World War II

Adolf Hitler

Fascist Dictator of Nazi Germany

Benito Mussolini

Fascist Dictator of Italy; dreamed of recreating the Roman Empire

Hideki Tojo

Prime Minister of Japan

Joseph Stalin

Communist Dictator of Soviet Union; conducted the Great Purge and sent millions to gulags

Neville Chamberlain

Prime Minister of Great Britain before Churchill. Famous for appeasing Hitler at the Munich Conference.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII, great leader during Battle of Britain who inspired to never surrender

Franklin D. Roosevelt

President of the US during Great Depression and World War II

Communism

Type of society that is classless; no private property; complete government control of economy; wants to spread

Fascism

Type of society with a supreme leader; belligerent nationalism; glory is gained through conquest and war

Treaty of Versailles violations

Rebuilding military, stop paying reparations, invading Rhineland, Sudetenland, Poland, France, Anschluss (union) with Austria

Anschluss

Union of Austria and Germany

Treaty of Versailles

1. Germany had to pay reparations to allies

2. Germany had to give up land (Rhineland, Sudetenland, colonies)

3. Germany had to reduce its military

Munich Pact

Neville chamberlain met with Adolf Hitler and Mussolini and discussed appeasement

Ancshluss

Annexation or joining of Austria with Germany

Appeasement

Allowing Hitler to take Sudetenland in order to avoid conflict - Neville Chamberlain's policy (giving into demands to keep the peace)

Francisco Franco

Fascist leader of the Spanish revolution, helped by Hitler and Mussolini

Kristallnacht

(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews.

Neutrality Acts of 1930s

Prevented selling weapons or giving loans to nations at war; showed that Americans were mostly isolationists

Cash and Carry

Only legal method of giving aid to the Allies under the Neutrality Acts; other countries must pay in cash for goods and ship it themselves

Isolationists

Most Americans before WWII were _______________. (did not want to go to war).

Interventionists

People in the United States that were pro-war and wanted to send aid to Britain to save democracy and liberty

Germany invades Poland to start WWII

September 1, 1939

Pearl Harbor Attack

December 7, 1941 (a date which will live in infamy)

Blitzkrieg

"Lighting war", type of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

Tripartite Pact

Alliance between the Axis powers in 1940 (Italy, Germany and Japan)

Allies

Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States

Lend-Lease Act

The law passed by the U.S. Congress allowing us to give aid to our Allies (Britain) in early WWII (ships, guns, ammunition, money, etc)

Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during WWII

Lebensraum

Hitler's need to acquire "living space" for the German people

Manchukuo

'puppet state' that was created after the Japanese invaded Manchuria, China

Oil Embargo on Japan

FDR banned the sale of oil to Japan in response to Japanese aggression; this increased tensions and prompted the Japanese to plan an attack at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

United States military base on Hawaii that was bombed by Japan, bringing the United States into World War II. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941.

Aircraft carriers

Survived the attack on Pearl Harbor; most important weapon in war in Pacific

USS Arizona

Exploded and sunk at Pearl Harbor after a bomb hit its magazine; killed 1,177 sailors; still underwater today

Douglas MacArthur

General of the Army in the Pacific. Lost battle of Philippines which led to Bataan death march; returned to Philippines and signed surrender agreement at the end of the war

Bataan Death March

Japanese forced American and Filipino POWs to march 68 miles with little food and water while being abused, killing thousands

James Doolittle

Commanded the mission that dropped the first U.S. bombs on Tokyo, Japan (Doolittle Raid)

Dunkirk

site of British troops stranded in France, and their rescue and retreat back to Britain

Unconditional Surrender

United States military strategy that called for the axis powers to be defeated completely without any conditions

Soft Underbelly

Nickname for the weaker side of Europe (Italy). Think of a porcupine.

Wolf Packs

Groups of German U-boats that hunted Allied and US ships in the Atlantic

Battle of the Atlantic

Convoys, sonar, radar, and depth charges helped the Allies protect convoys against German wolf packs (groups of u-boats)

Operation Torch

Allied invasion of North Africa; many American troops experienced their first combat here

Scorched Earth

Burning live stock and crops to prevent the enemy from living off the land. Soviets used it during WWII.

Battle of Stalingrad

Soviets defeat the Germans in one of the deadliest battles in history; Turning point of the war on the eastern front.

Dwight D. Eisenhower "Ike"

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; American general who planned the D-Day invasion

George S. Patton "Old Blood and Guts"

U.S. general, tank commander known as "old blood and guts"

Tuskegee Airmen

"Red Tails"; all-Black fighter squadron that escorted bombers

Navajo Code Talkers

Native Americans from the Navajo tribe that made an unbreakable communications code for the Marines

442nd Regimental Combat Team

Japanese American combat team that became one of the most decorated military units in American history

Chester Nimitz

Admiral of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific

Yamamoto

Admiral of the Japanese Navy in the Pacific

Battle of Midway

U.S. victory over Japan in 1942; turning point of the war in the pacific; U.S. knew Japan's plans because of code-breakers; U.S. used dive bombers; Japan lost 4 carriers

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The largest naval battle in history; American victory in the Philippines

Arsenal of Democracy

Term introduced by President Franklin Roosevelt for America's role in World War II giving supplies to the Allies to win the war

Ford Motor Company

Switched from building cars to airplanes during the war

Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of 1942

Henry Doorly and the Omaha World Herald organized a competition for Nebraskans to donate scrap metal to be turned into steel; helped end a nationwide steel shortage

Rosie the Riveter

symbol of American women who went to work in factories during the war

Internment Camps

Where Japanese Americans were placed after Pearl Harbor attack

Fred Korematsu

Japanese American who fought against internment in the Supreme Court

War Bonds

Loans given to the United States government by citizens to pay for the war.

Victory Gardens

Americans were encouraged to grow their own vegetables due to rationing

D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944; planned by Eisenhower; largest naval invasion in history

Rationing

Restricting the amount of food and other goods people may buy during wartime to assure adequate supplies for the military

Omaha Beach

deadliest beach landing on D-day; main American beach

Battle of the Bulge

Hitler's last stand; attempts to encircle the Allies but fails

Harry S. Truman

Became president when FDR died; gave the order to drop the atomic bomb

Island Hopping

Bypassing heavily fortified islands and attacking less-defended islands on the way to Japan; used in the Pacific

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who would crash their planes into American targets

Bushido

Japanese moral code that valued "death before dishonor" and never surrendering

Battle of Iwo Jima

US victory over Japan, best known for a picture of Marines raising a US flag

Battle of Okinawa

Last island battle for the US before reaching mainland Japan

Amphibious Landing

A landing where soldiers get off ships or boats onto land in enemy territory; used in D-Day

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Two Japanese cities on which the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs to end World War II; August 6th and 9th, 1945

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project for the construction of the first atomic bomb; located in Los Alamos, New Mexico

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Scientific leader of the Manhattan project

Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day)

May 8, 1945

Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day)

August 15, 1945

Little Boy and Fat Man

Nicknames of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan

Albert Einstein

Man who warned Roosevelt that Nazis were developing an atomic bomb

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan

Dachau

First concentration camp; liberated by US soldiers 1945

Auschwitz

Nazi death camp in Poland, the largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust. Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there

Liberty Ships

US cargo ships made quickly by Henry Kaiser to transport troops and supplies across the Atlantic

Genocide

The killing of an entire race of people (the Holocaust);

Holocaust

Genocide in which 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazis

St. Louis Ship

a ship crowded with 900 Jewish refugees, turned away by the United States and other countries and returned to Europe

War Refugee Board

US government agency created to help rescue Jews and other victims of the Holocaust

Nuremberg Trials

Trials of 24 Nazi leaders, showed that people are responsible for their actions, even in wartime; convicted of crimes against humanity

USS Missouri

On September 2, 1945, the Japanese emperor formally surrendered on the ship in Tokyo Bay