Terms

1. World Economics Conference (1933)

  • Goal: Address global economic depression; stabilize currencies.

  • U.S. Role: FDR rejected currency stabilization, focusing on domestic recovery instead.

  • Impact: Showed the U.S. was not prioritizing global cooperation in the 1930s.

2. Nye Committee (1934–1936)

  • Led by: Senator Gerald Nye.

  • Investigated: How arms manufacturers profited from WWI, suggesting they pushed the U.S. into war.

  • Result: Fueled isolationism, leading to the Neutrality Acts.

3. Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939)

  • Between: Germany & USSR (Hitler & Stalin).

  • Agreement: They wouldn’t attack each other & secretly divided Poland & Eastern Europe.

  • Broken in 1941: When Hitler invaded the USSR (Operation Barbarossa).

4. Neutrality Acts (1935–1937)

  • Laws that kept the U.S. out of foreign wars:

    • 1935: No arms sales to warring nations.

    • 1936: No loans to warring nations.

    • 1937: No Americans on warring nations’ ships.

  • Effect: Limited FDR’s ability to help Britain & France.

5. Roosevelt’s Quarantine Speech (1937)

  • Context: Japan invaded China (Rape of Nanking).

  • FDR’s Message: The U.S. must “quarantine” aggressive nations like Japan & Germany.

  • Reaction: Public disliked it—America still wanted isolationism.

6. Munich Appeasement of Hitler (1938)

  • What happened? Britain & France let Hitler take Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) to avoid war.

  • Key Leader: Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister.

  • Backfired: Hitler took all of Czechoslovakia & later invaded Poland.

7. Vichy Government (1940–1944)

  • France’s Nazi puppet state led by Henri Pétain.

  • Collaborated with Hitler (helped deport Jews, worked with Axis).

  • Opposed by: Free France (led by Charles de Gaulle).

8. Burke-Wadsworth Act (1940)

  • Established: First peacetime military draft in U.S. history.

  • Why? Germany was getting stronger, and FDR knew war was coming.

9. Lend-Lease Act (1941)

  • What it did: U.S. lent weapons & supplies to Allies (Britain, USSR) without direct involvement.

  • FDR’s Justification: Called the U.S. the “Arsenal of Democracy”.

  • Replaced: The “cash & carry” policy.

10. Panay Incident (1937)

  • What happened? Japan bombed a U.S. gunboat in China.

  • U.S. Reaction: Japan apologized, but showed their aggression.

11. Office of Price Administration (OPA, 1941)

  • Controlled: Prices & wages during WWII to prevent inflation.

  • Managed: Rationing of goods (gas, sugar, rubber, etc.).

12. War Production Board (WPB, 1942)

  • Directed wartime industry: Converted factories from civilian to military production.

  • Example: Ford stopped making cars, built tanks & planes instead.

13. Senate War Investigating Committee (1941–1948)

  • Investigated: Waste & corruption in military spending.

  • Led by: Senator Harry Truman, which boosted his reputation.

14. Selective Service System (1940)

  • Managed the draft—millions of men drafted into military service.

15. Office of War Information (OWI, 1942)

  • Propaganda agency: Encouraged war support through posters, radio, & movies.

  • Example: “Loose Lips Sink Ships” warned against spies.

16. Office of Economic Stabilization (1942)

  • Controlled: Wages & prices to prevent wartime inflation.

17. D-Day (June 6, 1945)

  • Largest invasion in history: U.S., UK, & Canada stormed Normandy, France.

  • Led by: General Eisenhower.

  • Result: Opened a Western Front against Germany.

18. Kamikaze Attacks

  • Japanese suicide pilots crashed planes into U.S. ships.

  • First used: Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944).

  • Why? Japan was desperate & running out of resources.

19. U.S. Invasion of Okinawa (April–June 1945)

  • Last major battle of WWII.

  • Bloodiest Pacific battle—kamikaze attacks & high U.S. casualties.

  • Convinced Truman to use atomic bombs instead of invading Japan.

20. Casablanca Conference (1943)

  • Who? FDR & Churchill (no Stalin).

  • Major Decision: “Unconditional surrender” policy—Axis must fully surrender.

21. Yalta Conference (Feb 1945)

  • Who? FDR, Churchill, Stalin.

  • Decided:

    • Germany split into 4 zones (U.S., UK, USSR, France).

    • Soviets promised to fight Japan.

    • Stalin promised free elections (he later broke this).

22. Morgenthau Plan (1944)

  • Proposed: Turning Germany into a farmland-only country after the war.

  • Rejected—instead, Germany was rebuilt to prevent another war.

23. Potsdam Conference (July 1945)

  • Who? Truman, Stalin, Churchill/Attlee.

  • Decided:

    • Issued Potsdam Declaration: Japan must surrender or face destruction (led to atomic bomb).

24. Atlantic Charter (1941)

  • Agreement between FDR & Churchill on post-war goals:

    • Self-determination for nations.

    • No territorial expansion.

    • Created basis for the United Nations.

25. Isolationists

  • Americans who wanted the U.S. to stay out of WWII.

  • Key supporters: America First Committee (led by Charles Lindbergh).

26. Interventionists

  • Americans who wanted to help the Allies before Pearl Harbor.

  • Key supporters: FDR, internationalists.

27. Axis Powers

  • Germany (Hitler), Japan (Tojo), Italy (Mussolini).

28. Allied Powers

  • USA, UK, USSR, France, China.

29. “Cash & Carry” Policy (1939)

  • Replaced Neutrality Acts:

    • Allies could buy U.S. weapons, but they had to pay cash & transport them themselves.

    • Prevented U.S. ships from being attacked.

30. Tripartite Pact (1940)

  • Formal alliance of Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan.

  • Goal: Prevent U.S. from joining the war (but failed).

1. December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor Attack)

  • What happened? Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

  • Damage:

    • 2,400 Americans killed.

    • U.S. Pacific Fleet crippled (battleships sunk, planes destroyed).

  • Result: U.S. declared war on Japan the next day → Germany & Italy declared war on the U.S.

  • Significance: Ended American isolationism & brought the U.S. into WWII.

2. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

  • Who said this? J. Robert Oppenheimer, lead scientist of the Manhattan Project (atomic bomb development).

  • Origin: Quote from Hindu scripture (Bhagavad Gita).

  • Context: He said this after witnessing the first successful atomic bomb test in New Mexico (Trinity Test, July 16, 1945).

3. Smith-Connally Act (1943) (War Labor Disputes Act)

  • What was it? Gave the government power to seize industries if labor strikes threatened war production.

  • Why?

    • Labor unions agreed not to strike during the war.

    • However, some strikes still happened (e.g., coal miners’ strike).

  • Effect: Increased government control over war industries.

4. General Maximum Price Regulation (1942)

  • Goal: Prevent inflation by setting maximum prices on goods.

  • Why? During war, demand for goods skyrockets → inflation risk.

  • Enforced by: The Office of Price Administration (OPA).

5. Anti-Inflation Act (1942)

  • Gave FDR power to control:

    • Prices & wages → Preventing inflation.

    • Rationing essential goods (gas, rubber, sugar, etc.).

6. Revenue Act of 1942

  • What did it do?

    • Increased income taxes (to fund war efforts).

    • Expanded taxes to millions of Americans (before, only wealthy paid).

  • Significance: Created mass income tax system we still use today.

7. “Four Freedoms” Speech (1941)

  • Given by: FDR in January 1941 (before U.S. entered WWII).

  • Promoted:

    1. Freedom of Speech

    2. Freedom of Worship

    3. Freedom from Want (economic security).

    4. Freedom from Fear (no war threats).

  • Why? Justified Lend-Lease Act & U.S. support for Allies.

8. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) (1942)

  • Founded by: Civil rights activists.

  • Goal: Fight racial segregation nonviolently (sit-ins, protests).

  • Significance: Early push for Civil Rights Movement.

9. Manhattan Project (1942–1945)

  • What was it? Top-secret U.S. program to develop atomic bombs.

  • Key locations:

    • Los Alamos, NM (bomb design).

    • Oak Ridge, TN (uranium enrichment).

  • Key people:

    • J. Robert Oppenheimer (lead scientist).

    • General Leslie Groves (military leader).

  • Result: Created two bombs:

    • “Little Boy” (Hiroshima, uranium bomb).

    • “Fat Man” (Nagasaki, plutonium bomb).

10. Hiroshima & Nagasaki (August 6 & 9, 1945)

  • Hiroshima (Aug. 6, 1945): First city hit with atomic bomb ("Little Boy").

  • Nagasaki (Aug. 9, 1945): Second city hit ("Fat Man").

  • Casualties: 200,000+ civilians killed.

  • Effect: Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945 → End of WWII.

11. Battles of Midway & Coral Sea (1942)

Battle of Coral Sea (May 1942)

  • First major battle where aircraft carriers fought.

  • Stopped Japan from invading Australia.

  • Tactical draw, but strategic U.S. victory.

Battle of Midway (June 1942)

  • Turning point of the Pacific War.

  • U.S. cracked Japanese codes & ambushed their fleet.

  • Japan lost 4 aircraft carriers; U.S. only lost 1.

  • Result: Japan on defensive for rest of the war.