WWII & Mass Atrocities Vocabulary

Now who pissed off Mrs. Phillips :l

Axis Powers (Europe & East Asia)

The alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan during WWII, seeking territorial expansion.

Allied Powers (Global; Europe, North America, East Asia)

The alliance primarily led by Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and China, but also includes others fighting the Axis in WWII.

​Winston Churchill (Europe)

Prime Minister of Great Britain who led the country through most of WWII and led British resistance against Nazi Germany.

​German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (Europe)

A 1939 agreement between Hitler and Stalin pledging not to attack each other and secretly dividing Eastern Europe.

​Blitzkrieg (Europe)

"Lightning War"; a German military strategy that involves using fast, coordinated attacks by utilizing tanks, infantry, and aircraft to quickly overwhelm enemies.

​Lend-Lease Act (North America & Europe)

A U.S. policy that provided military aid and supplies to the Allies before the U.S. formally entered the war.

​Rosie the Riveter (North America)

A cultural icon representing American women who worked in factories and shipyards during the war to support the war effort.

​Pearl Harbor (East Asia)

The Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii (Dec 7, 1941), pulling the U.S. into WWII.

​Battle of Britain (Europe)

An extended air campaign where the British Royal Air Force successfully defended the UK against the German Luftwaffe.

​Battle of Stalingrad (Europe)

A major Soviet victory that marked a turning point on the Eastern Front where the Soviet Union halted the German advance in a brutal urban battle, and even pushed them back towards Germany.

​Battle of El Alamein (North Africa)

A decisive Allied victory in North Africa where a British-led army drove German and Italian forces from the North African town El Alamein back into Libya. This prevented the Axis from seizing the Suez Canal.

​Battle of Midway (East Asia)

The turning point in the Pacific; codebreaking informed the U.S. that Japan was going to invade Midway Island in June. The American Naval forces arrived just in time to sink four Japanese aircraft carriers.

Island Hopping (Pacific)

The U.S. strategy in the Pacific of capturing key islands to move closer to mainland Japan.

​Franklin D. Roosevelt North America)

The 32nd U.S. president who led the country through most of the Great Depression and WWII with his “New Deal” programs.

​D-Day (Europe)

June 6, 1944; the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, to liberate Western Europe

​Dunkirk (Europe)

The massive evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches of France after being surrounded by German forces in 1940.

​V-E Day (Europe)

May 8, 1945; Victory in Europe Day, marking the formal surrender of Nazi Germany.

​Albert Einstein (Europe/North America)

The physicist whose letter to Franklin Roosevelt helped warn the U.S. about Nazi atomic research, contributed to nuclear science, and prompted the start of the Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project (North America)

The secret U.S. research project that developed the first atomic and nuclear bombs.

​Robert Oppenheimer (North America)

The scientific director of the Manhattan Project often called the "father of the atomic bomb."

​Trinity Test (North America)

The first successful detonation of an atomic bomb in New Mexico (July 1945).

​Luftwaffe (Europe)

The German Air Force used extensively during WWII.

​Kamikaze (East Asia)

Japanese pilots who flew suicide missions by crashing planes into enemy ships.

​Hiroshima (East Asia)

Japanese city destroyed by the first atomic bomb used in war (Aug 6, 1945).

​Nagasaki (East Asia)

Japanese city destroyed by the second atomic bomb used in war (Aug 9, 1945), leading to Japan's surrender.

Firebombing (Global, East Asia, Europe)

A military tactic using incendiary bombs to create massive fires in cities (e.g., Dresden, Tokyo).

​Atomic Bomb (Global)

A weapon of mass destruction utilizing nuclear fission.

​V-J Day (East Asia)

August 15, 1945; Victory over Japan Day, marking the end of the war in the Pacific.

​Big Three (North America & Europe)

The leaders of the main Allied nations: Stalin (USSR), Roosevelt (USA), and Churchill (UK).

​Tehran Conference (Middle East)

Meeting where the Big Three planned the invasion of France (D-Day) (November 28 - December 1, 1945).

​Yalta Conference (Europe)

Meeting to discuss Europe's post-war reorganization and the division of Germany (February 4 - 11, 1945)

​Potsdam Conference (Europe)

Meeting where Allies issued an ultimatum to Japan for them to surrender, finalized German occupation zones (U.S., UK, France, Soviet), and demilitarized Germany (July 17 - August 2, 1945).

​Nuclear Proliferation (Global)

The spread of nuclear weapons and technology to nations not already possessing them.

​Total War Economy (Global)

When a nation mobilizes all its resources (industrial, agricultural, human) toward the war effort.

​Genocide (Global)

The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular national, ethnic, racial, or religious group

​Ethnic Cleansing (Global)

The forced removal or killing of an ethnic or religious group to make a territory ethnically "homogeneous."

​Anti-Semitism (Europe)

Hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jewish people.

​Eugenics (Europe & North America)

The pseudo-scientific belief in "improving" the human race through controlled reproduction, like selective breeding and forced sterilization.

​Social Darwinism (Europe)

The misapplication of "survival of the fittest" to human societies and races to justify imperialism, racism, and inequality.

​Scientific Racism (Europe)

The use of pseudo-scientific techniques to support the belief in racial hierarchy.

Holocaust (Europe)

The state-sponsored systematic genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others by the Nazi regime.

​T4 Program (Europe)

A Nazi "euthanasia" program that murdered the physically and mentally disabled who were deemed “unfit.”

​Euthanasia (Europe)

In the Nazi context, the forced "mercy killing" of those deemed "unworthy of life."

​Einsatzgruppen (SS) (Europe)

Mobile killing squads that followed the German army to mass-murder Jews and political enemies.

​Final Solution (Europe)

The Nazi code name for the plan to systematically murder all European Jews.

​Concentration Camps (Europe)

Prisons used by Nazis to hold "enemies of the state" (mostly Jewish people) in brutal conditions to suffer.

​Extermination Camps (Europe)

Specialized camps (like Sobibor or Treblinka) designed specifically for mass murder (mostly via gas chambers).

Auschwitz (Europe)

The largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp located in Poland.

​Human Rights (Global)

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to..

​Cambodian Genocide (Southeast Asia)

The mass murder of "revolutionaries" and intellectuals by the Khmer Rouge (1975–1979).

​Pol Pot (Southeast Asia)

The leader of the Khmer Rouge who sought to create a primitive agrarian communist society, and is responsible for the Cambodian genocide.

​Khmer Rouge (Southeast Asia)

The radical communist party that ruled Cambodia and committed genocide.

​Rwandan Genocide (East Asia)

The 1994 mass slaughter of the Tutsi minority led by the extremists within the Hutu majority.

​Tutsis (East Asia)

The minority ethnic group in Rwanda targeted during the genocide.

​Hutus (East Africa)

The majority ethnic group in Rwanda; extremists among them led the 1994 genocide.

​Holodomor (Europe)

The man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine (1932–1933) caused by Stalin’s policies, killing millions.

Ukraine (Europe)

The nation in Eastern Europe where the Holodomor occurred, which was formerly a republic of the Soviet Union, and was affected by Soviet policies and man-made Soviet famine.

​Saddam Hussein (Middle East)

The Iraqi dictator who committed atrocities against his own people, specifically the Kurds.

Kurds (Middle East)

Ethnic group native to the Middle East, primarily found in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, who were persecuted in Iraq by Saddam Hussein

​Bosnia (Europe)

Site of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Bosnian Muslims by Serbian forces in the 1990s during the Yugoslav wars.

​Serbia (Europe)

The Balkan nation whose leadership was largely responsible for the Bosnian Genocide.

Sudan (North Africa)

The African nation where the Darfur genocide took place.

​Darfur (North Africa)

A region in Sudan where a genocide occurred in the early 2000s against non-Arab ethnic groups.

​Rohingya (South & Southeast Asia)

A Muslim minority group persecuted in Myanmar by facing ethnic cleansing and displacement.