DCUSH Midterm Study Guide

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 peace settlement that ended WWI, crippling Germany with reparations and territorial losses.

League of Nations

An international organization created to prevent future wars, which ultimately failed due to lack of military power and U.S. involvement.

Fascism

A political philosophy that exalts nation above the individual, featuring a dictatorial government and suppression of opposition.

Benito Mussolini

The Fascist leader of Italy, known as 'Il Duce,' who aimed to recreate the Roman Empire.

Joseph Stalin

The totalitarian leader of the Soviet Union, known for industrializing the nation through 'Five-Year Plans'.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the Nazi Party in Germany, who dismantled democracy and preached 'Lebensraum' for the Aryan race.

Nazism

The German form of Fascism, characterized by pseudoscientific racism and extreme anti-Semitism.

Axis Powers

The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII.

Appeasement

The policy of giving in to Hitler's territorial demands in order to avoid conflict, practiced by Britain and France.

Blitzkrieg

A military tactic using fast-moving forces to overwhelm the enemy, translating to 'Lightning War'.

Dunkirk

The evacuation of over 330,000 British and French troops from France across the English Channel in 1940.

Holocaust

The state-sponsored systematic murder of 6 million Jews and millions of others during WWII.

Neutrality Acts

Laws passed in the 1930s to prevent U.S. involvement in international conflicts.

Lend-Lease Act

FDR's legislation allowing the U.S. to supply arms to nations vital to its defense, circumventing Neutrality Acts.

Pearl Harbor

The surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base on December 7, 1941, leading to U.S. entry into WWII.

Executive Order 9066

FDR's order allowing for the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

D-Day

The largest amphibious invasion in history, occurring on June 6, 1944, which opened a new front in Europe.

Battle of Midway

The turning point in the Pacific Theater of WWII where the U.S. defeated Japan in June 1942.

Island-Hopping

The U.S. strategy of capturing lightly defended islands while bypassing heavily fortified ones during WWII.

Manhattan Project

The secret project aimed at developing the atomic bomb during WWII.

Teapot Dome Scandal

A major government corruption scandal during the Harding administration involving the leasing of naval oil reserves.

New Deal

FDR's series of programs and policies aimed at combating the Great Depression, which included the establishment of Alphabet Agencies.

Scopes-Monkey Trial

The 1925 court case debating the legality of teaching evolution in schools, representing the conflict between Fundamentalism and Modernism.