World War II Overview

These flashcards cover major concepts, events, and terminology related to World War II as presented in the lecture notes.

Appeasement

Yielding to an enemy’s demands in order to maintain peace.

Munich Pact (1938)

An agreement where Britain and France appeased Hitler by allowing Germany to annex the Sudetenland.

Totalitarianism

A system in which the government totally controls all aspects of a society, including the economy.

Fascism

A political movement based on extreme nationalism where the state comes first and individual liberty is secondary.

Nazism

The belief that Germans and other Nordic peoples are superior to other races.

Spanish Civil War

A civil war from 1936 to 1939 in which the Nationalists overthrew Spain’s democratic republic.

Neutrality Acts

Legislation passed by Congress in 1936 and 1937 aimed at keeping the US out of European conflicts.

Blitzkrieg

Lightning war; the German military strategy of attacking without warning.

Mobilization

The assembling of troops and equipment for war.

Puppet government

A government run by citizens of a conquered country executing the policies of the conqueror.

Lend-Lease Act

Legislation allowing the U.S. to lend arms to Britain in 1941.

War Production Board (WPB)

Managed the conversion of industries to military production during World War II.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The gross national product excluding the value of net income earned abroad.

Price controls

A system of legal restrictions on the prices charged for goods.

GIs

A nickname for U.S. soldiers during World War II, derived from the 'government issue' label.

Internment camp

A center for confining people relocated for national security reasons.

Executive Order 9066

An order issued by FDR allowing interment camps for residents deemed a security threat.

Korematsu vs United States

The 1944 decision declaring the government had the right to keep Japanese Americans in internment camps.

Women’s Army Corps (WAC)

A women's unit of the U.S. Army established in 1942.

Double V campaign

A campaign for citizens to fight against racism seeking a 'double victory' for democracy.

Tuskegee Airmen

The first black combat unit in the Army Air Corps established in 1941.

War Refugee Board

Arranged for Jewish refugees to stay in centers in Italy, North Africa, and former army camps.

Zoot Suit Riots

Racial clashes in Los Angeles in 1943 between sailors and Mexican American youths.

Counteroffensive

A large-scale military counterattack by a previously defensive force.

Battle of Stalingrad

A key Soviet victory that ended Hitler’s effort to conquer the USSR.

Precision bombing

The bombing of specific military targets.

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of German-occupied France began.

Genocide

The systematic killing of a racial, political, or cultural group.

Holocaust

The state-sponsored persecution and murder of Jews and other minority groups by the Nazis.

Battle of Midway

A U.S. naval victory that stopped Japanese expansion in World War II.

Leapfrogging

An American strategy of bypassing heavily defended Japanese islands to capture less defended ones.

Battle of Okinawa

The military engagement that positioned the Allies for an invasion of Japan.

Kamikaze

A Japanese strategy where suicide pilots flew bomb-filled planes into Allied vessels.

Manhattan Project

The top-secret U.S. government project that developed the atomic bomb.

World Bank

A bank founded in 1944 to provide loans to countries recovering from World War II.

United Nations (UN)

An international organization founded in 1945 to promote peace, prosperity, and human rights.

Four Freedoms

Freedom of speech and expression, worship, from want, and from fear, as defined by FDR.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A document affirming basic human rights adopted by the UN in 1948.

Human rights

Rights that belong to all people, including life, liberty, and equality.

War crimes

Violations of internationally accepted practices related to waging war.

Tribunal

A court.

Nuremberg War Crimes Trials

A series of trials where former Nazi leaders were convicted of war crimes.

Sovereignty

A nation’s independent authority.

GI Bill of Rights

A law passed in 1944 to provide funds to help returning GIs transition to civilian life.

Median income

The average pay.

Service sector

The segment of the economy that does not produce goods.