🇺🇸🗽 WWII

WWII Study Guide

Military Personnel:

Dwight D. Eisenhower(Ike)- General (supreme commander of Allied Forces) of the

US ( Allied) forces in the European Theater

Vasily Zaytev- Hero of Stalingrad, Soviet Sniper

Bernard Montgomery - Field Marshall ( General) of British Forces ( North

Africa/Europe/ Rival Patton) ( Operation Market Garden)

George Patton- an American General - known for being a little crazy, used Tank

warfare, known especially for the Battle of the Bulge

Omar Bradley - General with Patton/Ike(Eisenhower)/ helped D-Day and helped

invasion of Europe

Erwin Rommel- “Desert Fox” German General, built the defenses in France for the

Atlantic wall/ Best known for fighting North Africa ( North Afrika Corps) and

writing the book on tank warfare

Audie Murphy- Lied about age, went to war at 15, most decorated US Soldier in the

entire war by 19. ( Medal of Honor)

Douglas MacArthur - the Leader of US Ground Forces in the Pacific Theater

. Best known for “ I Shall Return”(Philippines)

Admiral Chester Nimitz – Leader of the US Naval Forces in the Pacific

Roza Shanina – Heroine of Stalingrad, FEMALE Soviet Sniper

Tuskegee Airmen- African American pilots in the Army Air Corps, famous for

fighting in Europe. “ Red Tails”

Navajo Code Talkers- Army/Marines from the Navajo tribe, used their own language

on the radio, the Japanese could not figure it out

Political Leaders:

Joseph Stalin- leader of the Soviet Union during WWII, known for harsh treatment of

his own people. Killed about 20 million people.

Benito Mussolini – Fascist leader of Italy, friends with Hitler, wanted to recreate

Roman Empire. Failed and was killed by Italians in 1945 and hanged up in Milan

Adolf Hitler – Fascist leader of NAZI Germany.

Hermann Goering – Luftwaffe Leader, NAZI leader, close to Hitler, known for killing

himself AT the Nuremberg Trials

Rudolf Hess – Party Leader of NAZIs. He surrendered by 1941 by flying a plane to

GB. Served prison at the Tower of London.

Adolf Eichmann – SS officer at Wannsee Conference( Planned the Final Solution).

Escapes at the end of the war to Argentina. Captured by Israelis in 1960

Francisco Franco –Fascist leader of Spain. Was “Neutral” during the war, but he

helped harbor Nazis

Hedeki Tojo - Prime Minister/General of Japan. He created the Japanese empire and

harsh rule against foreigners.

Neville Chamberlain – PM of the UK before the war. Hero at first for keeping the

peace(appeasement) and left office when the war began

Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of the UK during the war. Known for

inspirational speeches, tough tactics towards the enemy, and helping bring the US to

war.

Harry Truman – 33 rd Pres. Of the US. Vice – under FDR and leader of the US at the

end of the war( Dropped the Bomb)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Longest-serving POTUS , died right before the end of

the war. ( elected FOUR times to office)

A Phillip Randolph – Civil Rights Movement leader that helped push equality in the

workplace during the war

Battles:

Dunkirk 1940- Part of the Battle of France- Rescue mission- British took civilian

boats and used them with their NAVY to help save their army and the French army.

Battle of Britain – Summer 1940- Between RAF and German air force- The Germans

focused on bombing RAF sites ONLY.

The Blitz – Post- Battle of Britain ,Was when German bombing focused on Cities (

London, 56 times in 57 days)

Stalingrad – 1942-3 Battle between USSR and Germans. TURNING POINT in the

war. ( Soviet victory)

Operation Torch – Was the invasion of the “SOFT Under belly” of Europe ( North

Africa) by allied forces- British and American.

Battle of the Atlantic – German U-boats vs Allied Shipping in the Atlantic ( Germans

were trying to keep supplies from European Allied countries)

Operation Mincemeat - British throwing corpse into the water for the Germans to

find that had false intelligence about the Allies invading Italy.

Operation Overlord aka D-Day was the re-invasion of France by the Allied forces.

LARGEST beach landing by US in history ( up to that point)

Operation Market Garden – Invasion of Holland by mostly airborne troops to help

invade Germany….plan failed ( Bridge Too Far)

Battle of the Bulge – LAST DITCH attempt to break allied lines to rescue German

war effort ( Ardennes) and Patton is known as the hero of this.

The Italian Campaign – Invasion of Italy occupied by German forces. Italian joined

allies during this time- Mussolini was killed and hanged by his feet at the end by

Italian Forces

Battle of Berlin – Last battle of the European Theater between USSR and Germany.

USSR conquer Germany

Pearl Harbor - Dec 7, 1941 bombing of the US navy base by Japanese forces.

Officially bringing the US into the war.

Battle of Midway – 1942 battle between US and Japanese forces- Turning point in

the Pacific Theater for the USA ( sunk FOUR Japanese aircraft carriers)

Bataan Death March – American POWS after the battle of the Philippines marched,

beaten, tortured, and killed.

Doolittle’s Raid – US Air Corps first attack on Tokyo. Famous for taking off with

Army bombers from NAVY aircraft careers.

Island Hoping – Strategy by US, to attack weaker forts of the Japanese.

Battle of Iwo Jima – 1945 battle between USA and Japan. Known as Sulfur

island(contained no civilians). Contained large airfields. Huge losses on both sides,

but US victory

Battle of Okinawa - 1945 – US invaded, saw Japanese citizens/troops fighting to the

death or killing themselves( kamikazes) to avoid capture. Used as an example of

how the invasion of Japan would look.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Atomic Bomb dropped on both to avoid

an invasion of Japan

Terms:

NAZI - National Socialists German workers party- Government of German during

World War II. Leader: A. Hitler

U-Boat – German submarine

Fire bombing – early version napalm. Used in cities like Dresden, Germany and

Tokyo, Japan. Creates high temps and fires that don’t go out.

Atomic Bomb – Created from the Manhattan Project, the most powerful weapon of

the war, the first Nuclear weapon.

Holocaust – Genocide of the Jewish Population( and 5 million others) by the NAZI

government.

V-E Day - Victory in Europe Day ( May 1945)

V-J Day – Victory over Japan ( Pacific) Day (Aug 1945)

D-Day- See Operation Overlord

Lend-Lease Act - Agreement by US gov’t to send aid to allies around the world (

most notably GB) ( agreed before the US entered the war)

German Wolf-Packs – The submarine strategy of the German navy to attack in large

numbers

Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps – WAAC was the army group of non-combat roles

for women

War Bonds – lending money to the US gov’t through bonds being sold to public

Manhattan Project – Project led by J. Robert Oppenheimer to create Atomic Bomb

Office of Price Administration – OPA Control pricing, rent, and prevent inflation to

aid American public during the war

War Production Board – WPB helped decide which companies would be converted

into war-producing companies

Rationing - saving and spreading out supplies for war effort

Victory Gardens – Helped create your own food, so there is more food for war

effort

Executive Order 9066 – Japanese Internment Camp order by FDR

POW Camps – Prison of War Camps

Rosie The Riveter – Women Worker during WWII

Short/Long Answers:

Please be able to explain why the United States issued Executive Order 9066. What

was their reasoning? Was it justified? Explain your answer.

- Racist feeling toward Japanese Citizens

- Fear that Japanese- American citizens would aid Japan if there were an invasion.

- It was not justified since there were no Italian or German citizen camps.

- Also there were a lot of Japanese American Soldiers fighting in Europe for

America

Be able to argue whether or not the Atomic Bomb was justified. Explain your

answer

Answers Vary

Pro-Save American lives from not invading Japan

Con- Killed 100,000’s innocent civilians and also Started Nuclear Warfare

Why were the Nuremberg Trials so important to be filmed and shown to the world?

Justify your answer.

Answers Vary

Inform/Teach what happened during the Holocaust

Examples of True Justice.

This was known as one of the few “NECESSARY Wars,” Do you agree with this?

Please give specific examples.

Answer Vary

Additional: Be able to explain Primary documents and political cartoons about any

of the topics that are listed above.