Great Depression and World War II: Key Events, People, and Policies

Test Tuesday November 3rd 2026

Bank Runs

When lots of people rush to withdraw their money from a bank because they fear it will fail.

Black Tuesday

The day the stock market crashed dramatically. It helped trigger the Great Depression.

Okies

A nickname for many people who left the Dust Bowl region, especially Oklahoma, to find work elsewhere.

Migrant

Someone who moves from one place to another, often to find work or a better life.

Grapes of Wrath

A novel by John Steinbeck about a family forced to leave Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl to search for work in California.

Hoovervilles

Makeshift settlements where homeless people lived during the Depression.

Urban impact of Great Depression

Cities suffered from unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and businesses closing.

Rural impact of Great Depression

Farmers lost income, crops, and land due to the Dust Bowl.

Polio

A contagious disease that can damage the nervous system and cause paralysis.

1932 Election

Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover.

The 3 R's

Relief: Immediate help for people suffering. Recovery: Help the economy improve. Reform: Change the system to prevent future problems.

Rugged Individualism

Hoover's belief that people should rely on their own hard work rather than depend on government help.

New Deal

FDR's programs to fight the Great Depression.

CCC

Created jobs for young men working on forests, parks, trails, and conservation projects.

WPA

Created jobs building roads, schools, bridges, and other public projects.

Trickle-Down Economics

The idea that helping businesses and wealthier people can benefit the wider economy.

Keynesian Economics

The idea that government spending can increase demand, create jobs, and help an economy recover.

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 treaty that formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied powers.

Armistice

An agreement to stop fighting.

Fascism

A political system with a powerful authoritarian leader, extreme nationalism, and limited political freedom.

Scapegoating

Blaming a person or group unfairly for problems they did not cause.

National Socialist German Workers Party

The full name of the Nazi Party, led by Adolf Hitler.

Night of the Long Knives

A purge ordered by Hitler in June 1934.

Munich Agreement

Signed in September 1938 by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy.

Atlantic Charter

A statement made by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in August 1941.

Isolationism

The desire to avoid involvement in other countries' conflicts.

Neutrality Acts

U.S. laws passed during the 1930s to help keep America out of foreign wars.

Cash & Carry

A policy that allowed countries at war to buy certain goods from the United States if they paid cash.

Lend-Lease

A U.S. program that supplied weapons and other materials to countries fighting the Axis Powers.

Axis Powers

The main countries fighting against the Allies: Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Allied Powers

The countries fighting against the Axis Powers.

Lebensraum

German for 'living space.'

Blitzkrieg

German for 'lightning war.'

Norden Bombsight

A device used by American bomber crews to help aim bombs accurately at targets.

Tuskegee Airmen

Black American military pilots and support personnel who served during World War II.

Double V Campaign

A campaign supported by many Black Americans during World War II.

Japanese Internment

The forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The Home Front

The people and activities supporting the war effort within a country.

B-17/B-29 Bombers

B-17 Flying Fortress: An American heavy bomber used extensively in bombing campaigns over Europe.

B-29 super fortress:An American heavy bomber used to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

B-17 bombing europe

B-29 atomic bombs

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

Japan's claimed plan to create a cooperative Asian region led by Japan.

Final Solution

The Nazi plan to systematically murder Europe's Jewish population.

"Fat-Man"/"Little-Boy"

Little Boy: The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Fat Man: the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on august 9th 1945

USS Arizona

An American battleship attacked and sunk during Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Fat Man

The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Island Hopping

An American strategy in the Pacific during World War II. U.S. forces captured selected islands to move closer to Japan while bypassing some heavily defended islands.

Kamikaze

Japanese military pilots who carried out deliberate suicide attacks against Allied ships, particularly near the end of World War II.

Manhattan Project

The secret U.S.-led research and development program that created the first atomic bombs during World War II. The bombs were used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Herbert Hoover

U.S. president when the Great Depression began. He believed in individual responsibility and was criticized for not doing enough to help struggling Americans.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

U.S. president from 1933 to 1945. He created the New Deal to fight the Great Depression and led America during most of World War II.

Dorothea Lange

Photographer who documented poverty and migrant families during the Great Depression, including families affected by the Dust Bowl.

John Steinbeck

American author who wrote The Grapes of Wrath, a novel about a family forced to leave Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl to find work in California.

Harry Truman

Became president after FDR died in 1945. He made the decision to use atomic bombs against Japan.

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of the Soviet Union during World War II. The Soviet Union fought against Nazi Germany and became one of the major Allied Powers.

Winston Churchill

British prime minister during most of World War II. He helped lead Britain against Nazi Germany.

Jeannette Rankin

First woman elected to the U.S. Congress. She opposed American entry into both World War I and World War II.

Adolf Hitler

Nazi dictator of Germany who started World War II in Europe by invading Poland in 1939. He was responsible for the Holocaust.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy who allied with Hitler and Germany during World War II.

Emperor Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during World War II, when Japan expanded its empire and fought the Allied Powers.

Hideki Tojo

Japanese prime minister and military leader during much of the early part of World War II. He supported Japanese military expansion.

Isoroku Yamamoto

Japanese admiral who helped plan the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural symbol representing women who worked in factories and other jobs to support the American war effort during World War II.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Supreme Allied commander in Europe who led the planning and execution of D-Day.

General Patton

American general known for leading armored forces and helping the Allies advance through Europe.

Admiral Nimitz

American naval commander who led major U.S. operations against Japan in the Pacific.

Douglas MacArthur

American general who commanded Allied forces in the Southwest Pacific and helped lead the campaign toward the Philippines and Japan.

Great Depression

A severe worldwide economic crisis that began in 1929. It caused unemployment, poverty, bank failures, and homelessness.

Stock Market Crash

In October 1929, stock prices fell dramatically, causing investors to lose money and helping trigger the Great Depression.

Dust Bowl

A period during the 1930s when drought and poor farming practices caused severe dust storms across the Great Plains, forcing many families to leave their farms.

Pearl Harbor

Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The attack led the United States to enter World War II.

The Blitz

Germany's sustained bombing campaign against British cities in 1940-1941, including London. Britain continued fighting despite the attacks.

Allied bombing campaign

Allied forces carried out large bombing raids against Germany and other Axis targets to damage factories, transportation systems, military facilities, and cities.

Operation Barbarossa

Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. The invasion opened a massive eastern front and eventually weakened Germany through prolonged fighting.

D-Day

On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed in Normandy, France, opening a major western front and beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control.

Battle of the Bulge

A major German counterattack in Belgium and Luxembourg in the winter of 1944-1945. The Allies stopped the attack, weakening Germany further.

Battle of Iwo Jima

A major battle in the Pacific from February to March 1945 in which U.S. forces captured the Japanese-held island of Iwo Jima.

Battle of Midway

A major naval battle in June 1942 in which the United States defeated Japan, damaging its aircraft carrier forces and shifting momentum toward the Allies in the Pacific.

Atomic Bombs (Hiroshima/Nagasaki)

The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Japan announced its surrender later that month.

Fall of Berlin

In 1945, Soviet forces captured Berlin as Nazi Germany collapsed. Hitler died by suicide, and Germany surrendered shortly afterward.

V-E Day

Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 1945, when the Allies celebrated Germany's surrender and the end of the war in Europe.

V-J Day

Victory over Japan Day, associated with Japan's surrender in August 1945. The formal surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, officially ending World War II.

October 29th, 1929

Black Tuesday: The stock market crashed dramatically, helping trigger the Great Depression.

September 1st, 1939

Invasion of Poland: Germany invaded Poland, beginning World War II in Europe.

December 7th 1941

Pearl Harbor: Japan attacked the U.S. naval base in Hawaii.

June 4th, 1942

Battle of Midway: The major Pacific naval battle began. The battle continued through June 7.

June 6th, 1944

D-Day: Allied troops landed in Normandy, France.

August 6th, 1945

Hiroshima: The United States dropped the atomic bomb called Little Boy.

August 9th, 1945

Nagasaki: The United States dropped the atomic bomb called Fat Man.

"December 7th, 1941. A date which will live in infamy"

Speaker: Franklin D. Roosevelt. Meaning: Roosevelt described the Pearl Harbor attack as a shocking and unforgettable event. He used the speech to ask Congress to declare war on Japan.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese admiral involved in planning the Pearl Harbor attack. Meaning: The quote suggests that attacking the United States would awaken its enormous military and industrial power and make Americans determined to fight back.

"I have become Death. The destroyer of Worlds."

Associated with: J. Robert Oppenheimer, the scientific director of the Manhattan Project. Meaning: Oppenheimer later recalled this line after witnessing the first atomic bomb test in 1945. It expresses the frightening destructive power of the atomic bomb.

"As a woman, I can't go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else."

Associated with: Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Meaning: The quote expresses opposition to war. Rankin voted against American entry into both World War I and World War II.

Was was V-E day?

Victory in Europe May 8th 

• Unconditional surrender 

• There were celebrations and major gatherings 

• After they set up a post war reconstruction of europe 

• WWll was not officially “over” japan did not surrender 

What is V-J day?

• Surrendered august 15th Victory in japan

• Negotiations had been going on since the second bombing of nagasaki 

• If they did not surrender US was planning on using second bomb

• Formal doc was signed september 2

  • It was on USS missouri on tokyo bay 

• After they signed the US immediately asked what can they do do help. 

What were the japanese interment camps 

The US government forced Japanese to leave there homes and go to the camps they were convinced they were spies

What did the interment camps make people do

They gave them an incredibly hard questionnaire and if they got something wrong they were proven a spy

How many people were sent to the Japanese camps

120,000 were sent

What is the difference between concentration camps and internment camps

Concentration camps unlawfully detain civilians in harsh conditions for political or identity reasons, while internment camps hold foreign nationals during wartime under less extreme conditions.

Which executive orders did FDR sign to authorize the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans?

FDR signed executive order 9066 and 9102

What year were the camps closed

1945

What did the government do after everyone got out of the camps

the government apologized and gave 20,000 to each survivor