WW2

Blitzkrieg

The German “lightning war” strategy using fast-moving planes, tanks, and troops to overwhelm enemies quickly.

Lebensraum

Hitler’s idea of “living space” that justified German expansion into Eastern Europe.

Appeasement

Giving in to an aggressor’s demands to maintain peace.

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

1939 pact where Germany and the USSR agreed not to attack each other and secretly divided Poland.

Nuremberg Laws

1935 Nazi racial laws that stripped Jews of citizenship and rights.

Kristallnacht

“Night of Broken Glass” when Nazi mobs attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues.

Final Solution

The Nazi plan to exterminate the Jewish population through mass murder and death camps.

Why was Hitler able to come to power?

Germany was in economic collapse; unemployment, unrest, and Nazi propaganda helped him gain support.

What happened on September 1, 1939?

Germany invaded Poland, starting WWII when Britain and France declared war.

What was the Holocaust?

The systematic murder of six million Jews by the Nazis.

Groups targeted besides Jews

Roma, disabled people, LGBTQ+ individuals, Slavs, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and political opponents.

Conditions in ghettos

Overcrowding, starvation, disease, poor sanitation, forced labor.

Conditions in concentration/death camps

Starvation, forced labor, torture, disease, and gas chamber executions.

Why didn’t the U.S. accept more Jewish refugees?

Strict quotas, job fears during the Depression, and antisemitism.

Selective Training and Service Act

First peacetime draft in U.S. history (1940).

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the U.S. to send weapons and supplies to Allies before joining the war.

What happened on Dec. 7, 1941?

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor; the U.S. entered WWII.

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

The U.S. cut off oil and steel shipments to Japan.

Results of Pearl Harbor attack

U.S. naval losses and Congress declared war on Japan.

Executive Order 9066

Authorized internment of Japanese Americans for “national security.”

Conditions in Japanese internment camps

Barbed wire, guards, crowded barracks, poor food, and harsh conditions.

War’s impact on women

Women filled factory jobs and military support roles.

War’s impact on African Americans

More job opportunities and migration; Double V campaign.

Dwight Eisenhower

Supreme Allied Commander in Europe; led D-Day.

Battle of the Bulge

Germany’s last major offensive; Allies defeated them and Germany was weakened.

Nuremberg Trials

Trials that held Nazi leaders accountable for war crimes.

Operation Overlord

Allied plan to invade Nazi-occupied France through Normandy (D-Day).

What happened on June 6, 1944?

D-Day: Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy.

Significance of D-Day

Opened a Western front and turned the tide against Germany.

Omaha Beach experience

Heavy fire, rough waves, mines, and high casualties; soldiers pushed through.

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who crashed into Allied ships.

Manhattan Project

Secret U.S. project that developed the atomic bomb.

Emperor Hirohito

Japan’s emperor during WWII who announced Japan’s surrender.