WWII

America First Committee

Opposed U.S. intervention in WWI and was one of the longest anti-war movements in U.S. history

Cash and Carry

The policy that allowed foreign nations war resources if they payed in cash and transported the goods themselves

Selective Service Act

The first peacetime draft in U.S. history requiring men aged 21-35 to register for military service

Land Lease Act

An act that allowed the U.S. to provide military aid to Allied nations during the war without immediate payment

Atlantic Charter

A joint declaration issued by FDR and Churchill, before the U.S. joined the war, that outlines postwar goals to strengthen governments and establish peaceful international relations

Pearl Harbor

A surprise military attack by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, which led to the United States' entry into World War II.

Women’s Army Corps

US Army group established during WWII so that women could serve in non-combat roles.

Douglas MacArthur

He commanded American troops in World War I, where he developed a reputation for bravery. As supreme commander of Allied forces in the Pacific (1942-1945) he accepted Japan’s surrender to end WWII. In 1950, he became commander of UN forces in the Korean War. He retired after his controversial removal from command in 1951, following a dispute with President Harry Truman.

Bataan Death March

• Japan attacked the Philippines, an American colony, at the same time they attacked Pearl Harbor

• The U.S. leaves the nation 4 months later, withdrawing most soldiers to safety.

• 80,000 American and Filipino soldiers remained and were marched 80 miles to a POW camp.

Executive Order 9066

• Executive Order 9066: Allowed the U.S. military to place Japanese Americans in internment camps within “war zones” of the US. About 120,000 people were moved into these camps.

• Some Japanese Americans were released for seasonal farm work, others for military service

Korematsu vs. United States

A landmark Supreme Court case in 1944 that upheld the government's decision to intern Japanese Americans during World War II, ruling that wartime national security justified this decision, despite it being later viewed as a violation of civil liberties.

War Production Board

Federal agency that directed the economy, allocating scarce resources to the production of war materials while trying to limit the effect on civilians

Rationing

Government-controlled limits on the amount of certain goods that civilians could buy during wartime

War bonds

A bond bought to fund a war effort, redeemable for interest after a certain period of time

442 Regimental Combat Team

Word War II unit made up of Japanese American volunteers

A Philip Randolph/ Double V Campaign

A strong labor leader and leader of the civil rights movement for decades. In 1925, he became head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. After more than a decade of battling, he got the Pullman Corporation to sign the first contract in history between a major company and a predominantly African American labor union. Next he turned his attention to discrimination in war industries, convincing FDR to issue executive order 8802 in 1941. After the war, he persuaded President Truman to pass another executive order banning discrimination in the military. He was a driving force behind the 1963 March on Washington

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural icon representing women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, symbolizing women's economic power and contributions to the war effort.

Navajo Code Talkers

Native American Marines who used their native language to create an unbreakable code during World War II, facilitating secure communication for Allied forces.

Braceros Program

A program initiated during World War II allowing Mexicans to work in the U.S. as temporary laborers to fill labor shortages, particularly in agriculture and railroad sectors.

Strategic Bombing

Military tactic of dropping large amounts of bombs in order to inflict maximum damage

Tuskegee Airmen

A group of African American military pilots who fought in World War II, known for their exemplary service and significant contributions to the war effort despite facing racial discrimination.

Operation Torch

• Allied invasion of Nazi and Italian-occupied North Africa to get the Allies to Italy next.

• US and British troops moved slowly at first, but eventually defeated the Axis troops and were positioned to launch an attack into Italy through Sicily.

Operation Husky

• Allied invasion of Sicily, and then the later invasion of mainland Italy.

• Allied troops progress was slow up the Italian mainland, particularly because of Nazi troops replacing the Italians.

Operation Overlord

• Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France

• D-Day is a synonym for Operation Overload

Atlantic Wall

• Coastal defenses built by Nazis along western coast of Europe to prevent Allied invasion

Island Hopping

• US strategy in the Pacific; attacking certain Japanese-held islands to approach the Japanese home islands, while skipping others, to obtain bases to launch a long-rage bombing campaign against mainland Japan.

Kamikaze

Suicide-plane attacks.

Ketsu Go

A great deal of death in Kyushu would convince US leaders negotiate a peaceful surrender. Every Japanese soldier was basically committing suicide.

Manhattan Project

Code name of the US government research project that developed the atomic bomb

Hiroshima

• Hiroshima was bombed on 8/6/45 two days before the USSR was to declare war on Japan

• Killed 70,000 Japanese in the initial blast and 100,000 were dead by the end of ‘45 from radiation

• The airplane Enola Gay carried the “Little Boy” bomb (now on display in the Air and Space Annex museum

Nagasaki

• Nagasaki was bombed on 8/9/45

• 40,000 died in initial blast ad 70,000 were dead by the end of ‘45 due to radiation induced illness

• The Bockscar airplane carried the “Fat man” (on display at the Air Force museum)

Nazi Ideology

• Hitler and the Nazis falsely blamed Jews for Germany’s problems: loss in WWI, economic downturn and social unrest

• They had racist views- viewing Jews as an enemy race and disliking any non-Aryan

• Hitler believed in “Lebensraum” (living space) for German expansion; this required taking land from Slavic peoples in Eastern Europe and justified mass displacement, forced labor, and the eventual extermination of millions

Holocaust

• The systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of 6 million Jews along with millions of others (Romani, disable, Slavic, LGBTQ+ peoples, and political prisoners) by Nazi Germany

• Special units of the Nazi military called Einsatzgruppen carried out Mass Shootings

• Nazis created death camps in 1941 where victims were murdered and often burned

Nuremberg Trials

A series of military tribunals held after World War II to prosecute prominent leaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.