The Coming of War and World War II Key Terms and Names

Totalitarianism

A form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens.

Joseph Stalin

The controversial Soviet leader who wielded absolute power and transformed the USSR into a global superpower.

Benito Mussolini

An Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945.

Adolf Hitler

Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945.

Anti-Semitic

Prejudice against or hatred of Jews.

Appeasement

An unsuccessful effort by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to keep Adolph Hitler from starting World War II.

Anschluss

The annexation of Austria in 1938.

Munich Pact

An agreement between Britain and Germany in 1938, allowing Germany to extend its territory into parts of Czechoslovakia with German-speaking peoples.

Blitzkrieg

A method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, Japan.

Allies

United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the Free French.

Winston Churchill

Rallied the British people during World War II and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory.

Neutrality Act of 1939

An act to keep the United States out of war, making it illegal for Americans to sell or transport arms to belligerent nations.

Lend-Lease Act

A system allowing the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed vital to its defense.

Atlantic Charter

Provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims.

Hideki Tojo

A general of the Imperial Japanese Army and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan.

Pearl Harbor

The site of the unprovoked aerial attack on the United States by Japan on December 7, 1941.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II.

Bataan Death March

The forcible transfer of around 75,000 American and Filipino POWs by the Imperial Japanese Army.

Battle of Coral Sea

A naval battle where a US fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force heading for strategic Port Moresby.

Dwight Eisenhower

Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.

George S. Patton

A general who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean and then the Third Army in France and Germany.

Unconditional Surrender

The victors have a free hand in the peace process.

Saturation Bombing

Bombing covering an entire area with a large number of bombs.

Strategic Bombing

A strategy to destroy a country's ability or will to fight by bombing its homeland.

Tuskegee Airmen

The first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Chester Nimitz

Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet during World War II.

Battle of Midway

A naval battle where the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best-trained naval pilots.

A. Philip Randolph

Labor leader and civil rights activist who founded the first major Black labor union.

Executive Order 8802

Prohibiting government contractors from employment discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

Bracero Program

An agreement allowing Mexican citizens to take temporary agricultural work in the United States.

Internment

World War II's mass, race-based, nonselective forced removal of Japanese American civilians.

442nd Regimental Combat Team

A segregated Japanese American unit that fought in World War II.

Rationing

Setting limits on purchasing high-demand items.

OWI

Office of War Information, used for propaganda during World War II.

D-Day

The first day of any large military operation.

Harry S. Truman

Headed the Senate war investigating committee during World War II.

Island Hopping

Skipping over heavily fortified islands to seize lightly defended locations.

Kamikaze

Japanese pilots who made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets.

Manhattan Project

Top-secret project to develop atomic weapons before Nazi Germany.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Responsible for research and design of the atomic bomb.

Holocaust

Persecution and murder of millions of Jews and others by the German Nazis.

Nuremberg Laws

Race-based measures depriving Jews of rights, designed by Adolf Hitler.

Kristallnacht

The Nazi attack on Jewish persons and property.

Genocide

Violent crimes committed with the intent to destroy a group.

Concentration Camp

Internment center for political prisoners or members of minority groups.

Death Camp

Extermination camp established by Germans on Polish soil.

War Refugee Board

Agency tasked with rescuing victims of the Holocaust.

Yalta Conference

Meeting of the heads of government to discuss postwar reorganization.

GATT

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade aimed at making international trade easier.

United Nations

Organization attempted to maintain international peace and achieve cooperation among nations.

Geneva Convention

Rules seeking to protect people not involved in hostilities during armed conflict.

Nuremberg Trials

Trials held against Nazi representatives for war crimes and invasions.