WWII Review
Terms
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- dictator
- leader who controls a nation by force
- Benito Mussolini
- Fascist leader of Italy
- fascism
- a political system headed by a dictator that calls for extreme nationalism and no tolerance of opposition (Italy)
- anti-Semitism
- hatred of Jews
- Totalitarian State
- Complete control of all areas of society
- Joseph Stalin
- Communist leader of the Soviet Union
- Adolph Hitler
- Led the National Socialist Party, Nazi Party Promised Germans a better life Blamed Jews for problems Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
- appeasement
- Accepting demands in order to avoid war
- Battle of France
- 1940, victory for the Axis Powers
- Battle of Britain
- 1940, First German defeat, Allied victory
- Siege of Leningrad
- 1941-1944, the Soviets drove the Germans out
- Battle of Normandy
- 1944, Allied victory
- propaganda
- a kind of biased communication (writing, illustrations) designed to influence people's thoughts and actions
- Munich Conference
- Wanted to avoid a large scale war (didn't work) Britain and France agreed to give Germany the Sudetenland.
- Allied Powers
- Great Britain, France, China,the Soviet Union, the United States
- Axis Powers
- Germany, Italy, Japan
- blitzkrieg
- "Lighting war", fast-moving warfare used by German forces
- Winston Churchill
- Prime Minister of Britain
- Election of 1940
- President Roosevelt ran for a third term, he had an easy victory
- President Roosevelt
- Said he'd keep US out of war Ran and won a third term as president
- Isolationists
- Wanted to stay out of the war, Opposed the Lend-Lease Act
- Lend-Lease Act
- A law that allowed the US to sell, lend, or lease weapons to any country "vital to the defense of the United States"
- Atlantic Charter
- disarmament, creation of a permanent system to keep peace, freedom of all people to choose their form of government
- Disarmament
- Giving up military weapons
- Pearl Harbor
- US military base in Hawaii, Attacked by Japanese warplanes on Dec. 7th 1941, Attack united the country, US joined allied forces
- WACs
- Women's Army Corps
- WAVES
- Women Appointed for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy
- Mobilization
- Military and civilian preparations for war
- Rationed
- Consumers could buy only a limited amount of items needed for war
- Civil defense
- Protective measures taken in case of attack Volunteers watched the skies for enemy aircraft
- Tuskegee Airmen
- An African American fighter group Shot down more than 200 planes
- Interment camp
- Crowded, uncomfortable relocation camps with harsh conditions Japanese Americans were relocated
- Bracero Program
- US labor agents recruited farm and RR workers from Mexico
- Nisei
- Japanese Americans who were citizens - they were born in the US Loyalty was questioned
- The Office of Price Administration
- Established limits on consumer prices and rents to prevent inflation
- Women on the Home Front
- Women went to work Earned less than men for same work
- African Americans and the War Effort
- One million served in armed forces Discriminated against Segregated at first then integrated
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- American General Joined British forces to drive Germany out of North Africa Led Operation Overload
- George Patton
- US General Led troops into Southern Europe
- Siege
- Military blockade
- Operation Overload
- Invasion of occupied Europe Led by Eisenhower
- D-Day
- Operation Overload - day of attack at Normandy Warships fired, paratroopers dropped down on beach MANY troops Invasion succeeded
- V-E Day
- May 8th 1945 - Allies declared "Victory in Europe"
- Harry S. Truman
- Roosevelt's VP - became president after FDR died
- Genocide
- Wiping out an entire group of people
- Holocaust
- The mass slaughter of millions of Jews and other groups by the Nazis during WWII
- Nazi's "Final Solution"
- German plan to kill all the Jews in Europe
- Concentration camps
- Large prison camps used to hold people for political reasons
- Island hopping
- Attacking and capturing certain key islands to be used as military bases Move closer to Japan
- Guadalcanal
- Solomon Island American forces tried to gain control and succeeded
- Kamikaze
- Japanese suicide pilots Crashed planes loaded with explosives into American ships
- Douglas MacArthur
- American General Led the Filipino and American troops Commanded Allied forces in the Pacific
- Bataan Death March
- Japanese forced POWs to march to a prison camp 60 miles away Many died along the way
- Battle of Midway
- Battle northwest of Hawaii Navy destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and hundreds of planes
- Manhattan Project
- Roosevelt's top secret operation Scientists built world's first nuclear reactor and atomic bomb
- Battle of Leyte Gulf
- American ships destroyed most of the Japanese fleet during this battle
- Potsdam Declaration
- Issued by Allies - warned Japan that if they didn't surrender it faced "prompt and utter destruction" Japan did not surrender
- Nagasaki and Hiroshima
- US dropped an atomic bomb on these cities Caused immense destruction Japanese surrendered
- V-J Day
- August 15th 1945 - "Victory over Japan"
- Cost of War
- 55 million people died, half civilians Europe needed to be rebuilt
- code talker
- Native Americans were recruited by the US to send messages
- Nanjing Massacre
- (1937) the murder of as many as 300,000 Chinese men, women, and children by Japanese troops
- Korematsu v. United States
- 1944 Japanese internment camps were constitutional.
- Zoot Suit Riots
- A series of riots that originated in Los Angeles between white soldiers stationed in the cities and Latinos.