World War II Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key leaders, military events, policies, home front developments, and turning points of World War II from the lecture notes.

Appeasement

A diplomatic policy that makes political and material concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict.

Non-aggression pact

An agreement where both parties agree to take no military action against each other.

Churchill

British Prime Minister who argued against appeasement and stood up to Nazi Germany after the fall of France.

Stalin

Soviet premier who signed a non-aggression pact before the war, oversaw his country's military campaign on the Eastern Front, and developed and implemented a political plan that resulted in famine.

Adolf Hitler

Leader who used scapegoating of others to promote himself, held the acquisition of foreign lands bordering Germany as a primary goal, and allied with Benito Mussolini.

Kristallnacht

Also known as the "Night of Broken Glass"; an anti-Semitic program that took place the night of Nov 9-10 1938 and is considered the start of the Holocaust.

Final Solution

Nazi Germany's term for the genocide they implemented against Europe's Jewish people.

Rhineland, Sudetenland & Czechoslovakia

Territories that were invaded and conquered by Nazi Germany.

Manchuria

Territory invaded by the Japanese Imperial Army led by Hideki Tojo.

Lend-Lease Act

An agreement between the US and its allies to lend weapons in return for leases on military bases.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

General who led the successful invasion of North Africa and Italy, was named Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, and planned and led the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France (D-Day).

General Patton

General who commanded the US Third Army after the Normandy invasion, led Operation Torch, and accepted his enemy's final surrender.

General Mac Arthur

Commander of US land forces in the Pacific who was forced to flee his HQ in the Philippines but later returned.

Charles De Gaulle

French leader who refused to accept his country's surrender, led his country's "free" government in exile, and commanded a resistance movement made up of men and women behind enemy lines.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Individual who caused a stir by inviting Black Americans to the White House.

Poland Invasion

Event in September 1939 that led directly to Britain and France declaring war on Germany.

Dunkirk

Operation where thousands of trapped French and British troops were rescued by over 800 British boats, including fishing boats, yachts, and other privately owned ships.

Battle of Britain

Battle that featured the Luftwaffe, radar, Enigma, and the RAF (Royal Air Force).

Operation Barbarossa

Military invasion that involved Moscow, the Scorched Earth Policy, and Leningrad.

Pearl Harbor Attack

Event on December 7th 1941 that crippled the US Navy Pacific fleet, occurred in retaliation for a US government decision about oil supply, and had a date that according to FDR would "live in infamy".

Tuskegee Airmen

All-black unit of American combat pilots that flew missions over Europe and North Africa.

Navajo language

The radio code used by American forces in the Pacific that was highly successful because it conformed to no known linguistic systems.

Okinawa

Battle during World War II in which Japanese civilians took part in the fighting.

Guadalcanal

The first major offensive by Allied troops against Japan.

Midway

The turning point in the Pacific War, fought primarily as a naval and naval air battle.

Iwo Jima

Bloody battle and American victory where Marines raised the flag.

Executive Order 9066

The order to relocate all Japanese Americans on the West Coast to internment camps due to fear of spies or acts of sabotage against the US mainland.

Rationing

System wherein the US government limited the availability of essential items—requiring coupons for meat, sugar, and coffee—with goods availability determined by the Office of Price Administration.

Zoot Suits

Suits requiring substantial wool fabric that became contentious because fabric was rationed for war efforts; wearing them led some Americans to claim youths of color were unpatriotic, provoking violent acts.

Double V Campaign

Movement in which Black Americans fought for freedom overseas and at home.

Holocaust

Genocide forming part of Hitler's plan for a "master race," which included Doctor Joseph Mengde carrying out experiments on Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz and a Jewish uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Atomic Bomb

Weapon used on civilians and densely populated cities in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing about the end of World War II.