APUSH Unit 10 Key Term - World War II

Good Neighbor Policy, 1933

FDR's foreign policy of promoting better relations w/Latin America by using economic influence rater than military force in the region

Neutrality Acts

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

Quarantine Speech (1937)

FDR encouraged democracies to quarantine their opponents (economic embargos); criticized by isolationists

Hitler-Stalin Pact

Treaty signed on August 23, 1939 in which Germany and the Soviet Union agreed not to fight each other. The fateful agreement paved the way for German aggression against Poland and the Western democracies.

Lend-Lease Bill (1941)

Based on the motto, "Send guns, not sons," this law abandoned former pretenses of neutrality by allowing Americans to sell unlimited supplies of arms to any nation defending itself against the Axis Powers. Patriotically numbered 1776, the bill was praised as a device for keeping the nation out of World War II.

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

Base in hawaii that was bombed by japan on December 7, 1941, which eagered America to enter the war.

Executive Order 9066

2/19/42; 112,000 Japanese-Americans forced into camps causing loss of homes & businesses, 600K more renounced citizenship; demonstrated fear of Japanese invasion

War Production Board (1942)

a government agency set up to oversee production of war materials during World War II

National War Labor Board (1918)

A board that negotiated labor disputes and gave workers what they wanted to prevent strikes that would disrupt the war

Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943)

Passed amidst worries about the effects that labor strikes would have on war production, this law allowed the federal government to seize and operate plants threatened by labor disputes. It also criminalized strike action against government-run companies.

Women in the military

refers to the participation of women in armed forces, especially notable during World War II when they served in various capacities, including as nurses and in auxiliary units.

Bracero Program

Plan that brought laborers from Mexico to work on American farms

Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC)

FDR's executive order desegregating government jobs. It ordered that all companies with government contracts could not discriminate based on "race, creed, color, or national origin." The law was never fully implemented due to opposition in Congress and hostility from the South. Led to five states NY, NJ, MA, CT, and WA to create their own state versions of the law.

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) (1942)

Nonviolent civil rights organization founded in 1942 and committed to the "Double V"—victory over fascism abroad and racism at home. After World War II, would become a major force in the civil rights movement.

Navajo Code Talkers

Native Americans used their own language to make a code for the U.S. military that the Japanese could not desipher

Potsdam Conference

• Took place after Germany surrendered

  Leaders changed: Harry S. Truman replaces Roosevelt, Clement Attlee replaces Churchill (mid-conference), Stalin still there

  Main focus: how to enforce and manage Germany

  Decisions:

  Confirmed Germany’s division

  Decided on demilitarization and denazification

  Issued warnings to Japan (leads toward atomic bomb use)

  Overall : much more tense—Cold War tensions are starting

Yalta Conference (1945)

• Took place before WWII ended in Europe

• Leaders: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin

• Main focus: planning for postwar Europe

• Agreements:

  • Germany would be divided into occupation zones

  • Eastern Europe would have free elections (this becomes a problem later)

  • Soviets would join the war against Japan

Overall: cooperative (but some tension underneath)

Manhattan Project

A secret U.S. project for the construction of the atomic bomb.

Douglas MacArthur

American general, who commanded allied troops in the Pacific during World War II.

Office of Price Administration (OPA)

an agency established by Congress to control inflation during World War II