World War II Final Assessment Study Guide Vocab

Flashcards for World War II Final Assessment Study Guide

Appeasement

Making concessions to an aggressive foreign power to avoid war

Blitzkrieg

Rapid attack; an intense military campaign to bring a swift victory

Cash-and-carry

Sold or provided for cash and usually without delivery service

Genocide

A mass extermination of a particular group of people

Kamikaze

A Japanese aircraft loaded with explosives and making a deliberate, suicidal crash on an enemy target

Lend-lease

The transfer of goods and services to an ally to aid in a common cause, with payment made by a return of the original items or their use in the cause or by a similar transfer of other goods and services

Propaganda

Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view

Scorched Earth Policy

A military strategy of burning or destroying crops or other resources that might be useful to an invading enemy force

Axis Powers

Germany, Japan, and Italy (bad)

Blitz

An intensive or sudden military attack

Allied Powers

Great Britain, Soviet Union, France, U.S. (good)

Vichy

Cooperative government in France during the German occupation of that country.

Free French

Opposition government in France during the German occupation of that country

Non-aggression pact

The countries agreed that they would not attack each other and secretly divided the countries that lay between them

Franklin Roosevelt

Political leader in the U.S. in WW2

Winston Churchill

A new political leader in Great Britain was appointed on May 10, 1940

Adolph Hitler

Political leader in Germany

Harry S. Truman

Truman authorized the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Charles de Gaulle

French tank commander who goes on to lead the Free French

Relative location

Position of something relative to another landmark

Absolute location

Describes the position of a place in a way that never changes, no matter your location using specific coordinates (longitude and latitude)

Franco

Political leader in Spain in WW2

Mussolini

Political leader in Italy during World War II, known for his fascist regime and alliance with Nazi Germany.

Chamberlain

Political leader representing Great Britain at the Munich Conference

Stalin

Political leader in the Soviet Union who signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in August 1939

Operation Barbarossa

The battle between Germany and the Soviet Union started in Poland, spreading to the border of the Soviet Union, and towards the middle in a plain, with Germany wanting to take control of Soviet territories and resources during World War II. Russia's harsh winter and sticky mud brought an end to this battle; many Germans died from the cold. Germany lost this battle.

The Battle of Midway

Battle between Japan and the U.S. in the Pacific Ocean on the Midway Atoll Islands, with Japan planning to attack Midway to use it as a base to attack Pearl Harbor. Midway was between Asia and North America and housed a U.S. Naval air station that contained codebreakers to decipher Japanese plans. They all had to cross the Pacific Ocean by plane or ship because Midway is an Island. They also all had to deal with smoke from bombs, which made it difficult for them to see the planes dropping bombs from the sky. The U.S. won this battle.

Operation Torch (The North African Campaign)

Battle between the Axis and Allied forces in North African countries with Axis powers needing to take over North Africa for oil and the Allied powers required to defend it

D-Day

Battle between the Axis and Allied forces in Normandy, France and England with the Allied powers winning and marking the beginning of the end of WWII

Spencer's Lake

Camp for German POWs in Maine during WWII, located in Northern Maine due to its remote location with thick woods, making it difficult to find or escape. The camp was used to detain German soldiers captured during the war, providing isolation from civilian areas.