World War II Vocabulary

Adolf Hitler

Austrian born Dictator of Germany, implement Fascism and caused WWII and Holocoust.

Benito Mussolini

(1883-1945) Italian leader. He founded the Italian Fascist Party, and sided with Hitler and Germany in World War II. In 1945 he was overthrown and assassinated by the Italian Resistance.

Joseph Stalin

Dictator of USSR from 1929 to 1953. The Soviet Union transformed from a peasant society into an industrial military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign.

Totalitarianism

A political system in which the government has total control over the lives of individual citizens.

Neutrality Acts

1939 laws designed to keep the United States out of future wars

Neville Chamberlain

1938; gullible British Prime Minister; declared that Britain and France would fight if Hitler attacked Poland.

Appeasement

A policy of making concessions to an aggressor in the hopes of avoiding war. Associated with Neville Chamberlain's policy of making concessions to Adolf Hitler.

Winston Churchill

A noted British statesman who led Britain throughout most of World War II and along with Roosevelt planned many allied campaigns. He predicted an iron curtain that would separate Communist Europe from the rest of the West.

Blitzkrieg

"Lighting war", typed of fast-moving warfare used by German forces against Poland in 1939

Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact

August 1939, then Poland was invaded; so SU wouldn't oppose a German invasion like Britain & France

Axis Powers

Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during World War II.

Allies

Britain, France, and Russia- Later joined by Italy

Kristallnacht

(Night of the Broken Glass) November 9, 1938, when mobs throughout Germany destroyed Jewish property and terrorized Jews.

Holocaust

A methodical plan orchestrated by Hitler to ensure German supremacy. It called for the elimination of Jews, non-conformists, homosexuals, non-Aryans, and mentally and physically disabled.

Genocide

the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

Ghettos

Sections of towns and cities in which Jews were forced to live.

Hideki Tojo

Prime minister of Japan during 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 amd 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.

Office of War Information

government agency that encouraged support of the war effort during WWII

Internment of Japanese Americans

Forced relocation and incarceration in camps in the interior of the U.S. of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who had lived on the Pacific coast.

Executive Order 9066

FDR's order to place all Japanese Americans in Internment Camps

Atomic Weapons

These were developed during World War II as a result of the Manhattan Project. Two of these would be used on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Battle of Midway

1942 World War II battle between the United States and Japan, a turning point in the war in the Pacific

Island Hopping

A military strategy used during World War II that involved selectively attacking specific enemy-held islands and bypassing others

Bataan Death March

Japanese forced about 60,000 of americans and philippines to march 100 miles with little food and water, most died or were killed on the way

Homefront

the civilian population and activities of a nation whose armed forces are engaged in war abroad.

War Bonds

a low-interest loan by civilians to the government meant to be repaid in a number of years

Victory Gardens

Gardens that citizens planted to raise their own vegetables, so that food could be sent to the troops.

Rationing

A limited portion or allowance of food or goods; limitation of use

GI Bill

law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher educations

Omar Bradley

United States general who played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II (1893-1981)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

American General who began in North Africa and became the Commander of Allied forces in Europe.

Chester W Nimitz

Commander of the U.S. naval forces in the Pacific and brilliant strategist of the "island hopping" campaign

George Patton

Allied Commander of the Third Army. Was instrumental in winning the Battle of the Bulge. Considered one of the best military commanders in American history.

Navajo Code Talkers

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

Flying Tigers

1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force; trained in Burma before the American entry into World War II with the intention of defending China against Japanese forces

Tuskegge Airmen

the popular name of a group of African-American military pilots (fighter and bomber) who fought in World War II. Officially, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces.

Vernon J Baker

African-American who later received the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery during WWII