The Coming of War and World War II Key Terms and Names


  1. Totalitarianism-a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens.

  2. Joseph Stalin-the controversial Soviet leader, wielded absolute power and implemented policies that transformed the USSR into a global superpower

  3. Benito Mussolini-an Italian political leader who became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945

  4. Adolf Hitler-Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945

  5. Anti - Semitic-prejudice against or hatred of Jews

  6. Appeasement-unsuccessful effort by British prime minister Neville Chamberlain to keep Adolph Hitler from starting World War II

  7. Anschluss- the annexation of Austria in 1938

  8. Munich Pact-An agreement between Britain and Germany in 1938, under which Germany was allowed to extend its territory into parts of Czechoslovakia in which German-speaking peoples lived.

  9. Blitzkrieg-method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy

  10. Axis Powers-Germany, Italy, Japan

  11. Allies-United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the Free French

  12. Winston Churchill-rallied the British people during World War II and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory

  13. Neutrality Act of 1939-tried to keep the United States out of war, by making it illegal for Americans to sell or transport arms, or other war materials to belligerent nations

  14. Lend - Lease Act-set up a system that would allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed "vital to the defense of the United States."

  15. Atlantic Charter-provided a broad statement of U.S. and British war aims.

  16. Hideki Tojo- a general of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan

  17. Pearl Harbor-the site of the unprovoked aerial attack on the United States by Japan on December 7, 1941

  18. Douglas MacArthur-U.S. general who commanded the Southwest Pacific Theatre in World War II

  19. Bataan Death March-the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of around 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war (POW) from the municipalities of Bagac and Mariveles on the Bataan Peninsula to Camp O'Donnell via San Fernando

  20. Battle of Coral Sea-a US fleet turned back a Japanese invasion force that had been heading for strategic Port Moresby in New Guinea.

  21. Dwight Eisenhower- Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe and achieved the five-star rank as General of the Army.

  22. George S. Patton-a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. George S. Patton. Patton in 1945.

  23. Unconditional Surrender-the victors have a free hand

  24. Saturation Bombing-bombing in which a very large number of bombs are dropped to cover an entire area instead of being aimed at a specific target

  25. Strategic Bombing- a strategy to destroy a country's ability or will to fight by attacking its homeland from the air

  26. Tuskegee Airmen- the first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps

  27. Chester Nimitz-Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.

  28. Battle of Midway-World War II naval battle, fought almost entirely with aircraft, in which the United States destroyed Japan's first-line carrier strength and most of its best trained naval pilots.

  29. A. Philip Randolph-labor leader and civil rights activist who founded the nation's first major Black labor union

  30. Executive Order 8802-prohibiting government contractors from engaging in employment discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

  31. Bracero Program-an agreement. between the U.S. and Mexican governments that permitted Mexican citizens to take temporary agricultural work in the United States

  32. Internment-World War II's civil liberties calamity of mass, race-based, nonselective forced removal and incarceration of well over 110,000 Japanese American civilians

  33. 442nd Regimental Combat Team-a segregated Japanese American unit

  34. Rationing-setting limits on purchasing certain high-demand items.

  35. OWI-Office of War Information (OWI) to serve as the United States' propaganda branch during World War II

  36. D-Day-the first day of any large military operation.

  37. Harry S. Truman- During World War II he headed the Senate war investigating committee, checking into waste and corruption and saving perhaps as much as 15 billion dollars

  38. Island Hopping-skipping over heavily fortified islands in order to seize lightly defended locations that could support the next advance

  39. Kamikaze-any of the Japanese pilots who in World War II made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets, usually ships

  40. Manhattan Project-an unprecedented, top-secret World War II government program in which the United States rushed to develop and deploy the world's first atomic weapons before Nazi Germany

  41. J. Robert Oppenheimer-responsible for the research and design of an atomic bomb

  42. Holocaust-persecution and murder of millions of Jews, Romani people, political dissidents and homosexuals by the German Nazis

  43. Nuremberg Laws-two race-based measures depriving Jews of rights, designed by Adolf Hitler and approved by the Nazi Party

  44. Kristallnacht-when German Nazis attacked Jewish persons and property.

  45. Genocide-refers to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the existence of the group.

  46. Concentration Camp- internment center for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons

  47. Death Camp-extermination camp that the Germans established on Polish soil

  48. War Refugee Board-a government agency tasked with rescuing victims of the ongoing Holocaust

  49. Yalta Conference-the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe

  50. GATT- General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was signed by 23 countries in October 1947, after World War II, and became law on Jan. 1, 1948. The purpose of GATT was to make international trade easier

  51. United Nations- an attempt to maintain international peace and security and to achieve cooperation among nations on economic, social, and humanitarian problems

  52. Geneva Convention-rules that apply only in times of armed conflict and seek to protect people who are not or are no longer taking part in hostilities

  53. Nuremberg Trials-held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries