US HISTORY world war 2 class notes

how many died in WWII?

50-60 million

What years of WWII?

1939-1945

how many americans died in WWII?

400,000

who was a part of the allies?

china, USSR, france, US, great britain

who was the leader of china?

Chiang Kai-shek

who was the leader of great britain?

Neville Chamberlain and Winston Churchill

who was the leader of france?

Edouard Daladier

who was the leader of USSR?

Joseph Stalin

what does stalin mean?

man of steel

who was leader of the US?

Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman

who was part of the axis powers?

italy, germany, japan

who was leader of germany?

hitler

who was leader of italy?

mussolini

who was leader of japan?

hiroito

but the militarists, tojo and yamamoto, had control

why did WWII begin 20 years after WWI ended?

the great depression

treaty of versailles

league of nations

allies wanted to avoid war

what did daldier and chamberlain sign when they met with hitler?

munich pact

what was the munich pact

hitler promised not to takeover the rest of czechoslovakia but hitler eventually invaded

who said "peace for our time"?

chamberlain

what is appeasement?

giving in to the demands of a person or country in order to avoid conflict

what was the nazi-soviet non-aggression pact?

russia and germany agreed not to attack each other and split poland

"wonder how long the honeymoon will last?"

what are the 2 things htiler was obsessed with?

race and space

what is the cross of motherhood?

women having aryan babies and receiving an award if they would have 10-12 babies

what does lebensraum mean?

living space

who was friedrich nietzche?

focused on ubermensch (means overman or superman in english)

who were the aryans?

ancient, nomadic conquering tribe

who was hessy taft?

poster child of the ideal aryan baby but was actually jewish

who said "what luck for rulers that men do not think"?

hitler

what was the SS st.louis?

ship whose asylum seeking jews were not allowed to disembark in Cuba or the US and were forced to return to Germany

what was the wagners orphan bill?

tried to take in 20K orphans over 2 years but it failed

what was the lend-lease act?

a policy allowing the president to provide arms to certain foreign countries

what was the date of pearl harbor?

December 7th, 1941

what was pearl harbor called?

a date which will live in infamy

what things did japan get from other countries?

60% aluminum
85% iron ore
40% steel
60% copper
100% oil and rubber

what was the battle when the allies retook control of north africa and used it as a launching point into italy?

north african campaign

who were the tuskegee airmen?

african american pilots who escorted bombers across north africa and europe

flew hundred of missions

very few bobmbers were shot down

what was the nickname for the tuskegee airmen?

red tails

who led the nazi afrika korps and what was his nickname?

erwin rommel

nickname desert fox

who was supreme allied commander in europe?

dwight eisenhower (american general

who led the "desert rats"?

bernard montgomery (british field marshal)

who led the first battalion tank in history?

george patton (american general)

how much territory did patton capture or liberate?

equaled the size of france

how many prisoners did patton take?

1.2 million

what is shell shock?

PTSD

where did eisenhower, patton, and rommel's american forces meet up with montgomery to use it as a launching point into italy?

tunisia

what was codename for d-day?

operation overlord

when did d-day occur?

June 6, 1944

what was the battle where the allies invaded and it began the liberation of france?

d-day

what was the atlantic wall?

6 million landlines and other obstacles were placed along the coast

what was fortress europe?

nazi fortification/defense of europe (atlantic wall was part of this)

what was the phantom army?

fake attack in calais from patton but the real location was normandy

what were code names for normandy?

utah, omaha, gold, juno, and sword

what was the deadliest area of d-day?

omaha

who were the navajo code talkers?

native americans who used their native language to communicate throughout the war

used in every major battle in the pacific, key battles in europe, and was never broken

what was the largest air, sea, and land invasion in history?

d-day

how much war troops/soldier/ships/airplane were used in d-day?

23,000 paratroopers (parachute soldiers)

4,000 ships (higgins boats)

10,000 airplanes

175,000 troops

what was hitler's last stand?

battle of the bulge

what was the battle of the bulge?

surprise attack

250K german soldiers

nazi troops and tanks surrounded the city

US forces were outnumbered 5 to 1

what did general AC MacAuliffe respond to the german commander?

nuts

what is island hopping?

taking island by island for preparation for land, sea, and air invasion of japan

who was commander of the US pacific fleet?

admiral chester nimitz

who was the commander of allied land forces in the pacific?

general douglas macarthur

what was the suicide cliff?

8,000 japanese civilians jumped off before surrendering to the allies

what was japan's first major defeat in the pacific?

battle of midway

where was the battle of midway fought?

west of hawaii

only fought on air and sea

US lost

how much did US lose at midway?

1 aircraft carriers

150 planes

307 lives

how much did japan lose at midway?

4 aircraft carriers

253 planes

2,500 lives

what was the bataan death march?

prisoners of war marched 65 miles through 6 days

9,000 filipinos died and 1,000 americans died

less than 1,000 survived

(japan expected 25K prisoners but there were 75K)

what did macarthur say when he left?

i shall return

what battle began the liberation of the philippines?

battle of leyte gulf

what was the largest naval battle in history?

battle of leyte gulf

what battle was island hopping successful but costly?

battle of iwo jima

how many rooms did the japanese dig into rock in the battle of iwo jima?

1,500

what was used in tunnels in the battle of iwo jima?

flamethrowers

what was the highest mountain at iwo jima where americans placed the flag?

mt suribachi

what was the codename for battle of okinawa?

operation iceberg

what battle was the last battle in the "island hopping"?

the battle of okinawa

who was the religious pacifist who was a medic but refused to hold a weapon and was a coward?

desmond doss

saved at least 75 men

what award did desmond doss win?

medal of honor

what are kamikaze?

Japanese suicide pilots

how many japanese cities were firebombed and how many died?

more than 70 and 400K

at what conference did stalin agree to send troops to the pacific once the war in europe ended?

yalta conference

at which conference did the US successfully test the first atomic bomb?

potsdam

what was the first atomic bomb calld?

trinity

first bomb on japan

"little boy"

uranium

hirosima

70K-100K killed instantly

80% of city was destroyed

second bomb on japan

"fat man"

plutonium

nagasaki

40K-80K killed instantly

65% of city destroyed

what was the name of the first plane that dropped an atomic bomb?

enola gay

what were truman's options?

demonstrate

continue to firebomb and wait for the USSR

invade without USSR

accept conditional surrender

use 1 or both atomic bombs

in 1940, what was the US ranked in the world in terms of military power?

18th

in 1942, what was the US ranked in terms of military power?

1st

what organized volunteers in home front activities?

office of civilian defense

what coordinated war news through the media?

office of war information

what switched industry from civilian to military production?

war production board

what are the four freedoms?

freedom of speech and expression

freedom of every person to worship god in his own way

freedom from want

freedom from fear

who painted 4 painting based off of the 4 freedoms?

norman rockwell

what were the 2 victories in "double v"?

victory of fascism abroad

victory over racism at home

what was the FEPC?

fair employment practices committee

end discrimination in jobs

who was the father of the civil rights movement?

A. Philip Randolph

what were the detroit race riots?

fight between small group of black and white people that triggered mob mentality

white mobs searched for black people to attack

35 died and almost 700 were wounded

how did the detroit race riots end?

troops ended 3 days of rioting

what was the bracero program?

partnership between US and Mexico to bring Mexican workers to the US, to work on farms, and alleviate rural population drain.