MWH Linder WWII

Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

Agreement between Hitler and Stalin that said they would both invade Poland and not attack one another

Blitzkrieg

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

Septemeber 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland. They surrender within a week

Maginot Line

A fortification built before World War II to protect France's eastern border from Germany

Vichy France

"Puppet" government in southern France; basically run by Germany during the German occupation

Dunkirk

port in France. 1940- 300,000 Allied troops were evacuated off the beach when their retreat by land was cut off by the German advance.

Charles de Gaulle

Leader of the French government-in-exile (lived in England)

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who led Britain throughout most of World War II. He & Pres. Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.

Luftwaffe

the German air force before and during World War II

Royal Air Force

The British air force, Inflicted heavy losses on the German air force because its planes were aided by a newly developed radar and an excellent systems of communications

Battle of Britain (1940)

series of air strikes on Britain by Germany Luftwaffe from August - November, 1940 in an attempt to gain air supremacy.

General Erwin Rommel "Desert Fox"

German Leader of the Afrika Corps who fought for control of the Suez Canal, Egypt. saw victory at Tobruk, but lost in El Alamein

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.

Allies

Great Britain, France, Russia, later US

Operation Barbarossa (1941)

Codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II.

Neutrality Acts

4 laws passed in the late 1930s that were designed to keep the US out of international incidents

Lend-Lease Act

US law. allowed sales or loans of war materials to any country whose defense the president deems vital to the defense of the U.S

Atlantic Charter

1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII and to work for peace after the war

Pearl Harbor

7:50-10:00 AM, December 7, 1941 - Surprise attack by the Japanese on the main U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Destroyed 18 U.S. ships and 200 aircraft. American losses were 3000, Japanese losses less than 100. In response, the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany, entering World War II.

December 7, 1941

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Bataan Death March

Japanese forced about 60,000 Americans and Philippinos to march through the jungle 100 miles with little food and water Most died or were killed on the way

Midway Island

World War II Pacific battle; decisive U.S. victory over powerful Japanese carrier force.

General Douglas MacArthur

commander of the US forces in the Philippine Islands who directed the Allied occupation of Japan

Battle of Guadalcanal

1942-1943 battle of World War II. Allied troops drove Japanese forces from the Pacific island of Guadalcanal

"island Hopping"

A military strategy used during World War II that involved selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others

Aryans

Germanic people seen as the master race

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination/ death of Jews, gypsies (the Roma), homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Refugees

A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

Genocide

systematic killing of an entire racial or cultural group

Ghettos

City neighborhoods in which European Jews were forced to live. They were crowded, filthy

"Final Solution"

Hitler's program of systematically killing the entire Jewish people

Nazi SS

Nazi police force that enforced the strict rules and regulations imposed on the people within Nazi controlled areas.

Concentration Camps

prison/ work camps used under the rule of Hitler in Nazi Germany. Conditions were inhuman, and prisoners, mostly Jewish people, were generally starved or worked to death, or killed immediately.

Auschwitz

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

El Alamein (1942)

The German army was headed towards the Suez Canal to choke off British supplies but General Montgomery (British) successfully defeated General Erwin Rommel, "the Desert Fox" at El Alamein, west of Cairo.

Battle of Stalingrad

(1942) World War II battle in USSR between invading German forces and Soviet defenders for control of Stalingrad; each side lost hundreds of thousands of people; Germany lost, marked turning point in the war

Fall of Mussolini

Allies captured Sicily from Italy and Germany, this toppled Mussolini from power. Germany seized control of Northern Italy & put Mussolini back in power. On April 27th, 1945 Italian resistance fighters ambushed German trucks and found Mussolini disguised as a German, they then shot him. The next day they hung him for all to see.

Total War

A conflict in which the participating countries devote all their resources (factories, food) to the war effort

What was the war like for the people at home (in the US)?

Factories turned to wartime production - making tanks, weapons,..., there was a shortage of consumer goods, people rationed scarce items & rationed food

Propaganda

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Often as posters

Japanese Internment Camps

The forcible relocation of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans to housing facilities called "War Relocation Camps", after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.

D-Day

June 6, 1944 - Led by Eisenhower, over a million troops (the largest invasion force in history) stormed the beaches at Normandy, France, & began the process of re-taking France. The turning point of World War II.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

American general; led the Allied invasion of North Africa and planned and executed the D-Day invasion at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge

Operation Overlord (D-Day)

June 6th 1944, Invasion of the beaches of Normandy France (Largest amphibious invasion ever)

June 6th 1944

D-Day invasion of Normandy

Normandy

A region in northern France and the site of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944

Battle of the Bulge

A 1944-1945 battle in which Allied forces turned back the last major German offensive of World War II. Long, cold, & very difficult

Fall of Hitler and the Nazi's

Allies captured the capital Berlin, Germany. Marked the end of the Third Reich, end of Nazi rule, & Hitler's death

V-E Day

May 8, 1945; Victory in Europe Day when the Germans surrendered

Kamikazes

Japanese pilots who loaded their aircraft with bombs and crashed them into enemy ships. Final desperate attempts

Iwo Jima

A Pacific Island - One of the Bloodiest battles in the war, a fight to the death for Japanese soldiers, as the Americans were coming closer to Japan

Okinawa

Site of important battle near Japanese mainland; last battle before atomic bombs; Allies won

President Harry Truman

Decided to use atomic bomb in WWII to save American lives

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Two Japanese cities, the U.S. dropped the atomic bombs to end World War II.

V-J Day

August 15, 1945 - the Victory in Japan Day when the Japanese surrendered

What was Europe like after WWII

Cities & economies were destroyed & in ruins, agriculture disrupted, transportation system destroyed, widespread famine and disease. Many people with no homes, no where to go

Nuremberg Trials

A series of court proceedings held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II, in which Nazi leaders were tried for aggression, violations of the rules of war, and Crimes Against Humanity.

What was Japan like after WWII

Country was in ruins, 2 million dead, major cities destroyed, allies stripped Japan of colonial empire

Demilitarization

A reduction in a country's ability to wage war, achieved by getting rid of its armed forces and prohibiting it from acquiring weapons.

Toyko Trials

Japanese Military leaders tried for war crimes

Japanese Constitution

Made Emperor a figure-head, guaranteed real power for the people, 2-house parliament, all citizens have the right to vote, bills of rights protected basic freedoms

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