Interwar Foreign Policy

Washington Naval Conference

A gathering of world

Kellogg-Briand Pact

An agreement to outlaw war in 1928 signed by 15 nations, it was unsuccessful in stopping the rise of militarism

Good Neighbor Policy

the US foreign policy for the Latin American relations pursued by FDR

Neutrality Acts

A series of laws passed between 1935-1939 to keep the US out of war. Some prohibited the sale of arms and munitions to countries at war, and restricted travel and trade with those countries.

Lend-Lease Act

An act that authorized the US to provide vital war supplies to Allied nations (UK, USSR, China) on the basis that such aid was essential for the defense of the US

Cash & Carry Policy

A trade policy implemented by the US in early WWII, allowing warring nations to purchase goods from the US only if they paid in cash and transported the goods on their own ships (maintains neutrality because US does little)

Destroyers for Bases Deal

An agreement between the US and UK where the US provided 50 old destroyers in exchange for 99-year leases on British naval and air bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland.

Stimson Doctrine

A policy of non-recognition that the US adopted in 1932 - the US would not recognize any treaties or agreements that violated US rights or international law (response to Manchuria)

American First Committee (AFC)

A prominent isolationist group formed in 1940 to prevent the US from entering WWII

Atlantic Charter

A joint declaration released by FDR and Churchill in 1941 declaring their war aims

4 Freedoms Speech

FDR’s annual message stating his ‘four essential human freedoms’ - speech, worship, from want, and from fear, providing his rationale for why the US should abandon its isolationist policies.

FDR

The US president during WWI 1933-1945, pro joining war

Corden Hull

An American politician, the underlying architect of the United Nations, working towards the development of a world organization to prevent a WW3

Charles Lindbergh

The first pilot to fly a solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic in 1927

Henry L. Stimson

An American statesman who was the Secretary of War for FDR and Truman during WWII, directly in control of the Manhattan Project.

Winston Churchill

The Prime Minister of the UK during WWII, led his country from the brink of defeat to victory (we will fight them in the air/on the beaches)

Hideki Tojo

A Japanese general and statesman, Prime Minister of Japan during WW2, lots of widespread state violence and mass killings under his authority

Joseph Stalin

Russian dictator, led the USSR during WW2

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Nazi Germany. Rejected from art school

War Production Board

a US government agency that oversaw the country’s industrial production during WW2

Office of Price Administration (OPA)

A US government agency that controlled prices and rationed supplies during WW2

Office of War Information (OWI)

A US government agency established during WW2 to manage wartime communication and propoganda

Smith-Connally Act

A law passed in 1943 to ensure wartime production - gave president power to seize war plants if strikes threatened production

Revenue Act

1942 - introduced the most progressive tax in American history, the Victory Tax (75% of AMerican workers pay income taxes)

Manhattan Project

The top secret WW2 program to develop the first atomic bombs

Bracero Program

A labor agreement between the US and Mexico that allowed Mexican men to work in the US on temporary contracts to fill labor shortages caused by WWII

Executive Order 8802

Prohibited ethnic and racial discrimination in the nation’s defense industry, established Fair Employment Practices CommitteeThe first cen

Office of Strategic Services (OSS)

The first centralized American intelligence agency established during WW2 to gather intelligence, conduct special operations, and support resistance movement behind enemy lines, essentially serving as precursor to CIA

Rationing

During the war, supplies (fuel, food, materials) were reserved for war activities, so people had limited access/use of them.

War Bonds

Debt securities that governments issue to raise money during wartime

Victory Gardens

Vegetable gardens planted by civilians during WW1 and WW2 to supplement their food rations and support the war effort

Rosie the Riveter

A cultural icon who represented the women who worked in factories during WW2

Women’s Army Corps

The branch of the US Army of women during WW2

Tuskegee Airmen

The first African American military pilots in the US Army Air Forces during WW2

Double-V Campaign

a WW2 movement that fought for equality and democracy for African Americans

Executive Order 9066

Signed by FDR in 1942, authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans from the West Coast to internment camps

JA Internments

10 internment camps in the western interior, forcibly relocated about 120,000 Japanese Americans

The Battle of Midway 1942

A pivotal naval battle in the Pacific, crippled the Japanese Navy and turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allies

Doolittle Raid 1943

The first air operation to strike the Japanese islands in 1942

The Battle of Stalingrad 1942-43

A pivotal WW2 battle fought between the USSR and Nazi Germany over the city of Stalingrad, resulted in a decisive Soviet victory, marking a turning point in the war as it weakened the German army and was one of the bloodiest and brutalist battles in history

Operation Torch 1942

The code name for the Allied Invasion of French North Africa

D-Day 1944

The Allied invasion of Normandy with aims to liberate France

Battle of the Bulge 1944-45

WW2 battle that took place in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, the last major German offensive in the West during the war.

Island Hopping Strategy

The strategy of skipping over heavily defended islands, allowing them to wither without resources, then using them as bases to attack other nations.

The Battle of Iwo Jima 1945

A WW2 battle in 1945 - US captured this island

The Battle of Okinawa 1945

A major battle of the Pacific War fought by the US and Japan, the last major amphibious assault of WW2

Hiroshima & Nagasaki 1945

The locations of the atom bombs

Total War

a war that is unrestricted in terms of weapons used, the territory of combatants involved or the onjective pursued. Laws are disregarded.

Blitzkrieg

A military strategy used by Nazi Germany that involved a quick, concentrated attack on an enemy.

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots

Unconditional Surrender

When a military force or country gives up without any conditions, except those required by law

Holocaust

The systematic murder in Nazi Germany of Jews, in which around 6million were killed from 1941-1945.

Bataan Death March

The forced transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 75,000 American & Filipino prisoners about 65 miles, 1942. 5K-18K Filipino deaths, 500-650 American deaths, characterized by physical abuse and wanton killings

442nd Combat team

A Japanese-American infantry unit that fought in WWII (one of the most decorated units)

Code Talkers/Navajo

Navajo tribe members that used their native language to pass secret messages

Operation Barbarossa

The Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet union on June 22nd 1941, the largest military offensive in history & major escalation of WWII

VE Day

Victory in Europe Day (May 8th 1945), celebrates the formal acceptance of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender by the Allies, marking the end of WWII in Europe.

VJ Day

Victory over Japan day, August 15th 1945, the day when the world celebrated the end of WWII

U.N.

Established after WWII in an attempt to maintain international peace and security and to achieve cooperation among nations.

Yalta Conference

A meeting of WWII Allied leaders in early 1945 to plan the future of Europe and the war against Japan

Potsdam Conference

A meeting of Allied leaders in Germany in 1945 held to negotiate the end of WWII

Nuremberg Trials

A series of trials held after WWII to prosecute Nazi leaders for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities.

Occupation of Japan

After Japan’s surrender in 1945, Allied powers (mainly US) occupied Japan until 1952, hoping to demilitarize the nation and establish a democratic government

Marshall Plan

A program of economic aid from the US to Western Europe after WWII

Truman Doctrine

A foreign policy that stated the US would provide political, military, and economic assistance to democratic nations under threat from communist forces.

Containment Policy

A foreign policy of the United States during the Cold War top stop the spread of communism (proposed by George F. Kennan in 1946)

Berlin Airlift

A humanitarian effort (1948-1949) by the Western Allies to supply West Berlin with vital goods after the Soviet Union blockaded all land and water access to the city.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance of European and North american countries formed to protect their security and freedom.