Major battle in Soviet Union in which Soviet troops defeated Germany; heavy casualties

Battle of Stalingrad

What country used Kamikaze (“divine wind”) attacks?

Japan

Great Britain and the US signed what agreement for supplies?

Lend-Lease Act

Who was the Allied commander of Europe?

Eisenhower

What battle was the turning point of the war in the Pacific?

Battle of Midway

What US leader made the decision to use atomic bombs against Japan?

Truman

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on which Japanese city?

Hiroshima

What was Germany’s last offensive against the Allied powers?

Battle of the Bulge

US strategy in the Pacific; bypass strongly held islands and attack weaker ones to gain bases

Island Hopping

Which nation lost at least 20 million people during WW2?

Soviet Union

The names of the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were?

Fat Man & Little Boy

Besides the blast and heat, what killed people after the atomic bombs were dropped?

Radiation Poisoning

After which battle was the following photo taken?

Iwo Jima

What event caused the US to declare war and begin fighting in WW2?

Bombing of Pearl Harbor

Walled-off areas of cities into which Jews were forced to move:

Ghettos

Approximately how many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust?

6 million

The Cold War, clash between capitalism and communism, was between which two superpowers?

US and USSR