World War II Flashcards
What is appeasement? How is this word related to World War II?
Appeasement means giving in to avoid war. England and France followed a policy of appeasement toward Hitler at the Munich Conference. They let Hitler take the Sudetenland in an effort to avoid conflict (war) with Hitler and Germany. This failed miserably.
Totalitarianism
A theory of government in which a single party or leader controls the economic, social, and cultural lives of its people. We think of totalitarianism as a dictatorship.
What countries comprised the Axis Powers?
The Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan. They were the enemy of the Allied Powers (including the U.S.A.) in World War II.
What countries comprised the Allied Powers?
Britain, France, the Soviet Union, China, the United States and many other nations comprised the Allied Powers in World War II. This side was, obviously, victorious.
Neutrality Acts
In 1935, 1936, and 1937, the United States Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created these laws (acts) in order to avoid the same mistakes that dragged America into World War I twenty years earlier. These acts outlawed the US from extending credit (loans) to, selling weapons to, or traveling on ships belonging to any country at war.
Cash-and-Carry Act
This law, the Neutrality Act of 1939, was called Cash-and-Carry. It allowed the U.S. to sell goods and arms (war materials) to nations at war IF AND ONLY IF those nations paid in cash (not through a loan) and transported the materials on their own ships. This was primarily designed to help England (and the Allied side) in WWII.
Lend-Lease Act
This act allowed President FDR to “sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of…any defense article…” that was viewed as “necessary in the interests of the defense of the United States.” Basically, this allowed the U.S. to help England (and the Allies) in WWII, without actually entering the war.
Atlantic Charter
A document created and signed by FDR and England’s Winston Churchill that spelled out a vision for the world after World War II. It called for self-determination of countries and an international system of “general security” which essentially became the United Nations after World War II.
Why did the United States enter World War II?
The United States was attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941…a date which will live in infamy.
Who was the military leader of Japan in World War II?
Hideki Tojo
This agency was set up by the U.S. government to get America’s industries ready for war. This agency helped the U.S. become the “arsenal of democracy” and outproduce the other nations in the war.
War Production Board (WPB)
Explain what “Island Hopping” refers to.
Island Hopping was the strategy of the United States military in the Pacific Theater against Japan in WWII. This strategy called on U.S. forces to strategically take back island after island from the Japanese, moving the US forces closer to the nation of Japan for an eventual attack, if needed.
What was the Destroyers-for-Bases Deal?
This deal was made with England whereby the United States would give England around 50 navy destroyers (ships) left over from World War I in exchange for the US getting the rights to use British Naval Bases around the world into the future.
What was Executive Order 9066?
This was a Presidential Order, signed by FDR, that designated certain areas as war zones from which anyone could be removed for any reason. This allowed the US military to forcibly remove and relocate Japanese Americans from the West Coast to internment camps further inland…some as far East as Arkansas.
Explain the background, constitutional issue, and ruling in Korematsu vs. United States (1944).
Fred Korematsu resisted the relocation of Japanese Americans after Executive Order 9066. He was arrested and put on trial. Korematsu argued he was denied equal protection under the law (14th Amendment) simply because he was Japanese American. The court ruled that the US government COULD forcibly relocate Japanese Americans for security reasons because the nation was at war.
