Dictator 2

America First Committee

A non-interventionist group that opposed American entry into World War II.

Atlantic Charter

A pivotal policy statement issued in August 1941 that defined the Allied goals for the post-war world.

Appeasement

A diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power.

Battle of Britain

A military campaign in which the Royal Air Force defended the United Kingdom against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force.

Blackshirts

Paramilitary wing of the National Fascist Party in Italy, led by Mussolini.

Blitzkrieg

A method of warfare characterized by swift, surprise attacks using fast-moving and coordinated forces.

Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister known for his policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler.

Concentration Camps

Detention centers established by Nazi Germany for the imprisonment and extermination of Jews, political prisoners, and other groups.

Dunkirk

The evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in 1940.

Fascism

A far-right, authoritarian ultranationalist political ideology and movement.

Good Neighbor Policy

A United States foreign policy doctrine, adopted by Franklin D. Roosevelt, aimed at improving relations with Latin America.

USS Greer

An American destroyer involved in an incident with a German submarine in 1941, leading to a shoot-on-sight policy.

Guernica

A town in Spain bombed by Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War, also the subject of a famous painting by Picasso.

Gulags

Soviet labor camps used for political prisoners and dissidents.

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) and dictator of Nazi Germany.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

An international agreement that attempted to prevent war by making it illegal.

Lebensraum

The Nazi policy of territorial expansion for the purpose of providing living space for the German people.

Lend-Lease Act

A program under which the United States supplied Allied nations with aid and military material during World War II.

Manchuria

A region in Northeast Asia invaded by Japan in 1931.

Mein Kampf

An autobiographical manifesto by Adolf Hitler outlining his political ideology and future plans for Germany.

Munich Conference

A 1938 meeting where Britain and France agreed to allow Nazi Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia in an attempt to avoid war.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy and ally of Nazi Germany.

Neutrality Acts

A series of laws passed in the 1930s to prevent the United States from becoming involved in foreign conflicts.

Non-Aggression Pact

A treaty between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939 agreeing not to attack each other.

Quarantine Speech

A speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 calling for an international "quarantine" against the spread of fascism.

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act

A 1934 act that aimed to reduce tariffs and expand international trade.

Reparations

Compensation demanded by the Allied powers from Germany after World War I.

Selective Service Act

A law passed in 1940 requiring men to register for the draft.

Spanish Civil War

A conflict from 1936 to 1939 between Republicans and Nationalists in Spain, with significant international involvement.

Stab in the Back

A myth that Germany's defeat in World War I was due to internal betrayal rather than military failure.

Joseph Stalin

Leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.

Stormtroopers (SA)

The original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party.

Sudetenland

A region of Czechoslovakia annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938.

Totalitarianism

A political system in which the state recognizes no limits to its authority and seeks to regulate every aspect of public and private life.

Hideki Tojo

Prime Minister of Japan during much of World War II.

Vichy France

The government of unoccupied France after the country's defeat by Nazi Germany in 1940.