History 100 Final

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Japanese Marshal Admiral of the Navy and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until his death. Admiral during Battle of Midway

Adolf Hitler

Leader of the Nazi Party, chancellor of Germany from 1933-1945

Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding

Head of the Royal Air Force command during the Battle of Britain

Air Supremacy

Position in war where a side holds complete control of air warfare and air power over opposing forces

Aircraft Carrier

Warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft

Alfred Thayer Mahan

United States Navy flag officer who has been called "the most important American strategist of the 19th century." His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide impact

Anwar Sadat

President and Prime Minister of Egypt. Sadat and Israel's Menachat begin to a conference at Camp David; two signed an agreement that served as a step toward peace between Egypt and Israel

Anzio

Four month battle for Anzio outside Rome that cost 25,000 Allied casualties and 30,000 Axis causalities. Fight for mainland Italy

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Heir of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. Assassinated by Serbian named Princip Sarajevo in 1914. (Sparked beginning of WWI

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Surprise attack from Japan on December 7th 1941.

B-29 Super fortress

Four enginer propeller driven heavy bomber flown by US in the Pacific (Atomic bomb).

Bar Lev Line

Line set up by Israel. Most fortified military line in the world. Became a standing war of attrition that was training to both Egypt and Israel's resources

Bataan Death March

Japanese marched their captives 60 miles under the hot sun, denying them food and water after Bataan surrendered

Battle of Britain

Series of aerial combats that took place between British and German aircraft during the autumn of 1940 and that included the severe bombardment of British citites.

Battle of Guadalcanal

Military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the pacific theater of World War II

Battle of Ia Drang

The first major meeting of the US and North Vietnamese army (Rare conventional battle).

Battle of Iwo Jima

Amphibious invasion of Japanese island by US Marines (1st strike in Japan).

Battle of Khe Sanh

January 21, 1968, when forces from the People's Army of North Vietnam (PAVN) carried out a massive artillery bombardment on the U.S. Marine garrison at Khe Sanh located in South Vietnam.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Considered one of the largest naval battles in WWII. Crippled Japanese combined fleet US amphibious attack on Philippine island Leyte

Battle of Midway

Decisive battle in the Pacific Theater of WW2 that changed the course of the war. 1942

Battle of Okinawa

Last major battle between U.S. and Japan

Battle of Stalingrad

Stalingrad important on operational level. Primary objective of German offensive in Russia in 1942 was the capture of Stalingrad.

Battle of Tannenberg

Fought between Russia and Germany between the 26th and 30th of August 1914, first month of WWI.

Battle of the Atlantic

Longest continuous military campaign in World War II running from 1939 to the defeat of Germany in 1945. Allied naval blockade of Germany, announced the day after the declaration of war, and Germany's subsequent counter-blockade.

Battle of the Coral Sea

A major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air force (U.S. protecting Australia from Japan. U.S. vs. Japan on planes).

Battle of the Somme

Somme Offensive, fought from July 1916 to November 1916. One of the largest battles of the First World War. One of the bloodiest battles in human history. One purpose of the battle was to draw German forces away from the Battle of Verdun; however, by its end of losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun.

Battle of Tsushima

Naval battle of the sea of Japan. Major naval battle fought between Russia and Japan during Russo-Japanese war. (May 27 19065- May 28 1905).

Battle of Verdun

Longest battle of WWI. Germans attacked France to get rid of ally powers and hostilities; many casualties and lots of need for manpower; Germany has chemical weaponry and they advance; France sets out to create a diversion with the Battle of Somme.

Berlin Airlift

Military operation in the late 1940s that brought food and other needed goods into West Berlin by air after the government of East Germany which at that time surrounded West Berlin.

Blitzkrieg

Intense military campaign to bring about a swift victory ("lightning war" German Tactic).

Brusilov Offensive

"June Advance" of June to September 1916 was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during WWI and among the most lethal offensives in world history.

Bushido

One solution to material deficiencies was the cultivation within the ranks of self-sacrificial obedience based on romanticized samurai tradition (code of conduct of Samurai).

Casablanca Conference

Held in January 1943 and saw President Franklin D. Roosevelt and PM Winston Churchill discuss strategy for defeating the AXIS powers (U.S. and Britian discussing defeating Axis powers).

Case Blue (Operation Blue):

German armed forces name for its plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in Southern Russia

Case White

Battle of Poland operational plan aimed to deliver an overwhelming blow from the outset, with air raids on polish airfields in the opening minutes and massed Panzer assaults at multiple locations along the border (Germany taking Poland).

Case Yellow

Battle of France, the main goal was to reach the coast of the channel in order to seize bases and airfields from which to prosecute an air war against Britain, rather than any sort of decisive victory. Ended on a disappointed note at Dunkirk.

Center of gravity

The source of power that provides moral or physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act. Source of strength.

Combat Power

Total means of destructive and disruptive force which a military unit/formation can apply against the opponent at a given time.

Combined Bomber Offensive

An Anglo-American offensive of strategic bombing during WWII in Europe.

Containment Strategy of Convoy System

Geopolitical strategy to stop the expansion of an enemy. Best known as a Cold War foreign policy of the US and its allies to prevent the spread of communism.

Culminating Point

military strategy is the point at which a military force no longer is able to perform its operations. On the offensive, the culminating point marks the time when the attack force can no longer continue its advance because of supply problems.

Deep Battle/Deep Operations

(Soviet Union) focused on rapidly achieving effects at a distance. Can only be consecutive.

Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara

US Secretary of Defense who revamped pentagon operations and played a major role in the Vietnam War

Détente

Policy to ease tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union (1971)

Doolittle Tokyo Raid

An air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places (U.S. dropping bombs on Tokyo).

Dunkirk:

The evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and other Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk to England.

Economy of Force

One of the nine Principles of War based upon Carl Von Clausewitz approach to warfare. It is the principle of employing all available combat power in the most effective way possible, in an attempt to allocate a minimum of essential combat power to any secondary efforts.

Elastic Defense

Tactical doctrine that was used in various forms by different nations during WWII notably Germany and Japan. Strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space

Electronic Countermeasures (ECE

Electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems like infrared or lasers. Used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy.

ENIGMA Machine

German encoding device that they believed to be impossible to break.

Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery

Controversial figure. Hero and military genius. Battle of El Alamein.

Final Solution

: Nazis to the genocide of European Jews during WWII. Nazi government had abolished Jews' rights, destroyed and confiscated their property, and confined Jews in concentration camps.

FLAK:

German anti aircraft cannon

Admiral Ernest J King

Commander in Chief, US Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during WWII.

Flexible Response

Defense strategy implanted by JFK in 1961 to address the Kennedy administration skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower's New Look and its policy of massive retaliation.

Fourteen Points

Statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end WW1. Principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms to the US Congress by President Woodrow Wilson.

Gallipoli

A campaign of the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire between 17 Feb 1915 and 9 Jan 1916.

Gamal Abdul Nasser:

President and prime minister of Egypt. 1956-1970. Overthrow of the monarchy and introduced far-reaching land reforms the following year. Nationalization of the Suez Canal and his political victory in the subsequent Suez Crisis.

General (Lt) Charles Horner:

Flew in combat as wild weasel pilot; during operations desert storm and shield commanded American aerial forces.

General Carl Spaatz

First chief of staff of the US AF.

General Creighton Abrams

US Army General who commanded military operations in Vietnam War

General Curtis Lemay

Systematic strategic bombing campaign

General Douglas MacArthur

An American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Led allied in Europe during WW2 & Supreme commander of operation overload.

General George C. Kenney

Commander of the Allied AF southwest pacific area.

General William "Billy" Mitchell

United States Army general who is regarded as the father of the United States AF. Served in France during WWI and, by the conflict's end, commanded all American air combat units in that country.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

: American general during Gulf War known as "Stormin Norman" led Operation Desert Storm, part of his strategy to follow continuous bombing with a ground strike.

General William Westmoreland

Chief of staff, U.S. Army from 1968 to 1972. Veteran of WWII and the Korean War, to command the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (MARCV) in June 1964.

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel

German general and military theorist. Commanded Germans in North Africa during WW2.

Gradual Escalation:

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

US Congress overwhelming approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President LBJ unlimited powers to oppose "communist aggression" in Southeast Asia.

Guerilla Warfare

A form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants like paramilitary personnel, armed civilians or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes sabotage raids, petty warfare.

Harry Truman

33 president in the USA. Presided over the end of WWII and the early stages of Cold War. Decisions to use the atomic bomb against Japan to confront perceived Soviet expansionism.

Helmuth von Moltke

German general. He designed the final German war plan for 1914

Hiroshima

US dropped atomic bomb on Japanese cities.

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Used by the North Vietnamese as a route for its troops to get into the South. Also used trail as a supply route- for weapons, food and equipment.

Interior and Exterior Lines

Strategy of warfare based on the fact that lines of movement and communication within an enclosed area are shorter than those on the outside.

Island hopping strategy

military strategy (USA) by the Allies in the Pacific War against Japan and the Axis powers (US strategy to get to Japan).

Isolationism

Doctrine that a nation should stay out of the disputes and affairs of other nations. U.S. practice a policy until WWI and did not pursue an active international policy until after WWII.

Israel Defense Force (IDF

Military forces of the state of Israel.

Josef Stalin

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Kamikaze

Member of Japanese air attack corp in WW2 assigned to make suicidal crashes on a target (suicidal crashes).

Kassarine Pass

Battle of the Tunisia campaign of WWII.

Kim II-sung

1994 President Democratic People's Republic of Korea Long before he became the Great Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Le Duan

1908-1986 was a major figure in North Vietnam during Vietnam War and the principle leader of all Vietnam in postwar era. Less successful as a leader dealing with the problems of peace.

Lebensraum

Living space, a policy of the Nazis during WWII to conquer territory in Europe for German use.

Limited War

War to achieve specific goals rather than the total defeat of the enemy.

Lines of Communication

Route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Secure and open line of communication is vital for any military force to continue to operate effectively.

MAGIC

Allied cryptanalysis project during WWII (towards Japan).

Maginot Line

Line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons built by France to deter invasion by Europe. Sophisticated series of underground defenses stretching from Switzerland to Luxembourg built in 1930-1935 by French engineers to draw German forces.

Maneuver

military or naval movement.

Marshall of the RAF Arthur Harris

Air Officer commanding in chief of the RAF bomber command during Combined bomber offensive.

Marshall Plan

European recovery program, channeled over 13 billion to finance the economic recovery of Europe between 1948 and 1951. Successfully sparked economic recovery meeting its objective of 'restoring the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole'.

Massive Retaliation

massive response or massive deterrence is a military doctrine and nuclear strategy in which a state commits itself to retaliate in much greater force in the event of an attack.

General Matthew B. Ridgeway

Led 900,000 UN troops to secure their lines and Seoul and then launched a counter attack back across the 38th parallel. Replaced General MacArthur after he defied order to have peace.

Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Major part of the final Allied offensive of WWI that stretched along the entire Western Front.

Mobilization

Military terminology, is the act of assembling and readying troops and supplies for war.

Mulberries

two artificial harbours designed and constructed by the British in WWII to facilitate the unloading of supply ships off the coast of Normandy, France, immediately following the invasion of Europe of D-Day June 6 1944.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.

My Lai

My Lai massacre, a mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, carried out in 1968 by US troops under the command of Lieutenant Wwilliam Calley.