C36 - America in World War II 1941-1945 Flashcards
D Day
June 6, 1944. US and Allied troops stormed Normandy (in France) to attack Germany from the Western front.
George S. Patton
US General who made quick gains after D-day, moving across France with his soldiers. First major German city fell in October, 1944.
Teheran Conference
November 28 - December 1, 1943. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met in Teheran (in Iran/Persia) as a neutral place to meet. Plans were made for a coordinated attack on Germany. Soviet Russia would attack from the East while US and Allies would attack from the West. French Normandy was chosen for this Western attack.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
US General who led 40,000 troops in the surprise 1942 invasion of French North Africa. Germans and Italians surrendered by May, 1943.
Chster W. Nimitz
US Navy Admiral who won many victories against Japan in the Pacific.
Harry S. Truman
FDR chose as his VP/running mate in 1944 election.
Truman became President not-long after. FDR died of a massive stroke on April 12, 1945.
Henry J. Kaiser
American industrialist who built ships during WWII.
V-E Day
May 7, 1945. “Victory in Europe” Day. What was left of German government surrendered unconditionally.
braceros
- Deal was made with Mexico to bring braceros (Mexican workers) in to the US to help on farms. They were needed because men had left their farms to become soldiers.
Thomas E. Dewey
Republican candidate in presidential race of 1944.
Office of Price Administration
Formed in 1941 to control prices during WWII.
Casablanca Conference
January 1943, meeting between Eisenhower and Churchill in Morocco to discuss war strategy.
A. Philip Randolph
American Navy leader who had great success fighting the Japanese in the Pacific (Midway).
Douglas MacArthur
General in charge of US soldiers in Philippines who held the Japanese away until May, 1942 when MacArthur left his forces there (saying he would be back). He did not come back. He was ordered by DC to go to Australia to lead forces there. and his soldiers were treated terribly - Bataan Death March.
War Labor Board
(WLB) - made rules related to war-time factory production and workers during wartime. With so much demand for military supplies, regulations were put in place to handle issues that resulted. E.G. with full employment/no unemployment, wages were increasing too quickly, causing inflation.
V-J Day
September 2, 1945. Victory in Japan Day
War Production Board
Halted production of non-essential items in factories, like cars, so war-essentials could be produced instead.
Joseph Stalin
Russian leader during WWII.
Smith-Connally Act
June, 1943: Congress passed law making it illegal for workers to strike at a factory making goods needed for the war effort.
Second front
In 1942, US was favoring an invasion of German-held France from Europe. Britain did not agree, so Allied forces attacked secretly from a second front, in North Africa.
Led by US general Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower.
Potsdam Conference
July 1945. Meeting near Berlin Germany between President Truman, Joseph Stalin and British leaders issuing stern ultimatum to Japan to surrender.
Albert Einstein
German-born scientist who was exiled and living in the US, was one of the scientists who had persuaded FDR to keep pursuing developing the Atomic bomb.
Fair Employment Practices Commission
Formed by FDR in 1941 to enforce his new rules saying that Blacks could not be discriminated against by companies making goods for the government (government contractors). Blacks had just as much right to be hired as whites.
John L. Lewis
Labor leader who, even during the war effort, encouraged workers to strike for higher wages.
Winston Churchill
British leader during WWII
Henry A. Wallace
FDR’s VP until 1945, when Harry S. Truman became VP, just a few months before FDR’s death.
Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek)
Chinese general who was resisting Japanese invasion during WWII. US was helping him with military supplies.
Hirohito
Japanese emperor who was allowed by the Allies to keep his title after Japan was defeated in August 1945.
Hedeki Tojo
Japanese Prime Minister during WWII
Detroit
1943: Terrible race riots killed 20+ blacks and 5+ whites.
The BIG Three
Leaders of the 3 most prominent countries in the Allied force against Germany. FDR from US, Winston Churchill from Britain, Joseph Stalin of Soviet Russia.
Yalta Conference
Meeting in Crimea to discuss post-war reorganization. Present: FDR, Churchill, Stalin
