U.S. History: Chapter 16 Flashcards
Joesph Stalin
leader of Soviet Union
totalitarian
characteristic of a political system in which the government exercises complete control over tits citizens’ lives.
Benito Mussolini
Italian leader who established a totalitarian regime
fascism
political philosphy that advocates a strong, centralized, nationalistic government headed bby a powerful dictator
Adolf Hitler
Germany’s chancellor
nazism
the political philosophy based on extreme nationalism, racism, and militaristic expansionism that Adolf Hitler put into practice in Germany from 1933 to 1945
Francisco Franco
general who led a group of Spanish army officers who rebelled against the Spanish republic and eventually became Spain’s fascist dictator
Neville Chamerlain
British prime minister who met with Hitler in Munich
Winston Churchill
Chamberlain’s political rival in Great Britain
appeasement
giving up principles to passify an aggressor
nonaggression pact
an agreement in which two nations promise not to go to war with each other
blitzkrieg
“lightening war”; sudden, massive attack with combined air and ground forces, intended to achieve a quick victory
Charles de Gaulle
French general who fled to England and set up a government-in-exile
Holocaust
systematic murder of 11 million Jews and others across Europe
Kristallnacht
“night of broken glass”; name given to the night of November 9, 1938 when gangs of Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues in Germany
genocide
deliberate and systematic killing of an entire population
ghettos
segregated Jewish areas in certain Polish cities
concentration camps
prison camp operated by the Nazis where Jews and other enemies of Hitler where starved while doing slave labor or were murdered
Axis powers
Germany, Italy and Japan that opposed the US during WWII
Lend-Lease Act
law that allowed the US to ship arms and other supplies without immediate payment to nations fighting the Axis powers
Atlantic Charter
declaration of principles in which the US and Great Britain set forth their goals in opposing the Axis powers
Allies
Great Britian, Soviet Union and US that opposed the Axis powers
Hideki Tojo
chief of staff of Japan’s Kwantung Army, who launched invasion into China
Neutrality Acts
series of laws to prevent US arms sales and loans to nations at war
