Ch 24 Flashcards
Who was Dwight Eisenhower?
American General and commander of Allied forces during WWII
Led troops into invasion of North Africa
Who was George S. Patton Jr.?
American General and tank commander during WWII
Tank general
Battled against Erwin Rommel (“Desert Fox”)
Defeated Rommel’s Afrika Korps forcing German surrender
What is Unconditional Surrender?
Giving up completely without any concessions
What is Saturation Bombing?
Dropping massive amounts of bombs to inflict maximum amounts of damage
Done by the UK on Germany during the night
What is Strategic Bombing?
Dropping bombs on key targets to destroy the enemy’s capacity to make war
Done by the US on Germany during the day
Who were the Tuskegee Airmen?
African American squadron that escorted bombers in the air war over Europe during WWII
They did not lose a single man
Who was Chester Nimitz?
Commanded of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific
Knew of the Japanese plans to attack at the Battle of Midway
What was the Battle of Midway?
American victory and turning point of the war in the Pacific
Nimitz found out about secret Japanese plans through decoded messages
Nimitz sent aircraft carriers and fighter planes to defend from Japan
American base at Midway vital to defense of Hawaii
What was the “Europe First” strategy?
The Allies were more concerned about Europe/Germany as a power than Japan.
Germany could fight British and US navies
Invade the Soviet Union
Bomb Britain
Saturation bombing
Strategic bombing
What was the Battle of Stalingrad?
Germans invaded the Soviet Union, June 1941
Soviets defeated the Germans at Stalingrad
Thousands of Germans surrendered
Turning point: Nazi armies turned back westward toward Germany
The Soviet Union was now on the offensive
Hitler’s dream of dominating Europe was crushed
What did the invasion of North Africa do for the Allies?
Paved the way for the invasion of Italy
Ended the reign of Benito Mussolini
Germany on defensive
What was the goal of Saturation and Strategic Bombing?
Unconditional Surrender
Why was the Battle of Midway a turning point of the war?
Halted Japanese offensive
Americans moved on to defeat Japanese at Guadalcanal
Allies advanced toward Japan
Who was A. Philip Randolph?
African American labor leader who called for the “Double V” campaign (victory against fascism abroad and discrimination at home)
Urged Roosevelt to end discrimination in government-funded jobs
What did A. Philip Randolph’s attempts create?
Executive Order 8802
Assured fair hiring practices in government-funded jobs
What was the Bracero Program?
Program in which laborers were brought to Mexico to work on American farms
What was Internment?
Temporary imprisonment of members of a specific group
Japanese interment (Executive Order 9066)
What was Korematsu v. United States?
Supreme Court case that upheld Japanese internment
Korematsu argued that he was denied equal protection under the law because he was a Japanese American
Ordered that the decision was justified for security reasons
What was the 442nd Regimental Combat Team?
Japanese American combat team that became the most decorated military unit in American History
What was Rationing?
System that limited the amount of certain goods people can buy in order to give more supplies to the production of military supplies
What was the Office of War Information?
OWI
encouraged the support of the war effort especially through the use of the media
How did WWII changed life at home?
Created opportunities for minorities
Women gained jobs
Stirred patriotism
People were united in the sacrifices they had to make
What were the long term effects of WWII for women?
Women earned paychecks and gained knowledge and experience
Future generations benefited from new opportunities
Day care options expanded
What effect did the war have on German, Italian, and Japanese Americans?
They were discriminated
Particularly Japanese Americans, who were placed in internment camps under Executive Order 9066
What effect did the war have on the nation economically?
Debt skyrocketed
Taxes increased
Wages and prices were controlled
What was D-Day?
June 6, 1944
Allied forces invaded France’s beaches with the help
What was the Battle of the Bulge?
German counterattack that failed
Resulted in an Allied victory
Who was Harry S. Truman?
President during the end of WWII
What was Island Hopping?
American strategy of capturing islands in the Pacific in a steady path to Japan
What were Kamikaze?
Japanese fighter pilots who deliberately crashed their planes into American ships
Who was Albert Einstein?
World-famous scientist who alerted Roosevelt of the need to develop atomic weapons
What was the Manhattan Project?
Code name for the program to develop an atomic bomb
Who was J. Robert Oppenheimer?
Key leader of the Manhattan project
