World Wars and the Cold War Comprehensive Review

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the causes, major events, and aftermath of World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, and the Cold War as discussed in class notes.

Militarism

The process of building up armed forces and preparing for war.

Alliances

Agreements between countries to defend and support each other.

Imperialism

Expanding a country's empire through colonization or conquest.

Nationalism

Strong pride and loyalty toward one's country.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The individual whose assassination in Sarajevo on June $28$, $1914$, sparked World War I.

Gavrilo Princip

A Serbian nationalist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Triple Entente

The alliance comprising France, Russia, and Great Britain, also known as the Allied Powers.

Triple Alliance

The alliance that included Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy during the early stages of World War I.

Western Front

The main battlefront in western Europe where trench warfare occurred.

No Man's Land

The dangerous area between opposing trenches.

Christmas Truce

An unofficial ceasefire between British and German soldiers on Christmas Day $1914$, during which they exchanged gifts and played soccer.

Axis Powers

The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.

Allied Powers

The alliance of Britain, France, Soviet Union, United States, and others during World War II.

Treaty of Versailles

The peace agreement that blamed Germany for World War I, took its land, limited its military, and forced reparations.

Great Depression

The period of economic collapse from $1929$ to $1939$ that contributed to the support of extremist leaders.

Adolf Hitler

The Nazi dictator of Germany who promised economic recovery and restored national pride.

Benito Mussolini

The fascist dictator of Italy.

Reichstag Fire

A $1933$ fire used by Hitler to gain greater political power.

Führer

The title, meaning Supreme Leader, that Hitler gave himself in $1934$.

Pact of Steel

A military alliance between Germany and Italy signed in $1939$.

Tripartite Pact

The alliance agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan.

German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

An agreement between Hitler and Stalin that included a secret plan to divide Poland.

Appeasement

The policy of giving concessions to a dictator, such as Hitler, to avoid war.

Battle of Britain

An air conflict from July $1940$ to May $1941$ where Britain prevented a German invasion.

The Blitz

Germany's bombing campaign against Britain.

Radar

The technology that helped Britain during the Battle of Britain.

Battle of Stalingrad

A major turning point in World War II where Germany suffered a massive defeat and never recovered.

D-Day (Normandy)

The Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June $6$, $1944$, which began the liberation of Western Europe.

Juno Beach

The specific beach where Canadian troops landed during the D-Day invasion.

Battle of the Bulge

Germany's last major offensive in Western Europe, so named because the attack created a bulge in Allied lines.

Battle of Berlin

The final major battle in Europe, during which Hitler committed suicide on April $30$, $1945$.

Pearl Harbor

The U.S. naval base attacked by Japan on December $7$, $1941$, leading the U.S. to enter World War II.

Battle of Midway

The turning point of the Pacific War, won by the U.S. after breaking Japanese naval codes.

Guadalcanal

Significant as Japan's first major land loss in the Pacific.

Banzai attack

A suicidal mass charge by Japanese troops.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The largest naval battle of World War II, which saw the first use of kamikaze attacks.

Kamikaze attacks

A tactic involving suicidal aircraft attacks by Japanese pilots.

Manhattan Project

The secret U.S. project to build atomic bombs, led by J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Trinity Site

The location in New Mexico where the first atomic bomb was tested.

Little Boy

The first atomic bomb dropped on Japan, specifically on Hiroshima on August $6$, $1945$.

Fat Man

The second atomic bomb dropped on Japan, specifically on Nagasaki on August $9$, $1945$.

The Holocaust

The systematic persecution and murder of $11$ million people, including $6$ million Jews, by the Nazis.

Nuremberg Laws

Laws that stripped Jews of their rights and citizenship in Nazi Germany.

Kristallnacht

Known as the Night of Broken Glass, occurring November $9$-$10$, $1938$, where Jewish property was destroyed and Jews were arrested.

Ghettos

Segregated areas where Jews were forced to live in overcrowded and diseased conditions.

Final Solution

Hitler's plan for the mass extermination of Europe's Jewish population.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

The largest Nazi death camp.

Genocide

The deliberate destruction of a group of people.

Nuremberg Trials

The trials held after World War II to prosecute Nazi leaders for their crimes.

Iron Curtain

A term coined by Winston Churchill to describe the division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic Western Europe.

NATO

A military alliance formed in $1949$ by Western nations to counter Soviet influence.

Warsaw Pact

A communist military alliance formed in $1955$ in response to NATO.

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid provided to rebuild Western Europe after World War II.

United Nations

An international organization created on October $24$, $1945$, to maintain global peace.

Communism

A system characterized by government ownership of industry and limited individual freedoms.

Capitalism

A system characterized by private ownership, free markets, and democratic freedoms.

Proxy War

A conflict where superpowers support opposite sides rather than fighting each other directly.

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy aimed at containing the spread of communism through aid to other nations.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country became communist, neighboring countries would soon follow.

Brinkmanship

The practice of threatening to use powerful weapons to intimidate an enemy.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

The concept that a nuclear war between superpowers would result in the total destruction of both sides.

Sputnik

The first satellite launched into space, sent by the USSR in $1957$.

McCarthyism

The practice of making unsupported accusations of communist activity, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy.

HUAC

The House Un-American Activities Committee.

Hollywood 10

Film industry members who were jailed for refusing to answer HUAC questioning.

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

The American citizens executed for providing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.