World War 2 Study Guide Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key people, terms, dates, and strategies of World War 2 based on the provided study guide.

Adolf Hitler

Fascist Dictator and Leader of Germany during World War 2.

Holocaust

The genocide and murder of Jews and others by Nazi Germany during World War 2.

Appeasement

Giving into an aggressor nation to avoid further conflict.

Battle of the Bulge

Germany’s last attempt to stop the allies after D-Day in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium.

Benito Mussolini

Dictator and leader of Italy during World War 2.

Dwight Eisenhower

Head of the European theater during World War 2 and United States general in charge of D-Day.

blitzkrieg

Germany’s style of fighting in World War 2 involving the Luftwaffe and panzer tanks going in fast and with the intention of shock and quick mass death. Blitzkrieg = lighting death

Stalingrad

Russian city and site of a major battle of Operation Barbarossa which resulted in a German defeat.

Czechoslovakia and the Munich Conference

Event where Hitler took part of Czechoslovakia and was appeased by Britain and France before taking the rest of the country.

kamikazes

Japanese suicide pilots during World War 2.

Hideki Tojo

Military leader and ruler of Japan.

Manhattan Project

The building of the atomic bomb.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister and leader of Great Britain.

Pearl Harbor

Japanese attack on Hawaii on December 7, 1941, that started the war for the United States.

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union/Russia during World War 2.

Selective Service Act

The draft in the United States.

Operation Overlord

Codename for D-Day.

Erwin Rommel

Known as the Desert Fox; the German general in charge of D-Day defense.

Harry Truman

President after FDR who made the decision to drop the atomic bomb.

Island hopping

United States strategy in the Pacific against the Japanese after the Battle of Midway/Coral Sea.

totalitarian

A government that totally controls the lives of its people.

Douglas MacArthur

United States general and head of the Pacific theater against the Japanese.

VE Day

May 8, 1945; the end of World War 2 in Europe marked by Germany's surrender.

VJ Day

September 2, 1945; Japanese surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

Dunkirk

Miracle evacuation of British troops as they escaped the coast over the English Channel against the Germans.

Hiroshima

August 6, 1945; the day the first atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped by the United States against Japan.

Nagasaki

August 9, 1945; the day the second atomic bomb (fat man) was dropped by the United States against Japan.

Nazi

German Workers Socialist Party; the political party led by Hitler that controlled Germany during World War 2.

Rosie the Riveter

The symbol of the women’s work movement and their contribution to World War 2 in the United States.

Enola Gay

The plane flown by Paul Tibbets that dropped the atomic bomb; named after his mother. (Little Boy)

Auschwitz

Concentration camp that symbolized the horrors of the Holocaust.

Korematsu v United States

Supreme Court case that justified and allowed the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War 2.

lend-lease policy outcome

Saved Great Britain and the allies by providing the necessary materials to remain free; viewed as the arsenal of victory.

Pacific Theater Turning Point

The Battle of Midway and the Coral Sea.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Allied Powers

United States, Great Britain, Russia (after the war started), France (occupied), and China.

Normandy Beaches and Countries

Omaha (USA), Utah (USA), Gold (Great Britain), Sword (Great Britain), and Juno (Canada).

Operation Overlord's Biggest Problem

The Weather.

Bismarck

The largest German battleship sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Oppenheimer

The director of the Manhattan Project.

Los Alamos, New Mexico

The location where research for the atomic bomb took place.

United States Presidents during WW2

FDR and Harry Truman.

Japanese Leaders during WW2

Hirohito (emperor) and Tojo (military leader).

Great Britain Leaders during WW2

Chamberlain until the war started, then Churchill.