WWII Important People, Events, and Terms

Flashcards covering key people, events, and terms related to World War II.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

U.S. President at the start of WWII; led the U.S. through most of the war.

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Nazi Germany; started WWII; responsible for the Holocaust.

Benito Mussolini

Fascist dictator of Italy; allied with Hitler.

Joseph Stalin

Communist leader of the Soviet Union; joined Allies after Germany invaded.

Dwight Eisenhower

U.S. General; led D-Day invasion in Europe.

Harry Truman

U.S. President after FDR died; made decision to drop atomic bombs.

Albert Einstein

German Jewish scientist; warned U.S. about Nazi atomic bomb; influenced the Manhattan Project.

Winston Churchill

Prime Minister of Great Britain; helped lead Allies to victory.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. General in the Pacific; led island hopping campaign.

Emperor Hirohito

Emperor of Japan during WWII.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

Japan bombed U.S. base in Hawaii (Dec 7, 1941); U.S. joined the war.

D-Day (Operation Overlord)

June 6, 1944; Allied invasion of France to fight Nazi Germany.

Battle of Stalingrad

Turning point in Europe; Soviet Union defeated Germany.

Battle of Midway

Turning point in Pacific; U.S. defeated Japan’s navy.

Battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima

Bloody Pacific battles; helped U.S. get close to Japan.

Island Hopping

U.S. strategy to capture key islands in the Pacific.

Blitzkrieg

“Lightning war”; fast attacks by Germany.

Lend-Lease Act

U.S. gave weapons/supplies to Allies before joining war.

Kamikaze

Japanese suicide pilots who crashed into ships.

Appeasement

Western nations gave in to Hitler’s demands (e.g. letting him take land) to avoid war.

Internment Camps

U.S. forced Japanese Americans to live in camps.

Victory Gardens

People grew their own food to help the war effort.

War Bonds

Citizens loaned money to the government.

Bataan Death March

U.S. and Filipino soldiers forced to march by Japanese; many died.

Isolationism

U.S. stayed out of war at first.

Nuremberg Laws

Took away Jewish rights.

Kristallnacht

“Night of Broken Glass”; attacks on Jewish homes and businesses.

Final Solution

Nazi plan to kill all Jews.

Concentration Camps

Prison/labor camps.

Extermination Camps

Built to murder large numbers (e.g. Auschwitz).

Manhattan Project

Secret U.S. program to build atomic bombs.

Axis Powers

Germany, Italy, and Japan

Allied Powers

U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, and France

Fascism vs. Nazism

Both are dictatorships; Nazism added racial hatred and antisemitism

Causing WWII Failure

Hitler kept breaking promises and took more territory

American support

Rationing, working in factories, and buying war bonds

Women’s role in the U.S during the war

Took jobs in factories (e.g., Rosie the Riveter)

African Americans part during the war

Served in the military; worked in defense jobs

Mexican Americans Contribution during the War

Worked in agriculture (Bracero Program)

Native Americans way to help the U.S. during the war

Some were code talkers (Navajo)

Pacific Theatre

Battle of midway, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa

European Theater

D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, and Operation Torch

The End of WWII

• Germany surrendered in May 1945 (Hitler committed suicide).

• Japan surrendered in August 1945 after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

• Manhattan Project – Secret U.S. program to build atomic bombs.