World War II

Franklin Roosevelt

32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945

Isolation

the policy or doctrine of isolating one’s country from the affairs of other nations by declining to enter into alliances, foreign economic commitments, international agreements, etc

America First Committee

A political pressure group that during 1940–41 urged the U.S. not to oppose fascism in Europe or enter World War II

Appeasment

A diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an aggressive power to avoid conflict

Adolf Hitler

the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, also known as the Nazis, from 1921 until his death in 1945.

Benito Mussolini

The Italian leader of the National Fascist Party

Josef Stalin

the leader of the Communist Party and premier of the Soviet Union

Nazi party

Formally known as the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), a far-right political party led by Adolf Hitler

Double V Campaign

A slogan that advocated for “Democracy at Home-Abroad.” It symbolized victory over enemies from without (the Axis Powers) and victory over enemies within, referring to those in the United States who restricted the freedoms of African Americans

Neutrality Acts

Laws passed in the 1930s to limit US involvement in future wars

Rosie The Riveter

A cultural icon representing the women who worked in factories during WWII

Tuskegee Airmen

a group of African American military pilots and airmen who served during World War II

Navajo Code Talkers

a group of Native American soldiers, specifically Navajo men, who utilized their native language to create an unbreakable code for transmitting sensitive wartime messages during World War II

Navajo Code Talkers

a group of Native American soldiers, specifically Navajo men, who utilized their native language to create an unbreakable code for transmitting sensitive wartime messages during World War II

Lend-lease

a policy through which the United States provided aid to Allied nations during World War II by supplying them with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and 1945 to get around the neutrality act

Winston Churchill

a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during World War II from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955

Pearl Harbor

an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was the site of a U.S. naval base that was attacked without warning by the Japanese air force on December 7, 1941, leading to the United States’ entry into World War II.

Holocaust

the state-sponsored persecution and mass murder of millions of European Jews, Romani people, the intellectually disabled, political dissidents, and homosexuals by the German Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945

Normandy invasion/D-Day

the Allied invasion of western Europe on June 6, 1944, during World War II. It involved the simultaneous landing of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France

VE Day

Victory in Europe Day, refers to May 8, 1945, when Germany officially surrendered, marking the end of World War II in Europe

Nisei

the second generation of Japanese immigrants born and educated in the United States

Internment camps

a prison camp for the confinement of prisoners of war, enemy aliens, political prisoners, etc., or a concentration camp for civilian citizens, especially those with ties to an enemy during wartime

Charles Lindbergh

an American aviator and military officer known for making the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to Paris on May 20–21, 1927