Chapter 31 Flashcards
Blitzkrieg
German term for lightning warfare; involved rapid movement of troops, tanks, and mechanized carriers; resulted in early German victories over Belgium, Holland, and France in World War II
National Socialist Party
Also known as the Nazi party; led by Adolf Hitler in Germany, picked up political support during the economic chaos of the Great Depression; advocated authoritarian state under a single leader, aggressive foreign policy to reverse humiliation of the Versailles treaty; took power in Germany in 1933
Vichy
French collaborationist government established in 1940 in southern France following defeat of French armies by the Germans
Winston Churchhill
British prime minister during World War II; responsible for British resistance to German air assaults
Battle of Britain
The 1940 Nazi air offensive including saturation bombing of London and other British cities, countered by British innovative air tactics and radar tracking of German assault aircraft
Holocaust
Term for Hitler’s attempted genocide of European Jews during World War II; resulted in deaths of 6 million Jews
Battle of the Bulge
Hitler’s last-ditch effort to repel the invading Allied armies in the winter of 1944-1945
Pearl Harbor
American naval base in Hawaii; attack by Japanese on this facility in December 1941 crippled American fleet in the Pacific and caused entry of United Sates into World War II
Battle of the Coral Sea
World War II Pacific battle; United States and Japanese forces fought to a standoff
Midway Island
World War II Pacific battle; decisive U.S. victory over powerful Japanese carrier force
United Nations
International organization formed in the aftermath of World War II; included all of the victorious Allies; its primary mission was to provide a forum for negotiating disputes
Tehran Confrence
Meeting among leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union in 1943; agreed to the opening of a new front in France
Yalta Conference
Meeting among leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union in 1945; agreed to Soviet entry into the Pacific war in return for possessions in Manchuria, organization of the United Nations; disputed the division of political organization in the Eastern European states to be reestablished after the war
Potsdam Conference
Meeting among leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union just before the end of World War II in 1945; Allies agreed upon Soviet domination in Eastern Europe; Germany and Austria to be divided among victorious Allies
Total war
Fought in the cities and countryside over much of Europe; drained the resources of the European powers
Atlantic Charter of 1941
World War II alliance agreement between the United States and Britain; included a clause that recognized the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they live; indicated sympathy for decolonization
Quit India movement
Mass civil disobedience campaign that began in the summer of 1942 to end British control of India
Muslim League
Founded in 1906 to better support demands of Muslims for separate electorates and legislative seats in Hindu-dominated India; represented division within Indian nationalist movement
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muslim nationalist in India; originally a member of the National Congress party; became leader of Muslim League; traded Muslim support for British during World War II for promises of a separate Muslim State after the war; first president of Pakistan
Convention Peoples Party (CPP)
Political party established by Kwame Nkrumah in opposition to British control of colonial legislature in Gold Coast
Jomo Kenyatta
Leader of the nonviolent Nationalist party In Kenya; organized the Kenya Africa union (KAU); failed to win concessions because of resistance of white settlers; came to power only after suppression of the Land Freedom Army or Mau Mau
Kenya African Union (KAU)
Leading Nationalist party in Kenya; adopted nonviolent approach to ending British control in the 1950s
Land Freedom Army
Radical organization for independence in Kenya; frustrated by failure of nonviolent means, initiated campaign of terror in 1952; referred to by British as the Mau May
National Liberation Front (FLN)
Radical nationalist movement in Algeria; launched sustained guerilla war against France in the 1950s; success of attacks led to independence of Algeria in 1958
Secret Army Organization (OAS)
Organization of French settlers in Algeria; led guerilla war following independence during the 1960s; assaults directed against Arabs, Berbers, and French who advocated independence
Afrikaner National Party
Emerged as the majority party in the all-white South African legislature after 1948; advocated complete independence from Britain; favored a rigid system of racial segregation called apartheid
Apartheid
Policy of strict racial segregation imposed in South Africa to permit the continued dominance of whites politically and economically
Haganah
Zionist military force engaged in violent resistance to British presence in Palestine in the 1940s
