World War II: Totalitarianism and Global Conflict

This set of flashcards covers the rise of totalitarianism, key political figures, major military engagements, the American home front, and the post-war trials of WWII.

fasci di combattimento

Anti-socialist "fighting leagues" formed in $1919$ by Benito Mussolini that later became known as Fascists.

Blackshirts

Followers of Mussolini named for their Fascist uniforms who participated in the March on Rome in $1922$.

Nazi Party

The political party led by Adolf Hitler, formally known as Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.

Putsch

A revolt or attempt to overthrow a government, specifically the failed Munich revolution led by Adolf Hitler in $1923$.

Mein Kampf

The book written by Hitler while in prison, which translates to "My Struggle" and outlines his beliefs regarding the superior "Aryan race."

SS

A Nazi police organization responsible for enforcing loyalty to the government through terror and surveillance.

Joseph Stalin

Born Joseph Dzhugashvili, he became the secretary general of the Communist Party and dictator of the U.S.S.R. until his death in $1953$.

Politburo

The policy-making committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

Holodomar

A term meaning "death or killing by hunger" referring to the famine in Ukraine caused by Stalin’s agricultural collectivization that killed an estimated $10,000,000$ people.

Great Purge

An extended campaign of political terror in the $1930s$ involving show trials and executions for rivals of Joseph Stalin.

Haile Selassie

The ruler of Ethiopia who unsuccessfully petitioned the League of Nations for help after Italy invaded in $1935$.

Spanish Civil War

A conflict from $1936$ to $1939$ between Nationalists and Republicans that served as a dress rehearsal for the global conflict of World War II.

Guernica

A Spanish town destroyed by German air force bombing in $1937$, later depicted in a famous painting by Pablo Picasso.

Sudetenland

A region in Czechoslovakia with a large German-speaking population that Hitler annexed following the Munich Agreement in $1938$.

Munich Agreement

A $1938$ pact where leaders from Britain, France, and Italy allowed Hitler's annexation of the Sudetenland in exchange for an assurance of no further expansion.

Nonaggression pact

A $1939$ agreement between Hitler and Stalin stating they would not fight each other and would divide eastern Europe into German and Russian spheres of influence.

Manchukuo

The name given to Manchuria by the Japanese military after they established a puppet government there in $1932$.

Marco Polo Bridge Incident

The $1937$ battle that many historians consider to be the first battle of World War II.

Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere

An Asian empire controlled by Japan designed to provide resources and end dependence on Western nations.

Blitzkrieg

A military strategy meaning "lightning war" used by Germany to rapidly conquer Poland, Belgium, Holland, and France.

Lend-Lease Act

A U.S. law passed after the fall of France to facilitate providing aid to Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.

Battle of Britain

A prolonged air attack launched by Hitler on the United Kingdom in July $1940$ that became one of his few early defeats.

Stalingrad

A major battle in the Soviet Union in $1942$ and $1943$ that served as a turning point, marking the beginning of the German retreat.

D-Day

The largest amphibious landing in history, launched on the beaches of Normandy in June $1944$ by Allied forces.

Battle of the Bulge

The last major German defensive stand in western Europe occurring in Belgium in late $1944$.

Battle of Midway

A June $1942$ naval victory for the United States that allowed the start of the island-hopping strategy in the Pacific.

Island-hopping

The U.S. Navy strategy of advancing toward Japan by capturing one island at a time to cut off Japanese supply lines.

Flying Tigers

An air unit that saw action in China and Burma during the Pacific theater of World War II.

Executive Order 9066

The order issued by President Roosevelt in February $1942$ authorizing the evacuation and internment of Japanese Americans.

442nd Regimental Combat Team

A highly decorated U.S. Army unit composed of young men recruited from Japanese American internment camps.

Holocaust

The systematic genocide by the Nazis that resulted in the deaths of six million of Europe’s $9.5$ million Jews.

Final solution

The Nazi program of genocide against the Jewish population of Europe achieved through labor and death camps.

Nuremberg Trials

The post-war trials held in Germany to prosecute Nazi officials for crimes against humanity.

Tokyo War Crimes Trials

Legal proceedings from $1946$ to $1948$ conducted against Japanese leaders for atrocities committed during the war.

United Nations

An international organization founded in $1945$ with the primary goal of settling disputes between nations peacefully.